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WALK 1

Around the Omalos Plain

Start/Finish Omalos hamlet 1080m (3543ft) Distance 5–6km (3–3¾ miles), depending on route Grade A Time Allow 20mins per km; straight across the plateau is about 2.5km, and return by either rim road is about 3km Access KTEL Omalos bus or taxi from Chania

On this route walkers can avoid the roads fairly well by using perimeter sheep paths and service tracks. On the plain, patience will be needed with fencing and gates (hence the generous time allowance). The whole area is heavily grazed, but wild flowers survive here and there on the borders of the old meadows or around the sinkholes, one or two of which retain water in the spring. The two-storey white taverna, at a place called Selinotikos Gyros, to the left of the western pass, is a popular destination. Along with refreshments, grills and salad, the taverna offers rooms for rent.

A few rare ambelitsia trees, endemic to the Omalos region, grow in the dry watercourse descending from the Strifomadi–Psilafi massif. Ambelitsia wood is used to make the traditional shepherd’s crook of Sfakia. Ruined (and new) ‘summer’ houses ring the edge of the plain, as this was (and still is) a transhumance destination for shepherds of Ay. Irini and Lakki. Much needed by the busy hotels, cheese is still made here in the spring – excellent mountain-produced graviera that does not reach Chania market.