PRIVATE TOUR -Knossos Palace-Wine+Olive Oil Tasting-Old Villages

Experience the authentic beauty of Crete on a private tour that takes you to Spinalonga, Zeus Cave, traditional villages, and more. Taste olive oil, enjoy a Cretan lunch, and savor local wines while taking in breathtaking views. Customize your itinerary for a truly unique adventure.

Duration: 8 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Omalia Olive Press - Visit an olive oil factory to taste different kinds of olive oil, learn about the production process, and see how it’s made.
  • Platanus Tree - Explore Krasi Village, home to the oldest Plane tree in Crete.
  • Mochos - Stroll through the narrow streets of this village to experience local life, visit old churches, and enjoy a traditional Cretan lunch at a family-run restaurant.
  • Lasithi Plateau - Discover the old windmills that once pumped water for the crops.
  • Kera Kardiotissa Monastery - Pass by this beautiful monastery on the way to Lasithi Plateau. A visit can be arranged if desired.
  • Aposelemis Canyon - Stop to take in the stunning mountain views, enjoy a drink, and capture some beautiful photos.
  • Hersonissos - Drive through without stopping, but it can be a potential pick-up location for your group.
  • Windmills Of Lasithi Plateau - Visit the historic windmills used for grinding and enjoy the breathtaking views.
  • Malia - Drive through Malia town and along Malia beach.
  • Heraklion - If arriving by cruise ship, we can arrange pick-up and drop-off at the port. After the tour, we’ll drive around Heraklion city, visiting Lion Square, the Venetian castle, and the Cathedral of Saint Titus to give you a taste of our hometown.
  • Lyrarakis Winery & Tasting Room - Visit one of Crete’s top wineries to learn about local grapes and wines, with the opportunity to taste a few.
What's Included
  • Olive oil and Honey tasting
  • Private transportation
  • Coffee
  • Bottled water
  • Liability insurance
  • Informative English speaking driver guide
What's Not Included
  • Lunch
  • Entrance fee at the cave, 6 euros per person
  • Wine tasting, 18 euros , 5 local wines ( OPTIONAL)
Additional Information

Join us in this adventure to explore the real side of Crete, visit a winery where we learn about local wines and of course taste some of them, we learn about local traditions and culture. We visit old traditional villages, old wind mills, Lasithii Plateau, an olive oil factory where we learn how olive oil is made with modern and old machines and we get to taste different kind of olive oil. Up on the mountain we stop at a family restaurant to enjoy a Cretan traditional Lunch and propably taste some local wine.( OPTIONAL) We can customize this tour on your wishes and needs by skipping or adding extra places to visit if possible. This tour is perfect if you are in Crete only for one day on a cruise ship (we can’t pick you up from Chania and Ierapetra)

Location
Heraklion Port
Platia Kountourioti
We can pick you up from Heraklion cruise port or your hotel in Heraklion area , Rethimno , Agios Nikolaous or Elounda .
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
5.0
(45 Ratings)
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Steve
Aug 23, 2024
Wonderful tours in Crete! - ExploreRealCrete is the real deal. Ed (owner) and his group of other tour guides are fantastic. Ed was incredibly responsive and helpful arranging a private tour from our doorstep in Heraklion to Chania, Rethynmo and other sites along the way. Our guide Dimitris was wonderful, knowledgeable and friendly. Late at night after the tour, we reached out again to Ed to arrange another private tour (Zeus’ cave, an olive oil factory, and other sites) for the next day ahead of our travel back home. Ed came through and our guide, Michalis, was nothing short of amazing. Michalis kept us entertained with wonderful stories of Greek history and mythology. In short, I would not look at any other tour company when in Crete! Thank you Ed, Dimitris and Michalis!
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Annaram
Aug 19, 2024
Better than 5 Stars - My family's day with Ed, exploring real Crete, was my favorite day of an almost 3 week trip in Greece and Turkey. I absolutely loved walking through small villages, exploring the countryside, and sitting in a field eating the best yogurt I have ever had along with freshly picked strawberries and melon. But the absolute best part of the tour was spending the day with Ed. I am sure his staff is also great because I know Ed wouldn't have it otherwise. But he is so incredibly personable and very, very funny. Thank you Ed for such a wonderful experience!
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Davedq9342fb
Aug 14, 2024
Private personalized tour with Ed - Correct me if I'm wrong, and Ed enthusiastically did so on our private tour beginning in Agios Nikolaos-in a funny, incredibly enjoyable, informative and entertaining manner, but I don't know how things could be better than our group of 5 experienced touring Crete in a full day off the beaten path. By far, this was the best day of a 9 day trip through the Aegean. 'You da man Ed!'
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762cath
Aug 8, 2024
Great day out to make memories - Booked this tour before we came to crete after reading the excellent reviews it had. Great communication with Ed on what's app because we wanted to change the date. We really enjoyed this trip with Ed he took us to some Iovely little villages with great charm and character. Olive oil factory and zeues cave were fascinating You could tell he really enjoyed his job because he is very enthusiastic. Really glad we did this trip and really recommend it to people vising crete. Thanks ed
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Trudy
Aug 8, 2024
Best tour guide in all of Greece by far! - As a group of 6 friends, we booked several independent private tours in Greece. I have to say, our tour in Agios Nikolaos Crete with Explore Real Crete was the absolute best experience and tour of the whole journey. Ed our guide was the best, most knowledgeable and funniest guide we’ve ever had. His ability to make us laugh while sharing info about his home island was infectious! He walked the small little towns of Greece with us. We stopped and had cappuccino freddos . Shopping in the small towns was more authentic than the port stores. He took us to a local farm where we picked fresh strawberries to eat with the best Greek yogurt ever! It was quite an experience and we felt like a friend was showing us their home. We had fresh tomatoes from a friends farm and fresh melons while we sat and enjoyed a bottle of wine. We learned a lot about the pressing of olives at the olive factory and so much more! It was an amazing tour with a truly amazing guide! Thank you Ed! You truly are the best guide in all of Greece! You made our day!
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Venture176755
Aug 1, 2024
The best private Tour in Greece - Spyros is the best person that giving us Private Tour in Greece. Very knowledgeable, warm and care. Not just a tour but he makes us try the best cookies, coffee, yogurt, honey and fruit from crete, we feel that we found our extended family in Crete. We are on cruise with 6 stop. All my kids said this is the best Private tour we ever had in Greece. Thank you so much we have special memories.
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Stay826617
Jun 20, 2024
Great tour. Recommend for families and small groups - Flexibility in tailoring the tour to the audience. Our tour guide was able to keep our and our kids attention from the start. Extremely informative and knowledgeable, as well as humorous. Recommend for anyone in Crete.
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Mstephens8
Jun 13, 2024
The best tour and guide for experiencing Crete! - Stop looking- do this tour and use Edmond. We spent a week in Crete and loved every minute of it. Much of that is because we didn’t just sit at the resort - we got to experience the island, people and many amazing places. This tour is a staple of staying in east or central Crete. The most important part of a Tour is the guide and you will find none better than Edmond. He listened to what we wanted, gave feedback and customized our tour. Even picked us up and dropped us off at different locations. He is full of energy and passion and rest assured you will enjoy your time with him. He adds a special touch to every tour!
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Derfeinspitz1
Jun 12, 2024
Great guide for everyone! - It wasn't my first tour with Eddie, but it was for my companions! I already knew the contact details from his website and so I was able to discuss our ideas in advance. And we all really enjoyed it. Eddie is great at adapting to everyone and so we had a day with lots of interesting information, but also a lot of fun!! My tip: Contact Eddie by phone in advance and discuss your personal ideas. That way you can find out which tour is the right one and which day is the right one (especially if you are doing a tour with unknown participants). Don't miss it if you are ever in Crete!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
945seano
Jun 10, 2024
Wonderful Lasting Memories - It is hard when you are booking a tour to a place with such history and little of your won knowledge about the area. This tour was a "HomeRun". We got to meet both Mike (our guide) and his partner Ed. Such personable fellas. Traveling around with Mike was like traveling around with your favorite cousin or brother-in-law. He was kind, funny, energetic, witty and most of all, incredibly knowledgeable. Mike's love of his cultural history was obvious and his knowledge of it was equally from love. He presented both facts and "Crete" myths with very interactive questions, participation and story telling that had you wanting more. We loved his knowledge and passion for all the different species of plant life that Crete has to offer. This tour had so much of what we wanted to see and were expecting from a history rich culture. I learned so much in a day. We visited small villages, the mythical cave where Zeus was born, had lunch at a family restaurant that is 5 generations deep, got a tour of a working olive oil manufacturing facility, stopped to see a historic windmill farm, and learned how they were an integral part of historical Crete, saw ancient aqueducts still working to this day, and made several stops for photo opportunities. By the end of the tour, we had an immense appreciation for the struggles that the Cretan's endured and the advancements they brought to our world. When we leave Crete, we all feel like we have a friend named Mike that we left behind.
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September 2024
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