37-38 Gerakari – Amari – Fourfouras

This is a very pleasant part of the E4 trail on Crete island that starts at the village of Gerakari and will bring you to Fourfouras, on the western slope of the Psiloritis mountain range. From here you can ascend to the summit towards the highest peak of the island, Timios Stavros (2456 m). Gerakari is only a 35 km drive from Rethymno and 19 km from Arkadi monastery. It is a beautiful mountainous village that stands at an altitude of 680 meters.

The E4 route from Gerakari to Fourfouras

After the Iroon square in Gerakari (1), we continue for 450 m to the northern exit of the village. We then turn right on the dirt road (2), which we leave after 150 m and descend to a vague path that goes along a small ravine (3) and then ascends to the village of Elenes (4).

From the northern edge of the village, we follow the unsurfaced road eastwards. We ignore a right side road and after approximately 400 m, a very vague path (5) begins on our left-hand side, which goes up along the bushy hill slope, to a small oblong flat area. We follow the relatively frequent marks and come to a dirt road (6) on the eastern ridge of the hill that leads down to the east, in a flat area with vineyards. From there, we follow the asphalt road (7) northwards. To the east, the small, distinctive summit of Mount Samitos dominates the scenery.

Soon we reach the chapel of Agios Titos (8), north of which an unsurfaced road begins. We continue eastwards for about 200 m and come to a fenced area; we walk along its northern side, on a path hard to discern, along a bushy slope. After approximately 1 km, we come to a turn of the path (9) towards the north, which descends to the village of Amàri. We follow this left-hand turn-off and a few metres further down we come upon a drinking fountain. About 5 minutes later, we arrive at the beautiful historical village of Amari (10), the old capital of the district that has the same name. Alternatively, from the chapel of Agios Titos (8), we can continue on the asphalt road, turn right at a crossroads and after about 2 km arrive at the village of Amari.

From Amari, we follow the main road eastwards, pass through the village of Opsigias (11) and then reach Monastiraki (12). There, we can visit one of the most important archaeological sites of the Old Palace period of Minoan Crete. We next follow the main road southwards, reach the chapel of Agia Marina (13) and continue towards the village of Lambiotes (14). Down below, in the valley, we see the reservoir of Vyzari. By now, high above us rises the south-eastern slope of Psiloritis, its summit being easily distinguishable. From the northern part of the village, we go down the road until the course of the stream (15), which we cross. Then, we continue southwards, initially parallel to the stream, and in 400 m arrive at the reservoir of Vyzari, which we bypass from the north. Halfway to its eastern side, we come to a dirt road (16) which goes towards the east, and after 400 m we reach the main road (17) between Rethymno and Fourfouras, which we follow eastwards until Vyzari (18).

We continue on the main road for about 450 m and then come to a dirt road (19), which ascends to the right, passes north of a cemetery and ends at Fourfouras (20). This is the last village before the climb to the Psiloritis massif and we stop here to rest.