Top Crete Unique Experiences

Visit the family mountain home of a local Cretan for a completely authentic evening of cooking, eating, and cultural exchange. Begin your visit with a walk through the vegetable gardens, where you harvest ingredients to use in your recipes. Learn traditional dishes from your hosts, and hear the stories behind each dish. Enjoy a walk through the mountain paths with views of the Aegean Sea. Sit down to a meal you helped prepare, including local wine and a sweet dessert.

The island of Crete has been an active winemaking region for centuries – men and women have been growing grapes on the island and turning it into wine since the times of ancient Greece. On this easygoing afternoon tour, visit wineries carrying on that tradition today in a small and intimate tour group. Enjoy exclusive behind the scenes walks through these wineries, sample their wines and learn how to taste them like the professionals on the island.

We are wine people doing tours, not tour people doing wine. We are an owner-operated small business run by husband and wife team, Vasili and Anna Maria. Vasili is a winemaker and Anna Maria is a certified sommelier. Together we bring you the best wine tour experience in Chania. Learn all about olive oil and wine production on this private tour of eastern Chania. Tour an olive oil mill and learn the quality levels of olive oil so you know how to shop for the best extra virgin olive oil. Next travel to a rustic family owned winery to learn how wine is made and how to taste it properly. Enjoy a guided wine tasting on the outdoor patio, weather permitting, or in their beautiful stone built winery. Your guide will demonstrate how to properly taste wine to enhance your wine tasting experience. A traditional lunch is served with the wine of your choice.

Discover the cultural heart of Crete on this full-day tour of Apokoronas from Chania. Learn more about Cretan life, traditions, and handicrafts at the Apokoronas Museum; enjoy wine tasting at the wineries of the White Mountains; and sample local specialties such as rusks, raki, and cheeses; then tuck into a typical Cretan lunch.

We have been born and bred in the South Crete (in Messara Plain) for more than three generations. So, the Cretan lifestyle runs in our veins. Along with my grandmother & my mother, we would love to guide you in our way of life and make you feel like a member of our family! We will visit our family's olive groves and greenhouses. We will share with you every detail we know about the extra virgin olive oil and the products we cultivate. And the best part comes to the end... My grandma will show you live how we make cheese and you will have the opportunity to taste warm mizithra (kind of cheese)! Moreover, you will enjoy a traditional picnic, rich in flavors and with the company of the Cretan nectar: our precious raki! Our picnic will takes place under the shadow of a big olive tree located in our family's olives groves. All in all, we want to make you feel like a local Cretan and immerse you in our culture and spirit!

An idyllic escape to the mountainous East Crete to explore the hidden gems of this uncharted region. Enjoy a personal hotel, villa or cruise pick up and drop off by your private local insider guide, with a premium vehicle at full-day disposal. Soak up the natural beauty of the Eastern Crete by collecting Cretan truffles with the assistance of a professional truffle hunter and his dogs in the heart of fertile Lassithi Plateau. Then you will enjoy a delicious Cretan lunch and wine tasting in a traditional mountainous tavern. Last but not least, you will visit the mythical Cave of Zeus and a local ceramic workshop.

Immerse yourself in Crete’s delectable, rustic cuisine—and leave the bustle of the city behind—when you sign up for this private, hands-on cooking class. Pick a time that works best for you, and meet your driver directly at your Heraklion hotel which then takes you to the village where you meet your guide. It’s a quick drive into the hills, where you’ll cook amidst the Mediterranean scenery. With your guide’s instruction, learn to prepare a number of traditional dishes, from dolmadakia (stuffed grape leaves) to lamb with artichokes. Then, sit down to enjoy your multi-course meal, complete with wine.

Teaching yourself Cretan cooking would usually mean working from a recipe book. This village culinary experience from Rethymno and Heraklion lets you learn hands-on from a local cook, so you pick up authentic techniques from a master. As you prep and savor dishes such as ‘stifado’ stew, you’ll also experience a Cretan village house and rural life, and hear stories from the cook—all difficult to arrange independently.

TOUR HIGHLIGHTS .  Most Famous beach of Southern Crete  Visit the 2nd largest palm forest of Crete  Swim in the Crystal Clear Waters  Walk through the River surrounded by Palms  Visit one of the most vintage places for Hippies Please note that Boat Ticket is not included and is paid on the spot in cash

A unique place in the Cretan culture and the musical tradition of Crete, hold its traditional musical instruments. The roots of some musical instruments in Crete are lost in the depths of the ages. In the archaeological excavations of Knossos and Phaistos, representations of sculptures, ceramics and painting are depicted by musicians and dancers who point to the present day, where the lyre plays in the middle and the dancers dance around it cyclically. The ancient Cretes used to play the ancient lyre, as shown by representations in frescoes and seals. The presentation of folk instruments lasts for 1,5 hour and after a 1 hour break we continue with a nice evening in Dalabelos Estate Restaurant where we play music with the instruments we presented earlier with treats, refreshments, raki and other products of the estate.

Join this 12-hour day tour of Gramvousa, an island that serves as a regional bird habitat. While there, take time to explore the local castle, then head over to Balos Lagoon. Swim and relax at the lagoon with your group before heading back to Rethimno. The island of Gramvousa is associated with the struggle to liberate Crete from the Ottoman occupation. Three thousand revolutionaries used the island as their shelter for 3 years. To solve the problem of food scarcity, they took to piracy. Gramvousa nowadays is an important bird habitat in the Eastern Mediterranean region and is located along one of the bird migration ways in this part of the world. It is the habitat of over 100 bird species and 400 kinds of plants. Built 137m above sea level on this rocky island, it is one of the most impressive castles in Crete.

Cherries, Churches and the Valley of Amari. A hidden paradise between the mountain Kedros and Psilorites. Explore the beautiful landscape at the springtime. For only a few months the year, the valley open it’s beauty. The first stop is at the ceramic pottery village Margerithes. After you'll visit the hidden valley and see a carpet of flowers, particularly orchids and irises including Orphys mammosa (Breasted orphrys), Orchis pauciflora (Sparsley-flowering orchid), Orchis italica, Orphys tenthredinifera, Iris cretensis, Hermodactylus tuberosus and Romulea bulbocodium. The great profusion of flowers is due to the limestone on which the plateau is situated. One of the highlights of this plateau is the extremely rare Tulipa doerfleri, and it occurs in in such great numbers that the fields are coloured red! Later filled up with the beauty of the flowers you'll have lunch in a traditional taverna After a good meal you'll visit Spili, the heart of Crete bevor heading back.

Experiencing Crete’s traditional rural lifestyle and villages independently is difficult without a hire car or the time to meet and chat with locals. This trip lays it all on for you: with a tour of various villages to uncover their daily life; a string of food tastings and cultural insights; and a home-cooked Cretan lunch conjured up by a local host. Rethymno and Heraklion hotel pickup and drop-off are included.

The owners of a traditional Cretan house will bring for you the old ways of Crete back to life, and offer you homemade delicacies and drinks. Driving through winding roads you will visit beautiful, remote villages and enjoy a hands-on cooking class using fresh products from local gardens. Afterwards, you will relish the delicious results, paired with local wine. Learn the secrets of Cretan diet and sample unforgettably rich aromas and flavors.