Samaria Gorge: Conquer Europe's Iconic 10-Mile Trek!

The experience was incredible, we hiked for about 6.5 hours through the gorge. My advice would be to take stops and look around at the views because whilst your walking you must look at your feet so that you don’t fall. The beach at the end is worth everything and it truly is gorgeous. My only complaint is that the town at the end wasn’t great and very overpriced (tourist trap). But apart from that the whole hike was something I’ll never forget. I personally felt it was really challenging and given that I’m not a hiker as such, I struggled to push through and woke up the next morning in pain. I expected this but I’m just saying if your not very very active you may struggle. Our guide was so lovely and the everything was well organised and put together. The boat trip was scenic and beautiful (even tho I did fall asleep) and the coach had AC and was comfy. Overall good experience.

Great place to visit mountains. Because we don't have any mountains in our country. Information from guide is absolutely correct.

It was really a challenge, but we don’t regret. It was absolutely worth it and the views were gorgeous! The guide Claudia was very energetic and informative.

Enjoyed the gorge walk although it was challenging. I recommend renting the walking poles as they were really helpful. Major complaint at the end when you finished the walk. We were told to meet at Sumaria restaurant to receive ferry tickets from guide that we paid for at the beginning of the day at 4.30pm. We finished hike at 2 and went to beach for an hour and then ate at Calypso restaurant (great food). When we went to meet guide at Sumaria restaurant as organised by tour, owner of restaurant would not let us in and was verbally abusive as we hadn’t eaten at his restaurant. Happened to other people on same tour. A tour should not arrange a meeting place at a restaurant unless the meal is included as part of package/owner has agreed to it. Guide Ingrid was apologetic but said nothing to restaurant owner, she said it was organised by the “office” and it wasn’t up to her.

The gorge is about 16 km long and most of it is just a rocky path that is very difficult to walk. You can't really enjoy the gorge because you're too busy on the way. You are also under a certain amount of time pressure because you have to catch the last ferry, otherwise there is no getting away. There are better canyons to walk and more interesting.

The arranged pick up was supposed to be at 6am and the email said, that you have to be 10min early, so I have arrived at the bus stop at 5:50am to only be picked up at 6:30ish so the bus was very late. Other than that, everything was good. The transfer to the starting point was smooth, the bus driver was skilled and kept us safe. Tour guide Ingrid gave everyone clear instructions, provided a map with all the water stations and informed about the ferry time and the meet up point. The hike took me 4hrs30mins so I had plenty of time at the end to have food and enjoy the beach.

One of the best things I did while in Crete. It is a beautiful gorge and technically challenging. Next time I would try it from the bottom up.

Everything was organised very well and our guide was very helpful. If you stick to the timeslots during the walk, you have enough time after your walk to enjoy the beach. Depending on the season, it's a bit crowded when you start your walk. About halfway through the gorgue, the crowd thins out and you sometimes can walk bits alone. The Samaria gorgue self is really beautiful. At some pieces you have to keep such a close eye to where you place your feet, you don't always have time to look at it.

Amazing trip! The hiking and views are great. The hiking is actually quite demanding for the begunners. Even though the hiking is 16 km but our watches showed around 30 km at the end. Take care that the money You pay is basically only for the bus and the tour guide whom You will not see around as they will be round about 30 minutes behind you. The whole hiking trip is basically private and You are free to wonder...

The gorge is absolutely beautiful! Must be in good shape and have appropriate shoes (hiking or tennis shoes with good traction). We actually got food poisoning while hiking and had to hike back out, but the guide was so kind and helpful to make sure we got out safely. There are bathrooms & water bottle refill stations throughout the gorge, but bring your own snacks or lunch. Also a hat & sunscreen as part of the hike is in the direct Sun at midday. To be clear, what the tour operator provides is transportation from your hotel (or nearby pick up point) to the gorge (you stop for breakfast along the way); the guide who follows along at the back of the group to help anyone having issues (like us!); coordinates the boat trip (run by another company); and your return bus home. The buses were on time and very nice. You could probably do Samaria Gorge on your own if you don’t mind planning the logistics yourself, but we really appreciated the guide to help us when we got sick.