Haven't walked it - but judging by the hordes in Hora Sfakion in June - it's open!!

Try staying at Sougia or Paleohora - and get the early bus up to Omalos.

Or even at Omolos itself - there are two or three inns, and the owners will drop you off at the top of the gorge in the early morning if you ask nicely.

will not tell you where to stay as not very familiar with that part of Crete. i do know though one thing. if you start walking down from Omalos in the end you will have to get a boat to one of the other sea site villages. so what ever you do make sure there is a way for you to go back. eg from Sfakia to where ever you will be located. Thus if you stay in one of the small south sea site villages your problem will be to find a way to Omalos to start walking. If u stay in Omalos the problem will be to find a way to get back there.
So if i was you i would stay in Chania or Rethymno area and just get one of those organised tours that will provide transportation from and to the accommodation. safer way even if bit more expensive.
P.S for Samaria to close down that will happen when it starts raining as it will become a river. so if you are comming end of the holiday season like end sep or beg of Oct in case it rains it might be close.

Paleochora and Sougia are probably the easiest and most pleasant places to stay which will give you easy access to the Samaria gorge both have early morning buses to Xyloskala the start of the Gorge (also to Ag. Irini gorge).

At the bottom of the gorge(Ag Roumeli) you just take the ferry back to Sougia/Paleochora.

The north coast towns such as Chania/Rethymnon/Kastelli are the 'standard' starting points with early morning buses to Xyloskala but it involves an extra bus connection at the end from Chora Sfakia. This is by far the most crowded route.

It is not flooding that is the problem it's the winter rain which causes erosion of the steps which are constructed near the top of the gorge, however even if these are washed away and not repaired you can still get down.

Thanks for that, shall see what travel agents have on offer, definately fancy doing the gorge though.

Hi,

We walked the Samaria Gorge in May 2006. It was fantastic! We stayed in Georgeopolis and used the public transport. We purchased the tickets the day before from the ticket box on the main highway. The bus departed at approx 7.20am to Chania bus station, from there we caught a bus to Omalos (top of Samaria Gorge) which left at approx 8.30am, arrived at top of Gorge approx. 9.40am (fantastic views up to the gorge) the price per return bus ticket Georgeopolis - Chania - Omalos - Georgeopolis was 12E each. entry to gorge was 5E each It took nearly 6 hours to walk, and we didn't waste time, 1 toilet stop (yuk) and a stop at the warden post/Samaria settlement where we ate our lunch. The walk ends where you catch the ferry price 6E each. The ferry which we caught by the skin of our teeth left at 3.45pm, there is another although I am not sure of the time. I think the ferry took about an hour, short stop at Loutro before the final stop at Chora Sfakia, where we waited for the bus, which should have taken us direct to Georgeopolis, and then it continued to Chania, but the bus dropped us off at a village called Vrisses because another bus was due to Georgeopolis, we arrived back at our apartments in Georgeo. (Sunlight Apartments - Kosmar, brilliant, clean, fab views from top balconys) approx 8pm. Remember to take sun tan cream, plenty of water, hat and food, short toe nails, comfy/sensible shoes/boots, we had hiking sticks which were brilliant. If you do the walk have a fab. time I'd do it again tomorrow - it was amazing! - even if we did lose 5 toenails between us - hence the short toe nails!!

Just a quick note - despite what anyone assures you the PUBLIC bus from Hora Sfakion ALWAYS goes to Chania - anyone wanting to go to G'polis, Rethymnon or Heraklion has to change in Vrisses.

There is one bus a day to Anopolis and an occasional (in summer) bus to Plakias and that's it!

We did Samaria Gorge for 3rd time this June
But this time we did it the lazy way
Starting at the village of Ayia Roumeli and walking about half way up, beyond the "Gates"
I think this time we enjoyed it more and we had time to take it's beauty in and smirk at the others coming down from the top.
Like thomasina said, if you are doing the full walk from the top have a good look at your toe nails before you start it may be the last time you see them in good order
Use good footware that you know well - this is not the place to break-in new boots nor new socks
Some Vaseline for the soft bits
A bottle of water - there are lots of places to re-fill so there's no need carry too much.
Some food ( Mars bars etc. ) There is nothing available ( no shops )
A rucksack for the water, food, camera etc. you'd want your two hands free incase you miss a step and when you do want to look around at the view stop walking
If you are not sure footed and your ankles are weak do it the "Lazy way" you'll still be one of the few holiday makers who do the gorge.

Either way you will enjoy it.
Patrick

PS the bus from Hora Sfakion - Vrisses can be worse than the walk for anyone who suffers from travel sickness. It's a very twisty road so have the plastic bags ready
When we were going back to Heraklion we got a ticket at Vrisses to Rethymnon, broke our trip with lunch and then got another bus about an hour later
I cannot speak highly enough about the public bus service which is safe, quick, clean, on time and cheap just sit back and let someone else worry about driving on the wrong side of the road