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Greece
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Crete Region
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Heraklion
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Tours & Activities
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Off-Road Buggy Adventure in Crete
1 day
About this activity
The safari trip starts heading towards the traditional village of Old Heronissos. As you pass through the square and continue towards the mountains, our route will go around the new reservoir built between the villages of Potamies and Avdoul. Just before Potamies, you will leave the tarmac and take the side roads.
You will cross a dried out riverbed and pass through olive groves under the main road and continue up the mountainside where we’ll have great photo opportunities of the dam. Then, continue on towards Avdou. The route snakes through the narrow village streets of Gonies and climbs steeply up towards the Lasithi Plateau. Every 25-30 minutes, there will be stops for photographs. During this time, the guide will inform you about the places we visit, enriching the journey with curiosities about Crete.
About half-way up to the Lasithi Plateau, you’ll come across the beautiful village of Kera located on the side of the mountain and overlooking the villages below. A longer stop will be made at the Kera Kardiotissa monastery, enabling you to enjoy the mesmerizing views and explore the monastery and surroundings. Following our spiritual break, the climb continues to an altitude of nearly 1000 meters where you’ll descend to the volcanic Plateau of Lasithi. The next photo stop will be made at the lakes of Havga. These two lakes are the source of the freshwater supply of the Lasithi Plateau and collect the snow melt from the surrounding mountains.
The buggy safari will continue through the plateau heading west towards the village of Psychro where the longest stop will be made for lunch at a family-run, traditional tavern. Here you will enjoy the delicious taste of locally produced food and receive a genuine Cretan welcome. After eating and chatting our off-road activity in Crete will be complete but not over. As we travel on, you’ll change direction, moving towards the mountain passage leading to the village of Kastamonitas and eventually back to where our journey began. A few more photo stops will be made as we travel.
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You will cross a dried out riverbed and pass through olive groves under the main road and continue up the mountainside where we’ll have great photo opportunities of the dam. Then, continue on towards Avdou. The route snakes through the narrow village streets of Gonies and climbs steeply up towards the Lasithi Plateau. Every 25-30 minutes, there will be stops for photographs. During this time, the guide will inform you about the places we visit, enriching the journey with curiosities about Crete.
About half-way up to the Lasithi Plateau, you’ll come across the beautiful village of Kera located on the side of the mountain and overlooking the villages below. A longer stop will be made at the Kera Kardiotissa monastery, enabling you to enjoy the mesmerizing views and explore the monastery and surroundings. Following our spiritual break, the climb continues to an altitude of nearly 1000 meters where you’ll descend to the volcanic Plateau of Lasithi. The next photo stop will be made at the lakes of Havga. These two lakes are the source of the freshwater supply of the Lasithi Plateau and collect the snow melt from the surrounding mountains.
The buggy safari will continue through the plateau heading west towards the village of Psychro where the longest stop will be made for lunch at a family-run, traditional tavern. Here you will enjoy the delicious taste of locally produced food and receive a genuine Cretan welcome. After eating and chatting our off-road activity in Crete will be complete but not over. As we travel on, you’ll change direction, moving towards the mountain passage leading to the village of Kastamonitas and eventually back to where our journey began. A few more photo stops will be made as we travel.
Included
- All taxes, fees and handling charges
- Fuel surcharge
- Lunch
- Professional guide
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Port pickup and drop-off
Not included
- DVD (available to purchase)
- Pickup outside 20-kilometer radius of Hersonissos (available for an additional fee)
Additional
- Confirmation will be received within 48 hours of booking, subject to availability
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
- Please advise any specific dietary requirements at time of booking
- Vegetarian option is available, please advise at time of booking if required
- This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund
Features
Tourism
80%
Adrenaline
75%
Original
70%
Sport
50%
Reviews
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A fun way to spend your day. The lunch in between was yummy. The views from way up high were beautiful. They insist on being safe which I appreciate. My only wish is that I could've had the buggy all to myself for driving. We had to take turns sharing! :
Absolutely fantastic experience. We all husband,son and daughter and myself had a fun day driving through some wonderful dirt tracks experiencing wonderful views in the high mountains in Crete. The guides were very professional and all the equipment checked throughout our journey resulting in changing a flat tyre and a flat battery. Where we stopped for lunch provided excellent food and drink. Very very dusty. Face masks are provided so recommend you take them and wear clothes you don't mind getting dirty. Excellent day out.
We pre-booked the safari online using Viator before leaving the UK, on the selected day a car arrived at our hotel reception exactly on time to take us to the venue start point where we were expertly dealt with and issued with the protective clothing necessary to deal with the off road conditions of the safari. More than 80 of our time in the well maintained and comfortable high performance buggies was spent off road led by our excellent guides who made sure we saw many sights, experienced the best of the rough terrain, enjoyed all that these purpose built off road vehicles could provide and ate well. The Bar B Que included in the price was excellent and filling in ambient al fresco surroundings with lot's of traditional Greek side dishes. The tour itself lasted about 5 hours and the trip to the top of the mountains was great fun, awe inspiring at times with enough stops for photo opportunities. We hired a number of buggies during our stay in Crete for on road use and most were very dubious in their condition but that cannot be said about the Safari buggies, they are all in excellent condition and can go places that even the most powerful and biggest quad bikes cannot. We would certainly book again if we visit Crete in the future and we would highly recommend this safari to everyone else who visits, you get to see sights you will not experience any other way and in a really fun way.
This tour was amazing!