Planning to stay in Rethymno and would like to do the Samaria Gorge. Does anyone know if there is a bus trip from Rethymno to Samaria return which picks you up at Sfakia and delivers you back to Rethymno?

Yes; there are lots. You will find lots of trael shops which try to sell you the package. If you choose you can do the whole thing by local bus and save about 1500dr per person. <BR> <BR>We were forced to do it ourselves last year when the tour operator cancelled o us at 10pm the night before. You do not need the tour company for anything other than the comfrt zone. Believe me, you can't get lost <BR>

Thanks, Sheila. I assume that one can get a bus to the Samaria Gorge starting point. Does the bus also pick you up at the coast and bring you back north? Do you have to change buses to get back to Rethymno? We will have a car and might drive to Samaria. Is that practical since you have to get from the coast back to Samaria to pick up the car?

Does the same thing apply to taking the trip from Chania? We will be there with a car. Or should we drive somewhere else to get the bus or leave the car and return?? We want to be as independent as possible.

Definitive answer to both Patrick and Ron <BR> <BR>In all of the big and medium sized towns in Crete there are tour operators who will sell you a day trip to Samaria. The contents of the package may vary slightly, but you will get a bus trip to the top of the gorge, a ticket to get in, the ferry from Agia roumeli to either Souyia or Hora Sfakion and the back trip back to where you started. You may get a guide and a packed lunch too. <BR> <BR>I would imagine that on the trip buses it's the same bus, but I gues it might not be if there was some method of their rotating it. <BR> <BR>The only way to do this with a car is by leaving it at Samaria and getting a taxi back at the end; or by leaving it at Souyia or Hora Sfakion and getting a taxi up to the start. I am not categoric about this but I do not think there is a service bus from the coast to Samaria at the end of the day. <BR> <BR>When we did it last year, we were staying on the south coast in Paleohora, and thanks to our unreliable tour company, we got the service bus from Paleohora to Samaria at about 6.30am and then the ferry all the way home. So only a one way bus trip. having done it, whilst i was unhappy at the removal of the safety blanket of the tour at 10.30pm the night before, I would strongly advise that you do it on the service bus. There is just no need for tour assistance. the cost is not much less (from memory it cost us 15dr less per head), but it did mean we were independent. <BR> <BR>You can't get lost. Apart from the fact that you will be alone with nature and bout 3000 other walkers, there is an unmissable path, plenty of places to get water and a few loos on the way. <BR> <BR>The hottest bit (assuming you do what everyone does and start early in the day) is the couple of kms above Ayia Roumeli when there is no shade. There is all the way down the gorge. <BR> <BR>Ayia Roumeli is just a bunch of tavernas and a few shops designed to take as much as possible off you whilst you wait for the ferry. <BR> <BR>The beach is very stoney, butyou will get very bored if you don't take a cossy and go swimming whilst you wait. <BR> <BR>Wear good shoes. Take something snacky to keep your blood sugar levels up, but you can eat properly at the bottom. <BR> <BR>Incidentally we drove back the following Sunday and climbed Gingilos the 6000er at the top of the gorge; and I enjoyed that for the solitude as much as the gorge for the experience.

Hiya - myself and my boyfriend are going to Crete next week - we are considering going to the Gorge but, not being very fit, I think that it might be a bit too strenous to attempt in the heat. Does anyone know if it is possible to go to the Gorge - and only do a few kms of it? <BR>

They talk about "Samaria the easy way" What you do is take the ferry from one of the other south coast ports and then you walk UP the gorge a mile or so and then backup again. But don't be surprised when the chaps coming down get tee'd off when you block the path.