Top Crete Outdoor Activities

Samaria Gorge! So, you think you want to hike it. Excellent idea! It is quite, quite beautiful. But should you hike it and how should you hike it? Well, you clearly have an adventurous spirit so, assuming you have the oomph to back up your spirit, the only question left is should you arrange it yourself or go with a guide? We pondered this and decided on going with Sara from Platanos Tours / Elafonissos Travel and what an absolutely fabulous decision it was. Firstly, Sara hikes the gorge three or four times a week, so she most assuredly knows it and loves it…!! And she will share all of that with you on the bus to the gorge and whenever she comes across you as you hike down. Secondly, no, you don’t hike in a group. Everyone hikes separately at their own pace with Sara following later to offer her insights into the gorge if she comes across you and to help anyone who needs it. Thirdly, having an early morning pickup arranged beforehand, having Sara make sure there are tickets for the boat so you can spend your post-hike time in the sea not trying to get onto it in a boat, and having a bus back waiting for you after you get off the ferry? Precious! Hiking Samaria is a wonderful experience, but why not make it even better by going with the delightful Sara?!

Given the incredible amount of positive reviews this tour has on TripAdvisor and Viator, I was of course expecting it to be a great excursion ... and those reviews turned out to be completely true! This was an incredible way to get acquainted with Crete on our first day in Greece and Nikos, our guide, was exceptional. His passion for Crete is palpable, which makes sense as it is where he was born, raised, and currently operates a self-sustaining farm. Even though we were unable to tour the Cave of Zeus, the stop off at the ceramics workshop was actually a highlight for us! It was incredible getting to watch a master at work in his shop and his crafts were beautiful ... we purchased quite a bit :) Nikos' humor also made the excursion incredibly fun and light-hearted. We'll be recommending this tour to all of our friends and family who find themselves in Crete and you can rest assured that your money will be well spent if you choose to do the same.

This was an amazing experience that we (myself and my partner) would recommended to anyone who is travelling through Crete 👍🏼 Our guide - George - was the best guide we possibly could have asked for. The experience was extremely high-quality and personalised. The treck itself was exhilarating and challenging at times - but, the perfect amount of both. As people who are relatively active, but had never done anything like this before - George made the experience feel like a breeze - he made us feel super comfortable and confident the entire way along. The whole way along the walk it just felt like talking to an old friend, cracking jokes, having fun, learning about everything Crete. This was a once in a lifetime experience and a must-do … Highly recommended!! 🙂

Excellent excursion! For cruise passengers, it is an excellent choice! Beach Bums will pick you up and drop you off at the port. Well worth the money! 3 hours of driving on different terrains with beautiful sights! I do not recommend this for novice drivers. It's a long excursion with 2 short breaks. Adrian was the best guide and very patient. Highly recommend!

Great experience that was out of our comfort zone. George, Harry and Barbara were wonderful and made us feel safe! We also loved that the pictures they took were provided via Airdrop before the excursion ended. For anyone booking in the future, a sturdy set of tennis shoes would be best. Water shoes and Chaco’s/Teva’s were not good choices, when you are walking thru the gorge over uneven ground/rocks/in the water, etc.

From pick up at the hotel to drop off everything was very well organised. The horses are incredible and extremely well looked after. I always worry when booking a trip like this it will be like the old school pony trekking with board horses but not the case here! The owners take great care in choosing the right horse for you, I have a hip issue at the moment but they worked around that to ensure I was safe and that I was enjoying the experience with out making me feel isolated from the rest of the group. Once back we had an incredible lunch served with home made wine, the food just kept coming and was so so good! The owners are welcoming and funny and make the experience a joy. Would we go again absolutely! As an experience rider I would love to go out for longer and get to see so much more of this beautiful countryside. Thank you for the experience We will always remember to have 'one more meat ball' ! 🤣

Wow! This was a phenomenal experience. When I first booked this tour, my husband and I were a little nervous, 8 hours seemed like such a long time. The day flew by! They pace all the activities out perfectly. We were never bored or rushed. This was a wonderful experience along and we were able to get some stunning photos of the island’s beauty. This tour is a must do for anyone visiting Crete!

Absolutely fantastic excursion! We ended up having the entire boat to ourselves and the team really accommodated us and ensured we really had an amazing time. Lunch/wine onboard was delicious and they were fantastic photographers making sure we got ample amount of photos