Omalos Plateau

Omalos is a closed karst basin about four kilometres across, floored with flat farmland and grazing at 1,050 metres and surrounded on all sides by the White Mountains, which hold snow into late spring. Water drains from it through a sinkhole, the Tzanis chasm, rather than any river. The plateau is worked for potatoes and grazing but has almost no permanent population, and its handful of buildings serve travellers. At its southern edge the Xyloskalo staircase drops into the Samaria gorge, making Omalos the assembly point for thousands of walkers each summer morning. Roads also lead from here to the Kallergi refuge and up toward Gingilos and the high Lefka Ori peaks, which is where the serious mountain walking on Crete starts.

What you actually see

• The flat basin - farmland ringed by mountains with no outlet river.
• Xyloskalo - the stairway entrance to the Samaria gorge.
• The Kallergi refuge road - the approach to the high White Mountains.
• The spring flowers - a brief and intense bloom on the plateau floor.

When to go

May to October; the plateau is snowbound and often unreachable in winter, and the gorge opens roughly May to October. April brings flowers but the gorge may still be closed. Nights are cold even in summer.

Honest expectations

There is very little at Omalos itself: a few tavernas and rooms, no shops of consequence and no attractions beyond the landscape. Buses run to the gorge entrance early and back late, with awkward timing otherwise. Mountain weather changes fast.

Nearby

The Samaria gorge descends south to Agia Roumeli; Lakki village and Chania lie down the north road.