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The gorge of Aradena is located in the region of Sfakia. It runs
from the southern slopes of the White Mountains to the small beach
of Marmara (a little to the west of Loutro. The walk through the
gorge used to be considered difficult because of a passage which
had to be negotiated with a rope. About 10 years ago a solid metal
ladder was attached to the cliff instead of the rope, making the
passage easy - as long as you do not suffer from fear of heights
(it is about 10 meters high). Three years ago a path was built which
avoids the ladders and makes it a little bit more comfortable for
people with fear of heights. But beware, although this new path has
a handrail it is not appropriate if you suffer from vertigo.
Walking the gorge of Aradena is not for people without any walking experience:
many passages require a good deal of surefootedness, especially if you are walking
downwards.
I will describe this walk going upwards from the beach of Marmara
to the abandoned village of Aradena because I believe that this walk
is MUCH easier going up than going down. There are a lot of slightly
tricky passages and they require less experience and concentration
going up than going down. The fact that you are walking up from sea
level to a height of about 750m is not very noticeable because the
climb is spread over the length of the gorge.
To walk safely in this gorge you will need walking shoes with a
reasonable grip. Do not ever walk in the gorge of Aradena when it
is raining or has rained recently: the risk of stones falling is
very real. On the subject of stones, there are a fair amount of goats
in the gorge (no, they are not wild!) and these have a tendency to
dislodge stones. Do not pass right under where there are goats. If
you have no alternative way, wait till the goats have moved away
and if necessary chase them away (by throwing stones at them, of
course!).
First you need to get to the beach of Marmara. This is best done
walking (in about an hour) along a coastal path from Loutro. Alternatively,
in summer there is a small boat taking people from Loutro to Marmara
at 11.00 am. Check in Loutro if it is running.
You cannot miss the start of the gorge. Just walk up following the
path in the river bed. The beginning of the walk is between high
cliffs so you will get a fair amount of shade. As often there are
a lot of oleander bushes (they flower in May - June) in the river
bed. Avoid touching them, they are poisonous and some people will
develop allergic reactions from simple skin contact. After about
30 minutes walk, the gorge widens a little and you will see a sign
pointing to the right with Taverna Livaniana written on it. This
path takes you up to the village of Livaniana. An alternative if
you just want a short walk through the gorge. Otherwise keep going
straight up the gorge.
The path is marked with stone cairns and in places with spots of
colour paint. Pay attention to them because there are several places
where you might take the wrong route. You would not get lost but
might make it a little bit more difficult. In a few spots there are
two paths that have been marked. Don't panic, in this case both routes
are OK.
I always compare the walk through Aradena to walking up a staircase with very
wide steps: you walk for a while on almost flat ground, then get to a short steep
part then flat again and on like this. There are seven steep passages. These
are the parts where you are better off walking up (but still treading carefully)
than down.
At the second steep place, in the middle of large oleander bushes
there is a small spring, a little hidden from the path. This is the
only water place in the gorge. This spring is really easy to miss
(there are two paths that are marked with red dots and one of them
does not pass near the spring) so do not rely on it for water and
make sure that you carry enough for the whole walk.
After about one and a half to two hours you will arrive to a kind of fence
across the gorge and have to turn left and start climbing a new path which
was built to avoid the famous (or infamous) ladder which was used until then.
It passes well above it, in the side of the cliff and descends again into the
gorge. The path is well built and reasonably wide but you still need a little
head for heights as it goes into the side of the cliff.  If you want to go the old way, pass under the fence and you will
arrive to the metal ladder, in fact two of them within a couple of
minutes. The higher one moves a little when you are on it but don't
worry, it is really solid. After the ladder keep climbing up (it
is a little tricky for a bit) until you reach the river bed again
and soon you can see the bridge which leads from Anopolis to Aradena
high above you.
You need to pass under the bridge (where you will often encounter
rubbish and assorted nasties) and keep walking for another 10 minutes
up the river bed. You then get to the very good path leading out
of the gorge. If you go to your left it takes you to the village
of Aradena, if you take the one leading up to the right (it starts
about 40m further up the river bed) it takes you out on the other
side of the gorge towards the village of Anopolis.
If you have never been to the village of Aradena, I would definitely
recommend a visit. It will give you a good idea of traditional Cretan
architecture. You can see photos of the houses here.
If you want to continue to Anopolis follow the road (going east!
going west will get you to Agios Ioannis where the road ends) for
about 30 minutes and you get to the village. If you need to carry
on to Chora Sfakion (about 13 km by road) it is generally quite
easy to hitch a lift, if not always from tourists, certainly from
the locals.
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