Photo Safari

10 hours

The tour starts from your resort of stay

First stop: Askifou village is surrounded by the White Mountains and resembles a giant cup, a skyphos in Ancient Greek, whence the name Askifou. Many thousands of years ago, the Askifou Plateau was probably a large lake. In 1821 there was a battle here between the Turks and the Sfakians, resulting in victory for the locals.

Second stop: Imbros village is located at an altitude of 780 meters and is at the South end of Askyfou, Roman architectural structures have been found in the village. Its name is derived from the small community of Imbrian immigrants that arrived in the area in 1479, the year the island of Imbros was occupied by the Ottoman rule. Imbros Gorge starts just south of the village, during World War II, twelve thousand soldiers evacuated the island walking through the gorge to the south coast of Crete under aeroplane fire, there they were taken by the Royal Navy to Egypt. Imbros Gorge, is an 11 km long canyon located near Hora Sfakion in southern Crete and Samariá Gorge, its narrowest part has 1.60 m and it ends at the village of Kommitádes.

Third stop: Frangokastello castle is located in the southern prefecture of Chania 12 kilometers east of Sfakia. We will explore the fortress of Frangokastelo , where historic events took place during the period of the Venetian rule, as well as during the subsequent period of the Ottoman rule. The castle was built by the Venetians in 1371-74 as a garrison to impose order on the rebellious Sfakia region, to deter pirates and to protect Venetian nobles and their properties. On 17 May 1828 a celebrated battle was fought at Frangokastello, hundreds of locals and Epirotes led by Hatzimichalis Dalianis, a Greek patriot from Epirus attempting to spread the Greek war of independence from the mainland to Crete, occupied the castle, but were besieged by the Turks and slaughtered. According to tradition around the anniversary of the battle each May, shadows of the armed Cretan and Epirote soldiers who lost their lives there seem to march towards the fortress around dawn, these are called Drosoulites, and have been explained as a meteorological phenomenon.

Forth stop: Plakia costal village Just half an hour from Rethymno city you reach the south coast and the beautiful Plakias area. Plakias is a coastal settlement at the southern Crete, 40 km south of Rethymno, with 237 permanent residents, built at the cove of the bay of the same name on a wonderful sandy beach, 1300 m long, between the capes Stavros and Kako Mouri, that is ideal for swimming and sea sports. While taking your romantic barefoot walk on the sandy beach you encounter the magnificent sand flowers. The Sea Daffodil is one of the most beautiful of the wild Cretan flowers. It is also called Sand Daffodil, Sea Lily and Sand Lily and it will mark your unique Cretan holiday.

Fifth stop: Kourtaliotiko Gorge is located 22km south of Rethymno and has a length of 3km. It is one of the most spectacular natural attractions of Rethymnon. It starts from the village Koxare and flows between the mountains Kouroupis (984 m) and Xiro Oros (Dry Mountain – 904m). The huge cliffs of the canyon reach a height of 600 meters and are full of openings and caves, where significant fauna species live. The canyon is crossed by the Kourtaliotis River which flows up to Lake Preveli, after merging with Frati Gorge. The springs of Kourtaliotis are one of the nicest attractions of the gorge.

Trip duration approximately 10 hours

Extras to be paid the day of the trip
Entrance fee to Frangokastello castle: 3,00 €

What to take with you
Comfortable walking shoes
Sunglasses
Swimsuit
Sunhat

10% discount is offered for online prepayments of private excursions

Excursion Terms

Private daily trips with versatile planning

(Different groups/prices depending on the number of passengers)

All the daily trips have standard prices included the vat, their valid is for pick-ups from Chania city center up to 10 km within the city perimeter zone. In case where your accommodation is located outside of the 10 km perimeter zone, then when you will fill in the reservation form, then automatically will be displayed our new offer for your excursion with the increased costs based on the new kilometer distance.

All groups concerns specific number of passengers. Every extra hour of delay of the predetermined time program has a different charge for each passenger group category.
For example for the group category of 1-4 passengers: A trip that has designed to last 5 hours and by your decision in the end last one extra 1 hour then the final price will be the value of the trip + 30,00 euros, for the groups of 5-10 and 11-19 passengers every extra hour of delay will be charged with 40,00 euros per hour, for the group of 20-30 passengers the charge is 50,00 and final for the group of 31-50 passengers the charge is 50,00 euros per hour.

If you wish to have guided tour by an escort it will be extra 50,00 € (The value of the trip + 50,00 €). If you wish to have guided tour by an official certified guide it will be extra 150,00 € (The value of the trip + 150,00 €).

Reservations are accepted no later than 2 days before the desired day trip.

The design of all private daily trips has been made by our company with out to commit our clients in terms of the starting time and the stops that we recommend for the trip destination that you will choose. Requested changes will be accepted as long as we are informed about it the day of the reservation. Last minute changes are not accepted.

The daily trip rates relates only to your transport, anything else such us official guides, escorts, entrance fees to museums, archaeological sites, boat tickets, meals, drinks etc.. are not included. (Αfter request we can undertake full package trips: Hotel accommodation, arrival – departure transfers, excursions, meals, entrance fees tickets, guiding, etc…) Choose the suitable group category according the number of passengers.

CANCELATION FEES FOR PREPAYMENTS:

Cancellation which will be made from 10 days prior the day trip/transfer or last minute will subject to 100% cancellation fee of the total value. No refund.

Cancellation which will be made from the 11th day until the 21st day before the day trip/transfer will subject to 30% cancellation fee of the total value.

Cancellation which will be made from the 22nd day until the 30th day before the trip/transfer day will subject to 10% cancellation fee of the total value.

Cancellation which will be made from the 31st day and hence before the trip/transfer day will refund the full amount paid. The only charge that you will object is the bank detention taxes.

FAQs

If your pick up point is out of the 10km perimeter zone but is on the way to your desired trip there is no extra charge. On the other hand if your pick up point is out of the perimeter zone and not on the way for the trip then when you will fill in the reservation form, automatically will be displayed our new offer for your excursion with the increased costs based on the new kilometer distance.

A private trip can be designed according to your preferences just for you, more over the pickup/drop-off point will be your resort of stay. On the other hand if you participate in a mix group the program is standard according to the company’s schedule and cannot be amended. For the participants of the mix groups the meetings points are specific. If your resort of stay is far from these specific meeting points the expenses for your transport in order to go from your accommodation to these meeting points (and vice versa) are not provided from our company.

If you choose a private trip there are plenty ways of payment, you can prepay online throughout our website, you can pay direct to the driver at the end of your trip with cash or alternately you can come to our office. If you prefer to participate in a mix group then the payment of your ticket can be made only online or alternately you come to our office. (Reservations are accepted no later than 2 days before the day trip).

Escort is the person who will be with you from the time boarding to the vehicle until the end of the trip to the drop-off point – your resort of stay. The escort doesn’t have the right to have entrance in museums or archaeological sites.

On the other hand an official guide is the person who has university certified education. Only the official certified guides are allowed to have entrance at any site no matter if it will be archaeological or not. Since the daily trip that you will choose includes museums etc…

No, if your resort of stay is not out of the 10 km perimeter zone of Chania city center, if don’t exceed predetermined time duration or if you don’t want an escort/official guide.

All the vehicles of our company have in the windscreen the logo our company (Edem Travel Agency) more over the escort/official guide/driver will be informed about your name.

Of course but having first discussed about it with us through email

When the number of passengers is up to 4 the trip is usually made by Mercedes taxi , for groups of 5-10 & 11-19 passengers the trips are usually made by Mercedes Sprinter while for groups of 20-30 & 31-50 category the trip is made by coach such us Mercedes, Setra ,Neoplan etc.

Some excursions such us Samaria gorge, Balos Gramvousa cruise, Spinalonga, Botanical park and Agia Triada Monastery have specific pick-up time and you can not start your excursion at any time due to specific boat time departures, specific opening times to the museums, monasteries and etc..

If the day of the excursion the client doesn’t come to the meeting point at the pre-agreed meeting time,  the driver of our company is obligated to wait maximum 10 minutes, after that time the driver will depart and  No refund  will be given. In that case the company has no responsibility for carrying out the excursion.

You can request total refund up to 48 ours before your arrival to Crete, in order to refund your money we need: Bank Name, Swift Code, IBAN number, Account’s owner name & reservation voucher number.