A beautiful place! The garden is huge, full of exotic plants, scents, and colors. Walking along the paths surrounded by nature is pure pleasure, and the mountain views are breathtaking. Everything is very well maintained, and the plant information is really interesting. After exploring, it’s worth stopping by the restaurant – the food is delicious and made with local ingredients. A perfect spot for a peaceful day surrounded by nature. Highly recommended!

What an amazing place to spend our afternoon. We loved it so much we returned the following day for lunch again. The gardens, the trails and the huge variety of plants are a paradise on Earth, where we have learnt so much about Crete, while listening to birds and smelling the rich aromatic scent of flowers and Cretan herbs. ✨Moreover, the story behind this Botanical Garden is such an inspiring story: in 2003 a massive wilfire reduced to ashes this valley and destroyed many thousands of trees, including many thousands of 400 years old olive trees, that only grew in this part of the world. Visiting this place is also a beautiful reminder of how regeneration is possible, with determination and dedication. Bravo to all the people who made this peaceful nature sanctuary a reality, after such a big loss. Also, we couldn’t recommend the restaurant more! Local, oh-so-tasty foods and ingredients: we had the rooster with homemade pasta, the homemade bread, Fava, and several other yummy typical mezze. The small salted olives were incredible, too. It is as if each ingredient here tastes 100% more than similar ingredients in other places. Finally, there’s a very garnished shop with great local products and books, and an amphitheater for events. We fully recommend the visit, if you come to Crete! Ps. Some people leave trash behind - please don’t.

My family and I had a wonderful experience exploring the beautiful gardens, learning about the wide variety of fruit trees, plants, and flowers native to Crete. The gentle pathways created a calm and enriching environment to wander, learn, and appreciate the richness of the landscape. We also enjoyed a nourishing lunch at the restaurant, with fresh and flavourful dishes ranging from vibrant salads and seasonal fruits to wood-fired meats. The gift shop offered a great selection of local products showcasing the many uses of natural ingredients. To top it off, we were surrounded by wildlife, including peacocks and donkeys. I highly recommend visiting the gardens to anyone with an interest in nature.

The park is gorgeous! It left the deepest impression of all the places I visited in Crete. Imagine walking among blooming, fragrant trees and flowers of incredible variety and seeing peacocks and baby deers walking nearby. After the walk you can visit lovely restaurant with very welcoming service. The history of the place is fascinating too. This park was envisioned in the aftermath of the devastating fire. So the park literally appeared from the ashes like phoenix :) It’s easy to get here even if you don’t drive a car by public bus that runs from the Chania bus station on daily basis.

Absolutely beautiful botanical gardens with loads of native and tropical plants. Peacocks everywhere! Treat yourself to the ‘long walk’ down to the lake, It’s not that long, and is really pretty plus there’s donkeys, deer, geese, ducks and more peacocks down there next to a citrus grove. Some parts can be steep and uneven. Once you’ve finished hiking the gardens treat yourself at the restaurant, you won’t be disappointed, the food is delicious and fresh and really good value.

Wonderful experience. It’s a 2.5km one-way path through a wide variety of plants, taking us 1.5 hours but recommended to be 2 hours. It’s mostly shaded (very helpful in summer), and though it winds a little downhill and uphill we didn’t find the rocky path too difficult (though it is not for those with mobility issues). Suggest making sure to have water during the walk - they sell 500ml bottles at the front (€0,50 when we came). There is great signage throughout about the numerous plant varieties - almost too much information but just choose to read the ones that caught our eye. The amount of wildlife was a special surprise - many peacocks with their recent babies throughout, small geckos, butterflies, bees, donkeys, ducks, geese, and even two deer (that quickly fled when they saw us). Restaurant is at the entrance/exit area and table service only. Though great views we just picked up a few waters and orange juice to go at the entrance area. Toilets nice and clean, though note there are no toilet seats for women’s stalls. Shop had a wide selection of items available to purchase. Car park decently sized, and we had no issues finding a close spot. One electric charger available. A few switchback roads at the end of driving there but fairly wide (for mountain roads) so no problem. Note: Pictures in route order. Also In summer (July/August) cicadas out and were quite loud (commonly 80/90 decibels according to my watch). Typical for the entire island during this time but not quite the peaceful walk originally planned for.

We loved our visit! We hadn’t made too much research, so we were surprised this was a 2,5 km wander down and up the side of the mountain. Be prepared with good shoes and a water bottle. We visited late August which meant we got to see a lot of fruit, but not as many flowers. Beautifully maintained plants and grounds. Lots of peacocks with babies!