Chania to Samaria Gorge: Driving, the International Driver’s Permit and Where to Base Yourself in Chania

On the Venetian harbor in Chania, where fishing boats rock beside café tables and the lighthouse glows at the end of the quay, travelers start asking the same thing over their coffee: how do we reach Samaria Gorge? The gorge is the walk that many people plan Crete around, and Chania is the city where the plan begins. The answer starts with a rental car and the right papers in your wallet, and with a clear idea of what you can set up from the old town.

How do you get from Chania to Samaria Gorge?

The route that can be described with certainty starts behind the wheel: U.S. visitors who drive in Greece carry a valid U.S. driver’s license, and insurance companies may require an international driver’s permit. That applies to a drive out of Chania as much as anywhere else on the island.

Chania sits on the northwest coast of Crete and is the capital of the Chania regional unit. Its position at the western end of the island matters for anyone planning a day out of the city. You start from a place that is already far along the island’s western side, whereas travelers who land in Heraklion begin about 90 miles to the east.

Sorting out the driving papers before you leave home

The permit has to be arranged in the United States. The U.S. Embassy in Greece does not issue international driver’s permits, so travelers get theirs from the American Automobile Association or the American Automobile Touring Alliance. Doing this at home, before the flight, keeps the car-rental counter in Chania a matter of signing and collecting keys.

Keep the permit together with your license. Rental desks in Greece may not ask for it, but the rule still applies to you on the road, and carrying both documents is the habit that matches the rule.

Starting from the old town

Most travelers who head for the gorge sleep in or near the old town, and it is a pleasant place to leave from. The stone-built alleys are lined with Venetian mansions, former hammams, minarets and churches, with bougainvillea spilling over the walls and fountains carrying Ottoman inscriptions. A breakfast of yogurt with thyme honey, or a plate of kalitsounia (small cheese pies), is a fitting start before you collect a car.

It is worth knowing about when you plan the days on either side of the gorge.

Which options are there?

Which options are there?

Driving yourself from Chania

A rental car gives you the freedom to choose your own pace out of the city and your own stops along the way. Chania is a good place to pick one up, since the city is the western anchor of the island’s road network. From here the other big towns lie to the east: Rethymno is about 43 miles away and Heraklion about 90 miles, both to the east.

With a car you also decide where to eat. Village tavernas on Crete serve dishes such as dakos (barley rusk topped with tomato and soft cheese), snails with rosemary, lamb with wild greens and graviera, the island’s firm cheese. A glass of raki, the clear grape spirit, often arrives at the end of the meal with a plate of fruit.

Choosing a base in Chania

Whichever way you travel, where you stay in Chania shapes the start of the day. The old town puts you among the Venetian harbor, the mosque with its domed roof by the water and the lanes behind it. It is also where cafés open early and where a kafenio, the traditional coffeehouse, serves strong Greek coffee to regulars.

Walking the harbor the evening before gives you a feel for the city you are leaving from. The covered market, the leather shops of the old town and the seafront promenade are all part of an evening stroll, and they make a good counterweight to a day spent outdoors.

What should you know before you travel from Chania to Samaria Gorge?

Know first that the paperwork for driving is not optional: the permit goes with the license, and it comes from AAA or the American Automobile Touring Alliance in the United States. Everything else about the day, from the walk itself to what you eat afterward, is yours to shape around that.

What to bring and what to expect from a day outdoors

A gorge walk is a day spent on foot in the mountains of Crete, so the packing list is the one you would bring to any long hike: sturdy shoes with a good grip, a hat, sun protection, a refillable water bottle and a light bag with snacks. Dress in layers that you can strip off as the day warms up, and keep a change of clothes in the car for afterward.

Choose your clothes for the conditions of the day you go. Weather on the coast and in the mountains can differ, and the old town you leave from may feel different from the landscape you walk through. Treat the day as an outdoor one and pack accordingly.

Eating and drinking around the day

Back in Chania, the evening is for the table. The tavernas near the harbor and in the lanes of the old town serve grilled fish, stuffed vegetables, fried zucchini blossoms, and cheese pies drizzled with honey. Order a few plates of meze to share and finish with a small glass of raki.

For an easy start to the following morning, look for a bakery in the old town. A bougatsa, the flaky pastry filled with sweet cream cheese and dusted with sugar and cinnamon, is the local breakfast, and a coffee beside it is how many people in Chania begin the day.

Other places in the Chania area

Chania itself rewards time on either side of a gorge day. The old town has Venetian mansions, hammams and minarets to look at, and the Minoan palace of Kydonia now holds World Heritage status. The harbor, the lighthouse and the shaded lanes behind the waterfront fill an unhurried afternoon.

If you want to see more of the island, the cities to the east are within driving range with the same license and permit: Rethymno lies about 43 miles away and Heraklion about 90 miles. Each has its own old town and its own harbor, and each makes a different kind of day.

Good to know before you go

Greece uses the euro, and the small purchases of a gorge day, a coffee, a pastry or a bottle of water, are the kind you make in euros. Keep your license and your international driver’s permit together in the same pouch, and carry both whenever you drive. A day in the mountains calls for water and sun protection, and a dinner in the old town afterward is the natural way to close it.