Imbros gorge, 2hr 30min from Imbros village to Komitades village, close to Sfakia-South Chania. It starts from the small plateau of the village of Imbros and ends at the village Komitades offering wonderful views of the Libyan Sea. Its length is 7 km and is easy to be crossed any time of year. The time required is approximately 3 hours. Crete beautiful gorges article.
Imbros gorge is an easy gorge to walk with family members-children or parents, as its terrain is accessible, this gorge is 11 km long in west south Crete. It takes about 2 to 3 hours to cover the gorge on foot. After the Samaria Gorge, this mountain trail in Crete is the second most visited gorge for hiking adventurists.
What is the location of Imbros gorge?
Imbros gorge is laying on the white mountains west south of Chania region. It is a neighbor gorge to Samaria gorge and to Agia Irini gorge.
Walking through the Imbros gorge.
Imbros gorge is considered to be one of the “easy gorges” to walk through. It is 11km long and its landscape is flat with minor difficulties to walk through. You may need 2-3hours to exit to the end.
How to go to Imbros gorge
The best idea is get to Imbros village by bus. The village is small but with taverns and shops you can get all needed to do the walking experience easier. Actually, you can walk through the gorge and exit to the end that is Komitades village and close by Chora Sfakion small town-this is recommended, rather than walk from Chora Sfakion to Komitades village and to Imbros village exit-it is steep and need more time. When finishing the adventure, get some rest in one of Komitades taverns or Chora Sfakion taverns or cafe and get the next bus to return to your accommodation.
You can drive there by car. I donot advise this way as it is difficult to walk back again to drive to your accommodation, unless you want to do some small walk and go back to the car. There are many who drive by hire car but the driver doesnot walk the gorge, he drives all around to wait for the rest of the party to pick then up for the return journey.
A good choice is hire a taxi. This is a safe way, you drive by taxi to the trailhead and get another one when exiting the end to Chora Sfakion. It is nice when you will be very tired to do so, drive back to your accommodation by a professional driver.
If you like adventure, go with a Mountain Bike. There are many who do this way, they are trained for this and are athletes that can overtake all difficulties of the terrain.
What is the basic equipment to have with to walk Imbros gorge
Water and refreshments is the first you should carry with. A good hat and a good pair of shoes, the terrain is not for open shoes. Donot forget Imbros gorge is one of the hottest temperature places of Crete and may reach up to 45degrees in some points. Protect your self from unpleasant circumstances.
What is interesting around or close by Imbros gorge.
The village of Imbros is a place you can spend some time. Traditional shops, small market and quality goat cheese and vegetables with local meat are offered from the local taverns. The place is unique, the scenery is “wild” but at the same time so much different than other places of Crete!
Accommodation close to Imbros gorge
You can find accommodation at the beginning – Imbros village or at the end-Komitades village or even Plakias or Chora Sfakion, beautiful places in the south coast of Crete!
Taverns and cafe’s close to Komitades village at the end or to Imbros village-beginning of the gorge
Komitades (End of the Gorge)
Komitades, situated at the end of the Imbros Gorge, used to be a quiet village, but has in latter years thrown itself into servicing the walkers of the gorge. This has led to a situation where rip-offs are quite a problem. Signs leading you to the bus stop instead direct you towards an expensive taverna.
All of the ten or so restaurants here have high prices, and the quality of the food is certainly not good enough. It’s far better to walk on the main road (take the right turn) for ten minutes – you’ll find yourself in the centre of the old village of Komitades. Most the tavernas here are cheaper and serve better quality food than the ones at the mouth of the gorge.
Komitades is on the bus route between Plakias and Chora Sfakia. In summer 2008 there was a bus to Plakias around afternoon 4-5pm. If you want to go by bus to Chora Sfakion, Imbros (where many hikers leave their car) or Chania, you’ll need to walk 1.5km out of Komitades to the main road. Be sure to check the timetable first – there aren’t many buses. You could also walk from here to Chora Sfakion on the old main road- 4-5km, an hour walk. Hire a taxi from the end of the gorge and from the village of Komitades, but prices can be high – it’s better to haggle over the price and find fellow walkers to group up with.
Almost all the major tourist resorts in Crete have tour operators offering day trips to Imbros gorge. The big advantage of these is that you get dropped off at the beginning and picked up at the end of the hike. Prices vary depending on the distance of your resort to Imbros, but most will charge €25-40-50.
Visiting period for Imbros gorge
The best period to walk the gorge is between May to October, when the weather is good and with no rain. This because the winter is impossible to visit Crete island, there are no flights, some Greeks do the walking to Imbros gorge during a sunny winter day. As you understand, average sunny winter day in Crete is between 20-22degrees. You can find some useful information in the official page of Samaria canyon that are related to Imbros gorge and Agia Irini gorge, as they are very close.
