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Maps are shown at the bottom of the chapter
VRISES - Georgioupoli 6 KM.
Most busses in the direction of Rethimno and Heraklion are passing Vrises.
In the center of the village are some cafeneions, situated on the river
bank under enormous platane trees, where it's a good start to drink or
eat something before the walk. The yoghurt of Vrises is considered to
be one of the best. The combination with honey is splendid.
From there, the road to Georgioupoli is mostly slightly going down until
the last kilometer where you walk a lane of big eucalyptus trees.
About 1 km. outside Vrises, you find on the right side of the road a
family business by the name Braoudakis
where they produce tsikoudia (raki) and sell various products
from Crete as honey, sweets, wines oil etc. The process is explained on
request.
Before you pass under the main road, you will find on the left the
small church of Agios
Nikolaos. (near the uphil path to Maza)
Closer to Georgioupoli you walk along the river, coming from Vrises, which
ends in a lake (wild life refuge) where you can see numerous turtles, laying together
in the sun. Canoes or peddle boats to explore the lake can be rented near
the bridge in Georgioupoli.
In Georgioupoli you find several good restaurants while there are
places plenty to sit down and have a drink in the square.
A walk of a few hundred meters brings you to the main road, where the bus
in the direction of Chania can be found for your return trip. The
advantage is that Chania is the end point, so you can fall asleep in the
bus without any problem. Georgioupoli
- LAKE KOURNAS 4.5 KM.
The road to the lake is more or less constantly going up. In summer there
are a lot of people on the shores an on the lake, in may and October its
more quiet. There are several restaurants on the lake side. After the
meals its an easier walk back to Georgioupoli, as now the road is descending
to sea level again.
Georgioupoli
- LAKE KOURNAS KOURNAS VILLAGE - DRAMIA ,MAIN ROAD 14 KM OR
EPISKOPI AND TO THE MAIN ROAD 18 KM.
This is a somewhat longer walk and takes several hours. We made a stop at
the lake for coffee before we went further on the road to Kournas village.
This road is going into the mountains and takes some more effort as it is
going to higher ground. You could try to find something to eat in Kournas.
Just before leaving Kournas, there is a taverna in the fork in the road
which is mostly opened. Here the key to the local church can be obtained.
From Kournas you can decide to take the descending road to Dramia on the
main road (left fork) or, if you have the energy to go to Episkopi
(right fork) and from there to
the main road. This walk is longer though. From the main road you can
return by bus to Chania. EXOHIKO
KENTRO - FONES - MAZA - VRISES 6 KM
Just before you reach Georgioupoli you see a big place where there will be
performances in summer (Exohiko Kentro). Next to it, is a road leading up
hill along the cement factory. (some maps do not show this road) After you reach the first house on the
right (Fones), take the
road to the right and walk on. The road leads on a high level from where
you have a nice view on the valley. Just keep walking straight on, passing
the village of Fones, followed by Maza until you pass the graveyard on the left and reach the
road Vrises - Sfakia. Go to the right and after one kilometer you are in
Vrises. The busses to Chania leave from there. ARMENI
- KALIVES - ALMERIDA 10 KM. WITHOUT GOING TO ARMENI 7.5 KM
Instead of taking a bus directly to Kalives or Almerida you can take a bus
in the direction of Rethimno and leave it on the crossing to Kalives. There
you have the choice to walk to the village of Armeni (and walk the same
way back afterwards) or walk directly to Kalives. Walk o the right along the seaside
to go to Almerida and take the small road leading upward between the houses.
Turn to the left and walk the steep road up the hill. The end of the road
is closed for cars. After you pass the gate at the end, take a puff and go
left. Now be carefull ! Instead of walking the asphalt road to Almerida
there is a small path, indicated by a sign which can easily been overseen.
This path leads to Almerida. After Almerida you see Plaka, which is mostly
a new settlement where they are constantly building more and more.
From Almerida the bus for Chania is leaving from the crossing to Vamos. On
the seaside there is a good restaurant which we visit for many years now. APTERA
- NEO HORIO - ARMENI MAIN ROAD 9 KM. / OR AGI PANDES MAIN ROAD 8 KM/ OR VRISES
13 KM.
Leave the bus on the crossing to Aptera.
You can visit the interesting archeological site before you go on the
road to N. horio. From there you can either go to Armeni or walk on
to Agi Pandes, There you can make the choice to wait for the bus to Chania
or walk on to Vrises. AGI
PANDES - VRISES 5 KM.
Leave the bus at Agi
Pantes, walk into the village and go left to Vrises. Half way there is
a nice taverna under the trees to have peaceful rest. AGI
PANDES - FRES - TSITZIFES - VAFES - VRISES 12 KM.
Leave the bus at Agi Pantes and walk in the direction of Vrises. Turn
right at the sign Fres and follow the signs as for the villages mentioned
above. This is a walk trough the green on a very quiet road. Its good to
sit for a while in a small kafeneion and have a talk wit the villagers.
They are really interested in you. It appears that not much people take
this road. TERISO
- CHANIA 15 KM.
This is a rather long walk up hill, which problem we solved by first
walking from Chania to the village of Perivolia where we rested some
and left before the very kind people overfed us with drinks (It is
impolite to refuse of course). From there we got a ride until we reached
the village of Teriso. After a good meal we walked back to Chania. It is a
beautiful road with only one dissonant. The time we were there, the small
stream on the side of the road was heavily polluted. We were told this is
caused by olive oil factories in the mountains. The
name of the region is Apokoronas. See the website of West-Crete
for usefull infomation. OMALOS
- AGIA ROUMELI (SAMARIA
GORGE) 16 KM.
We took the 6.00 bus to Omalos from the central bus station in Chania. A
ride of about one hour with a full load. The driver needs all his skills
to take the sometimes narrow bends in the road. The view during the ride
is marvellous.
As we feared that the walk would be very long, we hurried a bit which
appeared to be unnecessary as we had plenty of time to eat and wait for
the boat to Sfakia. The gorge
is really very beautiful and impressive. We did not regret walking it, but
we think we will limit it to this one time. In the gorge there are wells
with drinking water so there is no need to carry much with you. Half way
you 'll see the old Samaria village.
What more is there to say but
the fact that two days after, descending the hotel stairs was a pain due to
muscle ache.
The bus to Chania leaves after arrival of the boat in Sfakia. Also the drive along
the high road in the Imbros gorge is a special experience, especially when
the driver is constantly using his mobile phone, steering one handed.
All together you will spend a day you will always remember with pleasure
and satisfaction. A
very useful map for all parts of Crete with possibilities for scrolling and zooming in can be
found here.
(Choose: View Chania Town On Map) 
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