Everything You Need to Know About Hiking Samaria Gorge

If there is one thing you do when visiting the Greek island of Crete, you must hike Samaria Gorge.  There are certain epic hikes throughout the world, and the hike through Samaria Gorge National Park is one of them.  What makes Samaria Gorge epic?  At 16 kilometers, Samaria Gorge is one of the longest gorges in Europe (some sources say the longest, others the second longest), is located in Crete’s only national park, and provides stunning views all day long.

The Samaria Gorge hike starts at the Xyloskalo trailhead at an altitude of 1,250 meters in the midst of the White Mountains (Lefka Ori).  From the top, we saw sheer mountain slopes still covered with patches of snow.  At our feet was a steep trail winding its way down the mountain into the depths of the gorge.  The Samaria Gorge trail starts with a precipitous hike downhill along a switchback path sometimes bordered by a wooden handrail.  If you have any sort of knee problems, take your time and hold on.  This part of the trail lasts for almost two kilometers.

On the way down we passed men walking two mules down the trail.  Everyday mules pick their way along the trail in case any hikers have an accident and are unable to walk out of the gorge on their own. 

Along the trail are informative signs about what can be seen along the way, including flora, fauna, and structures.  Some of the flowers that can be seen growing on the plateaus are peonies, dragon arum, marjoram, anemones, white asphodels, yellow phlomis, and irises.  Dragon arum flowers look like something from the Jurassic period, large and deep reddish-purple.  They have an unpleasant odor that is somehow attractive to insect pollinators.

What I loved about hiking through Samaria Gorge is that there wasn’t just natural beauty, there were also little churches and remnants of villages along the way.  Be sure to take a peek into the open churches.  Many hikers kept on walking without a second glance. 

The first church we encountered was St. Nicolas’s Chapel (Ayios Nikolaos).  Nearby is a plateau covered in perennial flowers, which wasn’t always so peaceful.  At this spot, in the late 1700s, there was an uprising against the Turks who were pursuing thousands of women and children hiding in the gorge.

Samaria Gorge has been inhabited since the beginning of time.  There are remnants of Byzantine churches and Venetian castles.  At the halfway point is the remains of a more modern settlement.  Until 1962, families lived in the tiny village of Samaria in the shade of the soaring walls of the gorge.  After the area was converted into a national park, all human inhabitants of Samaria Gorge were relocated.  The buildings have been converted to house the forest outpost, medical center, and lodgings for researchers.  Samaria Gorge was converted into a national park in part to protect the Cretan wild goat (also known as agrimi and kri-kri), which is the largest wild mammal of Crete and has been around since prehistoric times.

After taking a lunch break at the Samaria settlement, we continued on to where our surroundings really began to look like a gorge.  At the “Gates” the sheer walls of the gorge soar upwards towards the skies and the floor narrows and widens while the trail crisscrosses the river multiple times.  Sometimes crossings are made by hopping from stone to stone and other times by traversing wood bridges.  I have no idea how many times we crossed the river, but Romeo is convinced it was 100 times.

The Samaria Gorge portion of the hike ends at kilometer 14 where hikers can sit at a café, surrounded by a few cats of Greece, and enjoy a fresh squeezed orange juice, a soft-serve ice cream cone, or a cold glass of Greek beer.  After refueling, there are two more kilometers to the coast and the town of Agia Roumeli.

If you’ve got enough time before the ferry leaves, switch out your hiking shoes for flip flops and head to the crystal clear blue waters of the Libyan Sea.  Soaking your feet in the water is the best feeling after a long hike, though beware the pebbly shore gets hot and the rocks can hurt your feet as you walk into the water.  I just viewed it as an extreme form of reflexology.  Once in it felt great.

There are a number of open-air restaurants along the beach that provide sea views and cold beers, the perfect end to a perfect day of hiking one of the most beautiful hikes in the world.

When to Hike Samaria Gorge

Samaria Gorge can only be hiked in the warm months of the year.  The entrance is open May 1 through October 30.

Hiking Logistics

It takes a long time to hike Samaria Gorge.  It took us seven hours to hike the 16 kilometers from the Xyloskalo trailhead to Agia Roumeli.  This included stopping to snap hundreds of photos of Samaria Gorge, taking short rest and snack breaks, eating lunch at the abandoned Samaria settlement, and relaxing for an ice cream break at the end of the gorge trail before continuing the remaining two kilometers to Agia Roumeli.  We could have walked faster, but it wasn’t necessary as we still had two and a half hours for cooling off in the sea and having a beer before catching the ferry.

You have to be physically fit to hike Samaria Gorge.  The most difficult part of the hike is the first couple kilometers that are extremely steep.  If you have knee problems, the steep descent may be too difficult.  If you are able to handle the steep hike down and have the stamina to walk for 16 kilometers, then this is actually the easiest extreme hike ever.  I can count on one hand the number of times we had to walk uphill, and I’m using the term uphill liberally.  Even though it was 90 degrees Fahrenheit in the afternoon, we barely broke a sweat since most of the hike is shaded and the running water of the river cools the air.  While the first night my knees and hips hurt, the next day the only thing that hurt was a faint burn in my abdominal muscles, which I realized was from balancing on the rocks when crossing the river.  When have you ever done an activity that wasn’t formal exercise that worked your core?  You do need to have some sense of balance as you will be rock hopping across the river innumerable times.

How to Get to Samaria Gorge

While everywhere else you’ll want to go on the island of Crete is accessible by car, you won’t want to go to Samaria Gorge by car if you’re planning on hiking.  If you are planning to hike the entire trail, there are two ways to get to Samaria Gorge.  The first is to take public transportation, and the second is to join a Samaria Gorge excursion.

We highly recommend staying in Chania if hiking Samaria Gorge.  Chania is the closest city to the Samaria Gorge trailhead which means your drive before and after the hike will be the shortest, as opposed to starting from Rethimno or Iraklion.  It also means you’ll get there earlier than hikers coming from other cities and will therefore have a less crowded hiking trail and more time to hike.

While it costs a little more money, we preferred joining a Samaria Gorge tour.  We stayed at the gorgeous Porto Veneziano in Chania and all we had to do was tell them we wanted to hike Samaria Gorge and they contacted Elafonissos Travel and set everything up for us.  For 22 euros (plus an additional 5 euros to enter Samaria Gorge National Park and 8.50 euros for the Samaria Gorge ferry) a shuttle picked us up from our hotel’s front door at 6:00 a.m. and took us to the tour bus meeting point.  We then relaxed on the bus ride to the Xyloskalo entrance and started hiking by 8:00 a.m.  Ours was the second bus of the day to arrive.  

Booking.com

Just because this is a tour does not mean you’ll be walking with a large group of people.  The group disperses pretty quickly based on everyone’s speed and there were many times during the hike that we didn’t see anyone else on the trail.  Joining a Samaria Gorge tour means all the logistics are taken care of by someone else and all you have to do is enjoy the hike.  The tour guide purchases your park entrance and your ferry ticket, plus he starts the hike an hour later to make sure everyone is doing okay along the trail.

If you prefer to save a few euros and get to Samaria Gorge on your own, you can take a public bus to Samaria Gorge.  You’ll catch the public bus from Chania to Omalos (check the KTEL website for up-to-date schedules and rates), hike the gorge, catch the ferry from Agia Roumeli to Chora Sfakion (check the Anendyk ferry website for schedules and rates), and then take the public bus from Chora Sfakion back to Chania.  Note you will be on the same ferry as those who join the Samaria Gorge tours, so setting out on your own won’t get you home quicker.

It is also possible to hike just a portion of Samaria Gorge, which some would call Samaria Gorge the easy way.  If only hiking part of Samaria Gorge, you will take a ferry to Agia Roumeli and hike in from the opposite direction of those hiking the entire gorge.  Hiking the gorge in this way will definitely introduce you to the beauty of the gorge, but we think you’ll be missing out by not doing the entire hike.

What to Bring for the Samaria Gorge Hike

As with any long hike, you need to be prepared.  Wear good sturdy hiking shoes, a hat to block the sun, and sunscreen.  Rome wore shorts and a t-shirt and I wore shorts and a tank top and we were comfortable the entire hike.  It was a little chilly when we got out of the bus, but we warmed up quickly when we started walking, so I’m glad I didn’t bring a jacket that I would have had to carry.  If you have slight knee or hip problems, you may want to bring trekking poles.  Our tour company also provided poles to rent. 

Bring a backpack to carry your water and snacks (I use a hydration pack).  One of the great things about this hike is that you don’t have to bring a ton of water.  As long as you have a bottle with you, you can refill it along the way.  Approximately every kilometer or so there are spigots along the trail with constantly running water fresh from the mountain stream.  There is no food along the trail so you’ll need to bring food to keep fueled.  Our hotel packed us lunches (for free!) that included water, juice, fruit, and sandwiches.  It was the perfect amount of food for the hike.

After a long hike there is nothing better than being able to take off your hiking shoes.  I thought about bringing my flip flops, but didn’t want the extra weight in my backpack.  I said to Rome that if the shops in Agia Roumeli were smart they would sell flip flops and bathing suits.  Sure enough, when we got into town, we found a shop selling those very things.  I bought a cute pair of blue and white Hellas flip flops as a souvenir and threw my shoes into a plastic sack.  So, you can bring your own flip flops, or buy a pair in town.

If you are visiting Crete and like hiking even a little bit, you must add Samaria Gorge to your travel itinerary.  It is sure to be a highlight of your world travels and is without a doubt an epic hike.

Thank you to Porto Veneziano Hotel and AutoClub Car Rental for hosting our travels through Crete and making this post possible.  As always, all opinions are my own.  This article contains affiliate links.  If you purchase through them, it costs you nothing extra and we earn a small commission which goes towards running this website and bringing you more travel stories.

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13 Things to Do In Stockholm Sweden

Most trips to Sweden start with at least a few days in Stockholm.  There are a lot of things to do in Stockholm, so we spent a total of four days in Sweden’s capital city.  These Stockholm attractions can be visited all year long; we enjoyed them in winter.  What we loved about Stockholm was the variety of things to do and see.  Stockholm’s attractions aren’t all art museums or churches, but a great mix of interesting sites.  We have compiled a list of what we felt were the top 13 things to do in Stockholm categorized by neighborhood.

Related: 5 Awesome Hotels in Sweden

kungliga djurgården

Vasa Museum

Ask anyone in Stockholm what you should see while in the city and they will immediately tell you to visit the Vasa Museet.  This museum is devoted to one thing, and one thing only, the warship Vasa. 

The story of Vasa is incredible, mostly because, while tragic, it left us with something we would never have otherwise.  The tragedy allowed us to be able to see the most intact and well-preserved warship from the time, as what remains is 98% original. 

The warship Vasa was built in 1628 and sank 20 minutes into its maiden voyage.  This impressive ship was commissioned by the king because Sweden was at war with three countries.  The ship was covered in over 500 sculptures and painted in bright colors with the intention of striking fear into all who would see it. 

It is believed Vasa sank because it was too narrow and too tall.  Vasa had 150 to 200 people on board for its maiden voyage, which included families of the ship builders and crew.  All of the gun ports close to the waterline were open and when the ship started to list water rushed in and started to sink the ship.  Vasa sank in 32 meters of water with its mast still sticking out of the water and 37 passengers, both men and women, trapped inside.  The Vasa was lifted out of the water in 1961 and the preservation process began and continued for 17 years before the museum opened in 1990. 

In addition to the ship, which can be viewed from multiple levels, the Vasa Museum displays items saved from the ship like cannons, a ring, and some of the bodies.  Guided tours providing information about the ship are provided, which we highly recommend, as well as a film about the preservation process.

ABBA: The Museum

The ABBA: The Museum may be the most awesome museum of all time.  If you like ABBA that is.  But who doesn’t love ABBA?!  What makes this museum fabulous is not just ABBA, but also that it is an incredibly fun interactive museum.  Your entrance ticket is your ticket to fun. 

Throughout the museum, there are interactive exhibits where you scan your ticket and then pretend you’re in the recording studio, recording a music video, or performing on stage with the band.  When you get home you can enter your ticket number into the museum’s website and look at your scores and watch videos that were created. 

Of course, there’s also a lot of ABBA history throughout the museum including documentaries, the band’s recording studio, ABBA’s unique costumes, and more.  The ABBA museum motto is “Walk in.  Dance out.”  This is exactly what will happen.

Skansen

Skansen is the world’s first open-air museum and was founded in 1891.  Skansen illustrates five centuries of Swedish history with traditional buildings and farmsteads from all over the country.  Skansen is 75 acres of living history with gardens, Scandinavian animals, and guides in traditional costumes who can be found throughout the park ready to share a little piece of history from the location and time period they represent. 

We visited Skansen on a pretty cold day, so it was nice to be able to enter some of the homes and farmsteads to find a warm fire.  Since it wasn’t very crowded that day, I think the guides were happy when someone walked in the front door too.  One of my favorite stops in Skansen was Skansen Glassworks.  Glassblowing is demonstrated for visitors and the shop sells the items made.

Nordiska Museet

Across the street from Skansen and next door to the Vasa Museum is Nordiska Museet, Sweden’s largest museum of cultural history which was founded in 1873.  The ground where the museum stands was broken in 1888 by the museum’s founder, Artur Hazelius, and the huge museum took 19 years to build and was inaugurated in 1907. 

While Skansen shows what life was like throughout Sweden’s history by showing where and how the people lived, Nordiska Museet displays what Sweden’s people had in their homes like furniture, textiles, fashion, jewelry, china, and even food.  One of my favorite parts of the museum was that of holiday table displays through time.

Spritmuseum

The Spritmuseum is another one of Stockholm’s fun interactive museums.  While the original museum opened in 1967 featured the production of alcohol, the new museum opened in 2012 focuses on how alcohol affects people.  The Spritmuseum walks visitors through the seasons and provides the opportunity to touch, taste, and smell. 

A self-guided tour of the museum is complimented by the Smaklåda tasting box which contains schnapps and snacks.  Exhibits throughout the museum will let you know when it’s time to taste items in your box at the same time you’re learning about them.  There are also quizzes and games scattered through the museum along with random things like a room that makes you feel like you have a hangover.  The Spritmuseum also has one of the best museum restaurants in the city.

Related: Finding the Best Restaurants in Stockholm with the White Guide

GAMLA STAN

The Royal Palace

The Royal Palace of Stockholm is the official residence of the King and Queen as well as workplace and historical monument.  The palace is open to visitors year-round and the best way to visit the Royal Palace is to join one of the guided tours which are included in the entrance fee. 

The current palace was built in the early 1700s by architect Nicodemus Tessin who studied under Bernini and designed the palace in the Roman style.  The current palace is the third to have stood on the site, with the first being a Viking fortress built in 900 AD and the second which burned down in 1697. 

In addition to touring the royal apartments, visitors on the guided tour will learn interesting facts about Swedish history, like the fact that King Charles XIV John of Sweden was originally Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, a French General who was elected to be the King of Sweden when there wasn’t an heir to the throne. 

Speaking of thrones, the silver throne in the palace might look familiar, as a replica of it appeared in the 1933 Greta Garbo movie Queen Christina, and later as the Joker’s silver throne in Batman and again in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Visit the Royal Palace’s website for current opening hours and tour times.

Stockholm Cathedral

Stockholm Cathedral is Stockholm’s oldest building.  The earliest mention of Stockholm Cathedral was in 1279 and the oldest part of the currently standing brick church was consecrated in 1306.  The church reached its current size in the 1480s, but the exterior was rebuilt between 1736 and 1742 to match the recently rebuilt Royal Palace. 

One of the prominent features of Stockholm Cathedral is St. George and the Dragon, a sculpture ensemble consecrated in 1489 carved out of oak with details made with elk antlers and horsehair.  On the condition that the town’s inhabitants convert to Christianity, St. George saved the heathen town of Selene by killing a dragon that demanded human sacrifices.  Sten Sture the Elder commissioned the sculpture, probably identifying with St. George as he saved Stockholm from Denmark when the forces of King Christian tried to invade. 

Stockholm Cathedral also has more modern additions like the candle globe, added in 1972 and used as an assembly point for prayers for the world.

The Nobel Museum

Alfred Nobel was a Swedish chemist and the inventor of dynamite.  It is believed Alfred Nobel didn’t want to be remembered for creating something that killed people, so with his will he established the Nobel Prizes which were to be awarded annually along with a monetary award to world citizens in five categories: physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. 

A visit to the Nobel Museum starts with an introduction to the most recent Nobel Laureates.  Towards the back of the museum during our visit were chiffon draped walls playing short interviews with Nobel Prize winners while overhead a cableway was constantly moving displaying portraits of the over 800 Laureates awarded prizes since 1901.  Also on display are Alfred Nobel’s last will, pictures, and artifacts as well as a display of the place settings used at the Nobel banquet.

KUNGSHOLMEN

Stockholm’s City Hall

Stockholm’s City Hall, or Stadhuset, can only be visited with a guided tour.  It is where city business occurs and the city council meets.  What is probably even more interesting to visitors is that the City Hall of Stockholm is the location of the famous Nobel Banquet every year.

While the building gives the impression of being a few hundred years old, it was actually completed in 1923.  It was built in the “national romantic style” which means the architecture was inspired by Italian architecture and the materials all came from Sweden.

Guided tours lead visitors through the various halls of City Hall.  The first is the Blue Hall, which isn’t blue at all, but is the location of the annual Nobel Banquet where 1,300 guests gather to dine.  The tour also visits the hall where the 101 city council members meet under a boat shaped ceiling painted in deep blue and orange.  As some of the smaller halls of City Hall are very popular for weddings, try to avoid taking a tour on Saturdays as these will very likely be closed off. 

The tour ends in the Golden Hall, completely covered in gold mosaic tiles.  After the Nobel Banquet, guests ascend to the Golden Hall for dancing.  The artist behind this hall was widely criticized for a number of his choices and mistakes, and your tour guide will point these out and tell the tales behind them.  

NORRMALM

Hallwyl Museum

The Hallwylska Museet is quite an eccentric museum.  The Hallwyl Museum was built in 1898 as the summer home of Count and Countess Walther and Wilhelmina von Hallwyl.  There were no budget restrictions, so the Hallwyl house is one of the most expensive private residences ever built in Sweden. 

What makes the museum so unusual is that the Countess decided while she was still alive and living in the residence that she wanted it to become a museum.  To that end, every single piece in the house, from the furniture to the dishes to her jewelry, was cataloged in multiple volumes of books and the house remains exactly the same as when the family lived there.  It is said that even when the Countess went to the theater, small metal tags hung off of her clothing and jewelry as it was already cataloged. 

This eccentricity helped create something that rarely happens, a house museum that actually displays its original furnishings rather than just furnishings from the time period.  The Hallwyl Museum can be visited on a self-guided tour, but joining a guided tour will provide access to additional rooms which can’t be visited alone.

OTHER STOCKHOLM EXPERIENCES

Brunch Buffet Aboard the S/S Stockholm

Enjoying a brunch buffet aboard the S/S Stockolm is a great way to kill two birds with one stone.  On Saturdays and Sundays Strömma Kanalbolaget offers cruises through Stockholm’s archipelago accompanied by a traditional Swedish smörgåsbord.  The cruise is three hours, departs from Strandvägen, and heads northeast through Stockholm’s islands all the way to Vaxholm before returning.  As the islands pass by through the window, cruisers can feast on the smorgasbord. 

Smorgasbord began when the snaps table of snacks and snaps began the dinner.  The tradition grew bigger and in 1939 went international at the New York World’s Fair.  Now smorgasbord is traditional in Sweden on holidays like Christmas and Easter.  On the cruise it is recommended to enjoy the Swedish smorgasbord in six courses: herrings and eggs, fish and shellfish, cold cut meats and salads, hot dishes, cheese, and desserts.

Stockholm Subway Art

Stockholm is a very walkable city, with bridges connecting islands and new sites to see around every corner.  However, sometimes you’ll want to take the subway, not just to get somewhere faster, but mostly to see some of the stations’ subway art.  Stockholm’s subway system has even been referred to as the world’s longest art exhibit. 

The two most impressive subway stations we visited were Kungsträdgården and T-centralen, both on the blue line.  The Kungsträdgården subway station is made to look like an archaeological excavation of the Makalös palace.

The Swedish Tradition of Fika

The first thing we did when we arrived in Stockholm was partake in the Swedish tradition of fika.  The Swedes drink a lot of coffee, but fika isn’t just about having a cup of coffee.  Fika is a time to bond with others over a cup of coffee and a sweet and is practiced daily, if not multiple times a day.  We used our first fika experience to immerse ourselves in the Swedish culture and the Swedish caffeine so we could spend a day of sightseeing after our 18-hour flight. 

One of the best places for a fika experience in Stockholm is Chokladkoppen, which is conveniently located for travelers in Gamla Stan, the old town of Stockholm.  The perfect accompaniment to a mochaccino is a kanelbulle, a classic Swedish cinnamon bun seasoned with cardamom.  Chokladkoppen serves sandwiches and hot dishes in addition to coffees and sweets.

Travel Tip: All of the attractions listed in this post, other than ABBA: The Museum and the brunch portion of our cruise, can be enjoyed using the Stockholm Card.  The Stockholm Card provides free admission to over 75 museums and attractions, free sightseeing by bicycle and boat, and free travel using Stockholm’s public transit system.  You can see all the Stockholm Card covers and purchase one online from Visit Stockholm. 

Thank you to Visit Stockholm for hosting our travels through Stockholm and making this post possible.  As always, all opinions are my own. 

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