Driving through the Selino area of Hania prefecture we reach the village of Agia Eirini (700 m. above sea level). Today it has a population of only 100 people (it used to have 500).The river Agieriniotikos passes through the village, which is surrounded by olive trees, plane trees and cypresses. A small church, built in 1357, with marvelous wall paintings is on the Bridge at the beginning of the gorge.

Built on a small plateau, under the mountains Kastro and Fanari, the Askifou can offer the visitor a magical scenery. Especially in wintertime when the plateau is covered with snow or in springtime when is green-clad. In Askifou there is the largest cypress forest in Crete. 50 km away from Hania and 750 meters above sea level, the area has a population of 500 people. The name Askifou comes from the ancient word Skifos (which means cup), as an old peasant told us, because the plateau looks like that.

A completely different walk.It's summertime so I can't help looking forward to a day by the sea. On a nice morning and while I was looking for a certain book I came across a completely different one. Unexplored Crete? in big letters, a challenging title to browse in the book.I started turning over the pages realizing that I had been to nearly all the places described in them. All except?

The gorge of Imbros starts from the last houses of Imbros village and after 8 Km ends at Komitades village.This gorge except from it's natural beauty, has some other aspects that attract the visitor. Crossing is easy and not dangerous at all. Of course there is no need for a guide in order to cross it, since the course to be followed is obvious.

ClimbInCrete has partnered with ExploreCrete, an excellent site about travelling in Crete. Experience the real Crete with this multi-contributor guide - covering archaeology, ecology, beaches, sightseeing, photos, books, reviews and much more. In this article read about the Polyrinnia gorge in Western Crete by Yannis Samatas.

The imposing massif of Lefka Ori has something unique: Most of the main massif summits are over 2000 meters. The visitor can explore this area in many different ways. The best one of course is trekking from one end to the other. The most common routes start from Omalos and end on the plateau of Askyfou (east to west) or start from the village of Kampoi and end in Anopolis (north to south).

It is the last high mountain from East to West in the White Mountains and, in the same way,the first one from West to East. Its altitude, 1984 m, is not considered to be among the highest in Crete,the route to it,however, is one of the most beautiful ones especially in winter.