The walk from the village of Palea Roumata to Agios Vasileios church in nearby Vavouledo, returning down a small gorge, is described in our book ‘More Walks from Paleohora’ (see below).
Or rather it isn’t, for since the guide was published in 2003 the second part of the walk has changed considerably, and, if that were possible, it has improved. I’ll go as far as to say that there isn’t a better short walk in Western Crete. The distance is only 5 km, taking around two hours, and you’ll enjoy every step of the way.
Palea Roumata is 41 km from Paleohora, turning off the main Chania road in Kakopetros, or coming from Chania, take a left turn through Fotokado after the climb out of Voukolies. Park in the village centre below the imposing church. With the church, and a recently built library/reading room on your left, take the road (south) out of the village, rising steadily through olive groves and vineyards. After 1km turn right, with a distant view of Agios Vasileios church, and at the next junction, on a sharp ‘hairpin’ bend, keep right again. Now the trees are pine, chestnut and plane, as the road swings right, over a bridge and into the hamlet of Vavouledo.
Here’s where things have changed. There’s a small wooden picnic table and chairs, with a water tap, and a sign indicating the path to Palea Roumata. And another to the church just a short distance away, which you must visit, by a path through through fields, below walnut and cherry trees. 
Agios Vasileios is two churches linked, the smaller and older dating from the 11th century with some well-preserved frescos.
The way back to the village is unmistakeable, and the scenery just stunning, especially if water is running down the narrow ravine. There are several more picnic tables, in almost total shade, so take lunch or a snack with you and enjoy the tranquility. Wooden footbridges with handrails cross the stream at intervals, and lower down are a couple of shallow fords. Eventually the path breaks out into the sunshine, leading away from the river on a wide path through olives and wild flowers, past grazing goats and sheep.
On the edge of Palea Roumata we stopped to admire a well in a courtyard. “My great grandfather built it in 1869,” said the Greek houseowner, “but the water’s better from the house, come and sit down.” His wife brought us ice-cold water, while he went off to pick a large bowl of plums. The word “Roumata”, he told us, is the old Greek for rivers (‘rheuma-atos’ meaning ‘stream’ or ‘flow’) and the village has a good supply of water from two valleys, making everywhere so green and
fertile. “What are winters like?” we asked. Generally mild, the village being sheltered by
surrounding hills, except memorably in February 2008, when the temperature dropped to -7c, and strong winds combined with heavy snowfall destroyed many olive trees, as in so many other places locally. Inevitably, out came the ‘raki’, or more correctly ‘tsikoudia’. Lynne and Avril declined, but John and I, being men, felt compelled to accept, even though it was not yet mid-day. “Is it your own?” we asked, somewhat unnecessarily. “Of course!” he replied, and very good it was too. Especially the second …
The village ‘platea’ is just a few minutes away, but first we went to look at ‘The Monumental Olive Tree of Palea Roum
ata’, on the ‘main’ road into the village. Reputedly some 3,000 year old, an information board gives the massive tree’s history and measurements. One of its uses was to hide weapons used by partisans at the battle of Anavos, soon after the German invasion of Crete in 1941.
Our book describes the walk down the Vavouledo gorge into Palea Roumata as “a hidden gem”, and six years on it remains so. The recent path construction has been by the ‘dimos’ or borough of Voukolies, we were told by our new Greek friend, but we have seen no publicity about it. The gorge deserves to be better known. Go there and enjoy it – you won’t be disappointed!
‘More Walks from Paleohora’ is currently on special offer at ‘To Delfini’ bookshop in Paleohora.
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