The Unique Tour of Samaria Gorge

Let's be honest, you're reading these reviews because you've heard it's tough and yet you've seen the reviews where people say they saw people in sandals doing this hike and you don't know who to believe. If you somehow stumble upon my review, I'll tell you my opinion. My husband and I did this hike together early September 2022. I'm 33 and workout roughly 4 days a week and walk the dog daily. Yes, I could still afford to lose some weight. I've also never had any knee issues... which I've read is a concern for this hike. I've hiked various places, but I've done nothing like this before and spending most of my life in the Midwest region of the United States, there's nothing that could have prepared me for this hike. We signed up for the hike with Fabulous Crete Tours (which I totally recommend). They also said this hike was not challenging. They picked us up in Chania and we had one breakfast stop before getting to the trailhead. The tour guide gave us the rundown on the trail and he had walking poles available to rent. These poles made this hike way easier and I don't think I could have done it without them. With that being said, my husband did not have any and felt they weren't necessary. I'm sure by now you've heard that the hike is mostly downhill, which I was prepared for. However, I was not prepared to have my foot flat against the ground for only 5% of the hike. My ankles were killing me at kilometer 6 or 8 because of this ( I wore hiking shoes and my husband hiking boots). I really like that this is a well-traveled on hike, but it did make stopping for photos very difficult at times as you had people both behind and in front of you. We also wanted to be ahead of the guide all the time which made it a bit challenging. Just because you see a water station does not mean you should stop. If you did this it would take forever to get through the hike as well.There's plenty of stops until at least kilometer 10. I truly wanted to be done the last 1-2 kilometers as it's just repetitive and I was exhausted by then. We did this hike in just under 6 hours. This is one of the most mentally ( I psyched myself up our out trying to discern if I could do this hike for days) and physically challenging things I've done in a while. However, I'm glad I did it. The views were spectacular and it was truly a once in a lifetime experience and photos will not do this hike justice. The day was fantastic.. great hike and great lunch afterwards, plus a swim in the sea. This would not have been nearly as enjoyable if we did not get a chance to swim... for us it was the whole day. My husband and I did a lot on our trip of Crete, Santorini and Athens area and this was the top 1 or 2 activities we did on both of our lists. While we're both glad we did it, we would not want to do it again. It was rewarding but very tough. If you think you can do this hike, you probably can do it. However, here are my tips: * wear hiking shoes or boots * get the poles for hiking * bring only a few granola bars... there's plenty of restaurants once you're done and you probably don't want to stop for too long * Don't bring a good camera, just use your phone as it's too easy to get a good camera damaged on this one * bring a sweater.... I wore mine for the first hour of the actual hike and was very pleased to have it * Bring 2-3 water bottles for 2 people and just full them up along the way *Do plan on going for the swim after it will only enhance this experience * If you can, do this towards the end of your trip or plan on doing very little the next few days. We were both sore for 3 days and we did have plans that we just had to stick to.

The whole operation was very efficient, from initial pick-up to return at the end of the day. Most of all, our guide, Lena, was excellent. She looked after everyone without being intrusive; on the walk itself we simply descended at our own pace, which was ideal. Her commentary on the coach on the way there and back was very informative, intelligent and helpful; I learned a lot about Crete from what she said. Thank you, Lena!

Collected promptly at designated pick up time (and dropped off) by mini bus and delivered to meet coach in Chania. English speaking informative guide. Air con and comfortable coach apart from not much leg room. Ok just for my daughter and I but a lot of men around us struggled with this so kept complaining around us.

Pickup was on time. The bus was spotless and modern. Vaso our tour guide was high energy, knowledgeable and an outstanding ambassador for your company.

All went very well with a good informative guide and cheaper than doing it on our own due to the logistics of getting back to the start. We were picked up near our hotel and dropped back. The only negative was the sheer numbers doing it! Very popular.