8-Day Crete Hiking Tour from Chania with Samaria Gorge and Elafonisi

• Meet your English-speaking tour guide in Chania town on Crete Island. Chania town is the island's jewel and is well known as the Venice of the East.

• Visit the town and enjoy a city tour.

• Settle into a traditional hotel and have seafood and typical Mediterranean dishes for dinner.

Overnight stay in town.

• Have breakfast and transfer to Agia Irini Village.

• Access the gorge entrance through a wide-open valley. Step by step, you will experience the wild nature, as the gorge is a Wildlife Heritage site within Natura 2000. The gorge is a well-protected area and the biotope of the Cretan Chamois. During the hike, receive a brief introduction to the site's history, fauna, and flora, and finally reach the seafront village of Sougia, facing the Mediterranean Sea.

• Settle into a hotel and enjoy the crystal-clear sea waters.

• In the late afternoon, taste Cretan cuisine at a typical Mediterranean tavern.

Overnight stay.

• After breakfast, transfer to the Omalos Plateau through the Cretan countryside and small typical Mediterranean villages. Then hike through one of the longest and most beautiful gorges in Europe: the famous Samaria Gorge. A well-marked trail runs for 14 km through unspoiled nature inside the gorge and ends at the Mediterranean Sea.

• The hike ends at the seafront village of Agia Roumeli. Rest, relax, and swim in the crystal-clear waters there.

• Enjoy Mediterranean food and stay overnight in the village.

• Have breakfast at the guesthouse and start hiking. The coastal trail runs along the White Mountains and faces the Mediterranean Sea. The final destination is the iconic village of Loutro, where magnificent architecture welcomes hikers. Here, you are far away from roads and vehicles, isolated at the very south end of Europe.

• Settle into a hotel.

• That same afternoon, explore small bays and sea caves by sea kayak.

• Paddle back to the village, have dinner, and stay overnight.

• After breakfast, start hiking toward the historic village of Sfakia.

• During your hike, you will come across secret sandy beaches and crystal-clear waters. After a refreshing swim at the beaches, continue walking toward Sfakia village.

• Now back to civilization, enjoy the beaches along the south coastline.

• Transfer to Plakias Village and relax at the magnificent and isolated Kalypso Bay.

• Settle into the seafront hotel for dinner and an overnight stay.

• Have breakfast and then transfer to Chania town in the late afternoon.

• Settle into a hotel and discover the majestic Chania town by night.

Dinner and overnight stay.

• Enjoy the sea and the magnificent Elafonisi Bay. Your guide will show you the hidden golden sunny beaches of the area.

• That same afternoon, visit the medieval Golden Step Monastery of Holly Mary. Legend says that one of the steps up to the monastery is made of gold and is visible only to those who want to believe.

• Transfer back to Chania town late in the afternoon.

• Visit the old town harbour and enjoy a Cretan cuisine meal.

Overnight stay in Chania town.

• Transfer to the airport, and the tour ends.