Gorges & hikes Hidden gem

Arvi Gorge

Viannos, Heraklion · Free

Highlights & amenities

Entry: Free

About

A dramatic canyon with an 85 m waterfall.

The Arvi gorge lies near the village of Arvi on the south coast of Heraklion. It's a dramatic canyon with cliffs, waterfalls and caves, accessible only with ropes and climbing gear.

The highlight is the Kapnistis waterfall, an 85 m cascade. The lower part of the gorge can be visited from Arvi.

Viannos is the south-east corner of Heraklion, on the slopes of Mount Dikti above the Libyan Sea. The area is green, with olive groves, chestnut trees and banana greenhouses in warm valleys such as Arvi. The coast has quiet villages and beaches like Keratokambos, Tertsa and Psari Forada, far from mass tourism. In 1943 the villages of Viannos suffered one of the worst massacres of the German occupation, remembered at a memorial near Amiras.

Around Viannos

Nearest town: Ierapetra, about 33 km by road
Nearest airport: Heraklion airport (HER), about 59 km by road

Heraklion is the heart of Minoan Crete and the island’s busiest region. Knossos and the Heraklion Archaeological Museum are the two places almost everyone visits, and they work well together on one day. In the south, the wide Messara plain holds the palace of Phaistos, the Roman ruins of Gortyna and the famous caves above the bay of Matala. More about Heraklion