Route: The Cretan Way

The Cretan Way is a roughly 280 mile (450 km) linear, point-to-point route with about 62,500 ft. (19,000 m) elevation gain, traversing the entire length of the Greek island of Crete, beginning on the beach in the village of Kato Zakros on the east coast and finishing at the Chrysoskalitissa Monastery on the west coast. 

The Cretan Way leads you through some of the most incredible locations on the island. It takes you through endless olive groves in one of the most famous olive oil producing regions in the world, across its three largest mountain massifs (Dikti, Psiloritis, and the Lefka Ori), to breathtaking world-famous beaches such as Elafonissi Beach in the southwest, passing through ancient Minoan archaeological sites (the civilization that inhabited the island in the Bronze Age), and to villages famous for their resistance during the Nazi occupation of WWII (including the small museum in Asi Gonia of The Cretan Runner, a young villager whose participation in this resistance can be read about in his memoirs/book of the same name), and last but not least, eating amazingly delicious and healthy foods from one of the famous Blue Zone regions of the world. 

The Cretan Way, so named by Luca Gianotti the author of the guidebook by the same name, is a variation of the E4 European long distance path that traverses the Greek island of Crete. Gianotti explains that while the Cretan section of the E4 is perhaps the most well known, it was also, at the time of his writing, in decline due to being “more spartan and adventurous,” requiring a tent and sleeping bag, and it was unlikely that anyone had actually walked the whole route. The idea of the guidebook, as Gianotti states, was to “inject life back into the path… to become one of the most loved in Europe, on par with the GR20 in Corsica, the Camino de Santiago, and the Via Francigena.” 

For someone considering the route, the guidebook ‘The Cretan Way: A 28-day Walk’, is essential. The book provides a day-by-day guide to the route with maps, photographs, narrative descriptions of the route, waymarking, accommodation info, and much more. Gianotti’s website www.cretanway.eu provides additional resources, most importantly a section on route updates and the GPS tracks as well as a Facebook group (Cretan Way) where others attempting the route share their stories, pictures, and updates. Beyond these two most important resources for this specific route, there are numerous other resources for trails in Crete which may be of use such as ‘Outdoor Handbook 88: E4 Crete – Lefká Ori and Lasíthi’ by Jonas Bublak, ‘The High Mountains of Crete: A Walking and Trekking Guide’ by Loraine Wilson, and the numerous comprehensive maps published by Anavasi. 

The Cretan Way is neither a strictly closed course nor a true open course,  it is best described as a defined route with minor lodging-driven deviations allowed. Athletes should follow the GPX track as closely as terrain and conditions allow. The track represents the specific route described in Gianotti's guidebook, which took years to research and refine, and defines The Cretan Way as a distinct route separate from the many other long-distance options across Crete.

Some context is useful here. The E4 European Long Distance Path, on which much of the Cretan Way is based, has significant variation across Crete: there are more coastal alternatives, more mountainous alternatives, out-and-back branches to reach specific landmarks, standalone sections, and portions that are almost entirely on paved roads. The Cretan Way guidebook consolidates all of this into one specific, purposeful line across the island, following the E4 where Gianotti judged it best, and deviating where the E4 was paved, uninteresting, or simply inferior to a better path. This specificity is intentional, and it is what this FKT route reflects.

The one class of deviation which may be allowed, as mentioned above, is village lodging detours. On several days, the GPX track routes into the heart of a village specifically to reach the recommended accommodation. An athlete completing the route in significantly fewer days, or choosing different lodging, may find that a short spur into a village center is unnecessary. In such cases, the athlete may bypass the spur only if they do not bypass the village or its surrounding terrain entirely, the route through the broader area must still be followed, and the village must still be transited. No significant shortcuts between major waypoints should be permitted.

The major geographic features of the route, the Zakros Gorge, the Lasithi Plateau, the summit of Psiloritis (Timios Stavros, 2,456 m / 8,058 ft, the highest point on Crete and explicitly on the guidebook route), the Nida Plateau, the Askifou Plain, and the crossing of the Lefka Ori (White Mountains), must all be passed through in order.

Navigation along the route varies considerably. Gianotti's guidebook indicates a double red stripe waymark system for the Cretan Way specifically, present on a number of sections throughout the route. However, athletes should expect significant variation in waymarking quality, some sections are well-marked with intuitive paths, while others require strong navigation instincts and reliable GPS. This is a feature of the route, not a deficiency: the pathfinding challenge is intrinsic to what makes The Cretan Way a serious mountain undertaking rather than a marked trail race.