The High Mountains of Crete – a walking and trekking guide

• Location
• Description
• Contents
• Introduction
• Sample Route
• Updates
• Reviews
• Further Reading

The Greek island of Crete, extending for about 250km (155 miles) west to east, is well known for its sunny climate and beautiful natural scenery so typical of the lands of the Mediterranean. Relics of a long and richly varied history dot town and countryside, and botanists find much of interest almost everywhere they look.

But there is also another side to Crete. Visible everywhere as a striking backdrop to the beaches and coastal plains an almost continuous spine of rugged limestone mountains runs along the length of the island. Frequented only by a few shepherds, the wilder regions of this interior offer challenging trekking routes of two or three days’ duration. At lower, more hospitable levels, walkers can follow old mule tracks and paths beween foothill villages where a range of facilities can be found.

Throughout Crete an efficient public bus service links towns, villages and trailheads. This guidebook covers walks and treks in the main mountain ranges in west, central and eastern Crete, including the south coast of Sfakia in the west.

Although readily accessible, Cretan mountain ranges are very rugged and potentially hazardous. Route-finding is not easy due to the many spectacular limestone features that are typical of Greek mountains. There are 1:25,000 contour maps covering selected areas, but for full coverage of the island only 1:100,000 contour maps are currently available. This guidebook aims to provide you with the additional information you need to follow the routes of your choice.

Crete is the largest and most prosperous of the Greek islands, thanks, in part, to the many beaches that attract summer tourism. In addition, fertile coastal plains and valleys allow a thriving agricultural industry, and Athens, for example, provides a ready market for produce (by overnight ferryboat). Cretans and visitors alike enjoy an abundance of good home-produced food and wine.
The island is busy: there are three main towns – Chania, Heraklion and Rethymnon – with both fashionable and traditional-style shops, together with harbours, markets, universities and museums. Crete is easy to reach by air or by sea from Athens or by direct charter flight to Chania or Heraklion airports. Happily for walkers, ‘getting to the trailhead’ is also easy using KTEL, the public bus service, or local taxis.

HillWalking and Trekking Regions

The walks and mountain treks suggested in this guide are grouped under three main headings. In the west, the Lefka Ori (White Mountains) (Part 1) cover 960km2, and include over 20 peaks rising above 2000m (6560ft); Pachnes (2453m/8047ft) is the highest. There are five good walking areas – the Omalos Plain, the Northern Foothills, the Askifou Plain, Anopolis and the South Coast of Sfakia – all with trailheads served by bus from Chania. Since many of the best walking routes are linear, a hired car can be limiting especially as much of the rugged south coast, having no roads, is only served by boat. Fortunately villages on many of the walking routes offer plentiful accommodation, not all of which is pre-booked, enabling a flexible itinerary. Town bus stations have left luggage facilities, useful for those who wish to travel without a particular base.

In the region of Sfakia, the southern flank of the Lefka Ori rises very abruptly above the coast to over 1000m (3280ft). Thirteen gorges split this steep escarpment, the largest of which – 18km long and over 1000m deep – is the Gorge of Samaria. The huge and inaccessible forested crags of this gorge and its neighbour, the Tripiti Gorge, form a refuge for a treasure that is unique to Crete: a little ibex goat, the kri-kri, which has survived here since ancient times.

All the mountain ranges of Crete feature high plains, gorges and ravines, but in the heart of the Lefka Ori there is something else. High above the treeline snow thaws by July to reveal a great circle of massive barren peaks, interspersed with ‘moonscape’ outcrops, or depressions, of sinkholes in black, grey or red rock. This high desert wilderness is seldom visited, even by Cretans. Old trails across this interior never fail to impress those who venture to walk them. 

In central Crete, where the island is at its widest, the huge mass of Psiloritis (Mount Ida) (Part 2) dominates the whole region. Covering about 560km2, this massif is different in that a single huge, partly scree-surfaced summit ridge rises above massive cliffs on one side and a large area of lower peaks and forested foothills on the other. The summit of Mount Ida has always attracted peak-baggers because, at 2456m (8057ft), it is the highest point in Crete. At lower levels the forests, freshwater springs, and accessible foothills sustain a strong shepherding tradition and large flocks of sheep, together with goats, are still a regular sight.

Psiloritis offers several challenging linear walking routes with the high level Nida Plain as a fulcrum. In the foothills, trailhead villages, all of which have tourist facilities, are served by bus from either Rethymnon or Heraklion. However, for walks starting from the Nida Plain, such as the day-walk to the summit, there is no public bus service and alternative plans must be made (see individual route descriptions).

The Dikti or Lassithi Mountains (Part 3) cover about 780km2 and virtually divide central Crete from the eastern end of the island. The dominant feature here is the Lassithi Plain (formerly famous for its hundreds of windmill water pumps), which is surrounded by a series of peaks including Mount Dikti, at 2147m (7047ft) the highest summit of eastern Crete.

Although the European long-distance walking route the E4 Trail crosses Lassithi as an interesting and, in some places, challenging linear route – and is readily accessible by public bus – a few day-walks from the plain (which is very large) are best reached by car. Lassithi has several important Neolithic and Bronze Age sites which attract visitors: villages on the plain offer facilities during the tourist season.  

Getting There

There are two ways of getting to Crete by air:
•    by direct charter flight to a Cretan airport, and
•    by scheduled flight (or charter flight) to Athens International Airport, followed by an internal (domestic) flight to Crete, or a ferryboat from Piraeus (the port of Athens) to a Cretan port.