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Samaria Gorge and White Mountains

Lefka Ori, Western Crete · Greece

Moderate5 daysEurope~£600 est.

Overview

A five-day walking circuit across Crete's Lefka Ori — the White Mountains — culminating in a descent of the Samaria Gorge, one of Europe's longest and most dramatic gorges at 16 km. The high plateau of the Omalos plain at 1,080 m feels like the moon in summer: bare white limestone karst baking in the Mediterranean sun, wild goats on the clifftops, and silence broken only by the wind. The trail descends through increasingly towering gorge walls — the narrowest section, the Sideroportes or Iron Gates, squeezes to just 3 m wide with walls 300 m high on either side. Water from the stream is cold enough to numb your feet and clean enough to drink. The gorge exits at the sea-level village of Agia Roumeli where you board a ferry to Hora Sfakion, then spend the final days exploring Sfakia's dramatic coastal villages on foot. This itinerary adds a high-route loop above the gorge for those who want the full mountain experience before the famous descent.