One of the favourite trips we did when staying in Spili in 2020 was visit Loutro for a day. Loutro is a picture-perfect village on the south side of Crete, only accessible by boat and foot. It is definitely a must-visit place on the island and feels a million miles away from the hustle and bustle of the big cities in Crete.
Getting to Loutro
We decided to opt for the boat rather than hiking- and to get to Loutro you can either get a boat from Hora Sfakion or Agia Roumeli. For most, Hora Sfakion is probably easiest given the only way you can get to Agia Roumeli is by foot by hiking through Samaria Gorge (check out our blog post on this hike here as this is another must-do!).
Driving to Hora Sfakion is relatively easy, and took us a bit over an hour from Spili, but would take around around 75 minutes from Rethymno and around the same from Chania.
On arrival at Hora Sfakion, we found there to be a few car parks- and we were easily able to get a space. Afterwards, we had to buy a ticket for the ferry at the ticket kiosk at the harbour- tickets were around 10 euros per person for a return back in 2020.
Given we visited in the middle of the peak season, we found the boats to be relatively frequent and there was timetable on display so visitors knew when the next boat was, and when the return boat would be. However, it is worth bearing in mind that if you visit in the off peak season the boats would be less frequent.
The full timetable, prices and infromation can all be found here. The boat trip itself only took around 20 minutes, and on the journey you can take in the beautiful crystal-blue waters around you.
Ferry timetable between Loutro and Hora Sfakion
A ferry at Hora Sfakion: we found these varied in size depending on the final destination of the ferry
The beautiful view of Loutro upon arrival
What to do in Loutro
Upon arrival at Loutro, you notice just how quaint (and small!) the village is- there is not much to do apart from eat, drink, bathe, and perhaps go for a walk or a hike. A word of warning though- do be sure to bring some cash with you as we found not everywhere accepted cards and there was no ATM.
When you get off the boat at the harbour, you are greeted with a map- showing the different sights around Loutro, and the various restaurants/hotels/cafes etc. But you can also just explore the village by foot. There is no real beach as such- just pebbles but the incredibly blue waters make up for it and we were very much regretting not brining our swimming things with us!
The map of Loutro
Hiking around Loutro
We decided to walk up the hill located to the left of the harbour- and this provides a beautiful viewpoint next to some ruins of a fortress. You can keep walking along this footpath (this is the E4 Pan-European footpath) and will eventually reach Agia Roumeli. If you decide the hike the other way- eastwards- you will reach Hora Sfakion and pass by Sweetwater beach which is apparently also worth visiting.
After the viewpoint, we decided to walk a bit further to build up more of an appetite before lunch. Here, we came across a beautiful little church the Church of Christ the Saviour (Sotiros Christou), with the white building standing out quite clearly against the backdrop of the blue sea. Further on, we found another church- almost built into the cliffs- which was beautiful but no longer used it seemed.
Overall the area is beautiful and peaceful, making for a very nice change from some of the busier places we have visited during our trip to Crete.
Above: footpath leading up to the Church of Christ the Saviour
Left: the E4 footpath
Church built into the rocks
The church of Christ the Saviour
Food and drink in Loutro
We found Loutro offered a number of options for food. Once we got off the boat, after walking around a bit, we stopped by for a caffe freddo in one cafe to just sit and take in the view.
The village is quiet and it feels like you are miles away from everyone and everything- so a great place to switch off from social media and relax!
We then had lunch at the Blue House- here we had quite a choice of dishes- including fresh seafood. Everything was delicious- we would definitiely recommend it to others.
Top left: Caffe freddo. Bottom left and right: Lunch at the Blue House
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