Walking in Crete

I was missed by the transfer at the airport. The accommodation a mixed bag. The Route Leader was quiet but capable. The walking was challenging (can't imagine doing it in much higher temperatures). The Greeks/Cretans were, by and large, wonderful.

A Really good trip. Weather was bad at the start of the trip and we missed one of the walks. Itinerary had to be changed around our Guide Smaro was great and looked after everyone. Crete was amazing and food was piled high, A salad could be a main meal at the size of it. A great Holiday with a good group.

A very enjoyable trip with a friendly sociable group who chose to eat together every night after tables were booked for us by our excellent leader Christoforos, a leader who obviously enjoys his job and showing people his country. Accommodation was at times excellent clean and mostly modern, the hotel in the mountains on the second day did feel older with a more Alpine feel, and was a bit cool after the coastal warmth but this wasn’t helped by a storm passing through and there was plenty of blankets to keep you warm. As was the friendliness of the staff in all the hotels., Food wise all the supplied breakfasts were surprisingly good with plenty available which kept me going all day and the evening meals ( not included in the price) were excellent too. With regard to the walking the second day, with the bus trip into the mountains, did feel a bit lacking but the leader did manage to squeeze in a wee walk when we arrived which did give the chance for us to get to know each other and he also put on an excellent coastal walk on the rest day for those who wanted to do it. We were effected by bad weather on a couple of days which effected the itinerary, but I think there’ll always be a bit of luck in this especially later in the season with fickle mountain weather, and I don’t believe any of the group, ( frustrating as it was at the time we all understood that safety had to take precedence ) still didn’t enjoy the holiday despite it. And for me it wasn’t always going to be just about the walking, if it was I would have picked a tougher trip. The chance of late season sun, swimming in the sea and social fun company in the evenings in a new part of the world for me was just as important.

An amazing week! Pan was a brilliant leader, he made it fun and looked after us really well. Lovely hotels, enjoyable walking in stunning places in a very unspoilt part of Crete. Fantastic food and opportunities to relax and to swim in the sea. I would recommend this holiday.

A brilliant holiday if you like being active. The scenery is superb, rocky gorges and peaks that are breathtaking, and the vegetation varied between evergreen trees in more mountainous spots, to low thorny shrubs and thyme on exposed sunny slopes. The sound of goat bells and the scent of the herbs make it a multi-sensory experience. Our wonderful guide Smaro was always careful to make sure everyone in the group was happy, and looked after us well. She is such a warm, happy person, loved by everyone we met.

A very enjoyable week, highlights for me were the two gorges which I found reasonably straightforward. I would have liked a couple more longer walks or another gorge to walk but stunning and varied scenery. Accommodation was very good as was the variety of Cretan food to be tried. Crete is certainly a lovely island which we were very lucky to have our excellent tour leader Smaro to show us around