Nature And Outdoors in Rethymno

Rethymno sits halfway along Crete's north coast, which makes it a practical base for the island's outdoors: the gorges of the west and the beaches of the Libyan Sea in the south are both within day-trip range. The Samaria Gorge is the headline walk, and tours from Rethymno run it two ways. The long way covers the full sixteen kilometres downhill from the Omalos plateau to the seaside village of Agia Roumeli; the easy way starts at the bottom and climbs only as far as you feel like going. Both versions end with a ferry to Chora Sfakion, where the coach waits. If six hours on your feet sounds like too much, the Imbros Gorge nearby is an eight-kilometre walk between narrow rock walls.

The south coast is closer to Rethymno than to any other big town on Crete — about forty minutes over the mountains. Preveli beach is the reward: the Megapotamos river reaches the sea through a grove of native palms, with the Kourtaliotiko gorge and its vultures along the road. The bays of Damnoni and the village of Plakias sit just next door. Westward trips head for Balos lagoon and the pirate fortress on Gramvousa island, reached by boat from Kissamos, or for Elafonissi, a shallow sandbar with a pink tint to its sand.

Some of it starts right in town. A catamaran leaves the Venetian harbour for a day of swimming stops in quiet coves, or for an evening run past the walls of the Fortezza at sunset. Jeep safaris climb into the Psiloritis foothills for the golden hour, and shepherd's huts in the hills show how graviera cheese is made — with the flock, the copper kettle and a glass of raki included.