Samaria Gorge Tours and Tickets - page 2

A beautiful experience, the views are incredible. All downhill but a little challenging due to the fact that you are hiking on rocks. Would absolutely recommend it.

Our guide, Sara, was wonderful. It was a long, and at times, tiring for two 70+ year olds, but it was worth the effort.

This tour was executed exactly as advertised. Nikos and his team were on time, friendly, helpful, and full of useful information. The level of communication pre-tour was excellent. The hike is stunning, even if you’re accustomed to beautiful mountain hikes in your home country. As all the reviews say, the hike is an 8-mile descent with another 2-mile flat paved walk to the beach. The trail is very well maintained with several water refills. You don’t get winded or dehydrate like you do hiking at altitude, but it is hard on your knees and calves. Plan on a full day of recovery (relaxing on a beach). After the hike you can swim and grab a bite at one of several restaurants in Agia Roumeli. Then catch a ferry (5:30 p.m. to Sfakion if that’s where you’re getting picked up) and then it’s a healthy drive back to Chania. It’s a long day but well worth it. You have to buy your entrance ticket to the national park and your ferry ticket ahead of time and separately. Keep track of your national park ticket because they check it at the end of the trail (you show your e-ticket and get a small printed one at the trailhead, which you have to present at the end). Samaria Gorge is a unique place. Glad I didn’t miss it.

Excellent, well organised trip. A little busy at the start of the decent being has there were alot of coaches arriving at once. The Samaria gorge is beautiful and I found it alot easier than i imagined . All information was given by the guide and it all went smoothly. After a 6hr ramble we arrived at the ocean where after a couple of hours wait we got the ferry back to the coach . Then back to our hotel.

The walk is long but beautiful. The town after is charming and we enjoyed relaxing by the beach. It’s a long day though.. 15 hours after all the drop offs.

This hike is gorgeous, especially starting out early, before the heat of the day sets it. In terms of difficulty, I think it is difficult to have a rating that will apply to all. Whilst the hike is not considered 'difficult ', our experience was that you really need to concentrate on every single step you take to ensure you step on steady rocks as it would be easy to misstep and roll your foot or even stumble and fall. We found it to be a lot of pressure on the knees, calves, thighs and even toes, as you are essentially walking down hill for 7-8 hours. My toes were pushing into the front of my shoes which by the end bruised a couple of my toes. My calves were extremely tight for the next several days, making it almost impossible to walk downhill afterwards. There are springs along tge way, and tge water is probably the nicest spring water I have had. The midday and afternoon sun really starts to intensify as the sun reaches overhead and reflects off the rocks. I found muscle fatigue and heat stress to be the biggest challenges, rather than fitness. Some people had walking sticks, which may have helped, but not sure as we did not have them. As you are looking down all the time, to ensure you are stepping correct, it is easy to miss the surroundings. You need to make sure you stop and take a moment to take it in. Thankfully, stopping for photos reminds you to do so. I think a must do if you are able, but be prepared, and ensure you avoid the shiny rocks as they are slippery due to being stepped on so many times. The guides were fine, although, didn't really receive much guidance through the hike. Info was given beforehand. There are also rangers on site in case you injured yourself and we saw a rescue horse going through the gorgeous with the ranger and saw a helipad. It's a long day, but still loved it.

Sakis was a fantastic driver who was super kind, and informative and who drove us around to some amazing places! He recommended Zorba’s Cafe for a delicious lunch and it did not disappoint! He also bought our family ice cream while we were at Stavros Beach, which was a fantastic swimming beach. We also saw a beautiful monastery, the stunning area of Seitan Limania, the famous graves, and the fortress of Aptera for an incredible sunset view. Overall, I would highly recommend this tour and I would book another excursion with Sakis as our driver without hesitation! We had an amazing day!!!!!

The hike was amazing swimming in the ocean after a lung hot hike was spectacular. Yes the long day is really, really worth it. However, make sure that you get the full package somehow on Viator. I was steered long for the first time and then had to purchase my park pass and my ferry pass separately, which which is rather frustrating. You have to get the park pass and you have to get the ferry pass so I have no idea why Viator did not just include that. Our guide was great very organized.