Lakki is a mountain village in the Chania district of western Crete, perched on a slope of the White Mountains along the road that climbs from Chania up to the Omalos plateau and the Samaria Gorge. Whitewashed and stone houses stack up the hillside, giving wide views over deep valleys and distant peaks. Cool air, … Read more
Meskla is a green mountain village at the foot of the White Mountains in the Chania district of western Crete, set in the fertile Keritis valley among plane trees, running water and orange groves. Streams and springs cross the village, feeding gardens and keeping it lush even at the height of summer. Notable small Byzantine … Read more
Askyfou is a fertile mountain plateau high in the White Mountains, in the Sfakia region of western Crete, at around seven hundred metres above sea level. The basin sits within the Chania district, ringed by peaks and cooled by highland air even at the height of summer. The main road from Vryses down to the … Read more
Omalos is a high mountain plateau in the White Mountains of western Crete, a flat, fertile basin sitting at around eleven hundred metres above sea level and ringed by bare limestone peaks. A small village of the same name spreads across the basin, serving the walkers and climbers who arrive here through the year. The … Read more
Anopoli is a mountain village on a high plateau above Chora Sfakion, in the Sfakia region of south-west Crete. It belongs to the Chania region, and the peaks of the White Mountains ring the plain on almost every side. Scattered hamlets spread across the plateau around a central square, which holds a statue of Daskalogiannis, … Read more
The White Mountains dominate western Crete as a vast limestone massif rising to over two thousand four hundred metres at Pachnes summit. Pale rock gives Lefka Ori its name, gleaming under the Mediterranean sun and holding snow patches into early summer. Deep gorges slice through the range toward the Libyan Sea, while the high Omalos … Read more
The Samaria Gorge is the headline hike of south-west Crete, cutting roughly 16 km through the White Mountains national park to the Libyan Sea. Walkers begin high on the Omalos plateau at Xyloskalo, around 1,200 metres, then drop down a steep wooden-stepped path into the riverbed below. The route runs one way and downhill, past … Read more