Ανάβαση Σαμαριάς (Αγία Ρουμέλη - Ξυλόσκαλο - Καλλέργης) / Samaria Ascend (Agia Roumeli - Xyloskalo - Kallergis)

An epic ascend through the Samaria Gorge, starting from the Agia Roumeli dock and finishing at the Kallergis Refuge at around 1600 metres!

Very few people attempt the ascend of the Samaria gorge for two reasons: first, it requires significant fitness levels, and second, you can't do it in one day unless you're staying in southern Crete! Because of the way local buses and ferries operate, you need to stay overnight at (preferrably) Agia Roumeli, make the ascend during the next day, and take the late bus from Xyloskalo back to Chania.

However, if you are up for it, this approach has significant benefits:

1. If you start early, you get to see the most interesting part of the gorge (kms 7-12 of the descend) completely on YOUR OWN. The light for taking photos may not be perfect, but experiencing the gorge on your own in complete silence is a life-changing experience! (sometimes broken by the passing 'agrimia') 🤣

2. During the difficult part (last 3 kms of the ascend), you will generally have cooler temperatures.

3. Having all people going down (including the 'celebrity hikers') during the last hard kms is actually a good thing, because each of them greets you with awe that you are actually going upwards, and in this way time passes very quickly (true story!).

Joking apart, the last 2 kms before Xyloskalo are difficult due to the wooden 'stairs' which are hard on the feet. Once you reach Xyloskalo though, you have already accomplished something special! Very few people have done the entire Samaria gorge upwards (or will do it in the future!).

The next part is OPTIONAL. I continued my ascend up until the Kallergis refuge , which adds another 400 metres of elevation to the trail. There is really nothing special in this last part, I did it because I had the time and the will! 🙂

I do not provide a detailed description of the Samaria Gorge here, such a description is available everywhere on the Internet! Just make sure you wear good shoes, ascend or descend!

Enjoy!

PS Wikiloc got confused about the elevation gain and loss of the trail, probably due to the lack of connectivity. These numbers are obviously wrong in the panel, but their net result is closer to reality. It should have been around 1600 metres of total elevation.