Private Full-Day East Crete Tour: Explore Traditional Villages, Ancient Sites, and Vibrant Cities

Embark on a private full-day tour of East Crete and discover traditional villages, ancient sites, and vibrant cities. Explore Mochos, Krasi, and the birthplace of Zeus, then journey to Agios Nikolaos and visit Voulismeni lake. End the day in Elouda and Plaka, with the option to visit the famous Spinaloga island.

Duration: 10 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Mochos - Mochos is a mountainous traditional village and has its roots back in the second Byzantine period. The views on the way to Mochos are magnificent.
  • Krasi - Walk the cobblestoned streets and enjoy a refreshing beverage under the 2400-year-old plane tree, also known as the Writers’ Tree.
  • Windmills Of Lasithi Plateau - Admire the stunning view from the mills and get some amazing photos.
  • Cave of Zeus - Walk up to this ancient Minoan sacred cave, which is believed to be the birthplace of Zeus. Enjoy the stunning view on your way there.
  • Agios Nikolaos - Visit the vibrant city of Agios Nikolaos
  • Nisida Kolokythia - Visit Elouda, a village which has connected its name with many well-known people from pop stars to statesmen while maintaining its peaceful charm as a small fishing village.
  • Plaka - Visit Plaka, a picturesque tiny fishing village where you can have lunch, swim or simply enjoy the lush green surroundings.
  • Spinalonga (Kalydon) - Visit the islet of Spinalonga, a place associated with pain and love, desperation and fear. Spinalonga functioned as a leper colony until 1957 and grew in popularity after the publication of “The Island” by Victoria Hislop.
What's Included
  • Honey/Raki tasting experience
  • Complimentary bottled water
  • Exclusive private transportation
  • Travel comfortably in a V.I.P. class air-conditioned vehicle
What's Not Included
  • Drinks and Meals
  • Souvenirs and personal expenses
  • Ticket to the cave of Zeus (6€)
  • Boat and entrance tickets to Spinalonga (12€+8€)
Additional Information

Begin your journey at the quaint town of Mochos, with its narrow streets and vibrant gardens, before moving onto Krasi to see the Writers’ Plane Tree, which is over 2,400 years old. Following that, we’ll climb to the Diktaion Andron, a historic cave said to be Zeus’s birthplace, offering a breath-taking view of the Lasithi Plateau. Post this marvellous experience, we’ll travel to the bustling city of Agios Nikolaos via an old, secluded path, offering close-up views of wild goats. Upon arrival, you can explore the legendary Voulismeni lake. Later, we will stop by the scenic villages of Elouda and Plaka, home to a beautiful beach for swimming or visiting the globally-renowned island of Spinaloga, just a quick boat ride away.

Location
Mochos
Cancellation Policy

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

Customer Ratings
5.0
(36 Ratings)
5 stars
4 stars
3 stars
2 stars
1 star
Justin_o
Jul 26, 2024
Amazing time in Crete!!! - Amazing trip. Very flexible itinerary with Nikolas. He had cold water and snacks ready for us. He shared so much great history and information and tailored our trip perfectly to suit two kids.
Review provided by Viator
A8865znmonicak
Jul 1, 2024
Kostas is AWESOME - best Crete experience with a local perspective - highly recommend! - Kostas was amazing! Our cruise ship decided to cut our day on Crete 1 week prior, and Kostas rearranged the itenerary for us to have the best authentic Crete experience! I traveled with Family and Friends (celebrating our big 50), and eveyone thoroughly enjoyed Kostas quick wit and humor (he had us all laughing throughout the trip). All I can say is book with Kostas and you will NOT regret it. It will make your trip to Crete unforgetable. I will always remember the Olive Oil tour as we had farmers in our group, and enjoyed seeing the olive harvester!! Kostas provided homemade snacks that were delicious and his own honey (super yummy).
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Kelly_z
Jun 19, 2024
True Cretan hospitality! - An absolute fabulous trip with Kostas. True Cretan hospitality! We cannot thank him enough for his kindness towards us. We hope to see you soon! A must book trip on the island.
Review provided by Viator
Christina_m
Jun 10, 2024
Great tour - We had a great time on our tour. Highly recommend this tour with Kostas especially if you are only staying a few days.
Review provided by Viator
Jessica_b
Jun 2, 2024
A dull day of rich culture and history in crete - Kostas was such a hospitable and knowledgeable guide. A source of all things historical and cretian we were impressed by his communication, attention to detail and general care for our experience. I would highly recommend Kostas whatever your needs may be as he was able to customize eveything to our needs; make recommendations and changes as needed and on the fly. We stopped at the most wonderful local taverna in herklion during our travels and really were able to maximize our short time in this beautiful place. If you’re thinking about booking Kostas and his team don’t think anymore and book! Thank you!
Review provided by Viator
Kathy_f
Feb 22, 2024
Best Guide ever!!! - Kostas was an amazing guide and driver extremely knowledgeable and professional. We loved our stops with the Zeus Caves being our favorite. Kostas had special treats and shared experiences throughout our tour. We highly recommend Kostas.
Review provided by Viator
Nasreenm2024
Jan 19, 2024
Kostas is an amazing tour guide! - Kostas was such fun tour guide! Make sure to bring your sense of humor. He is also so caring & thoughtful. He goes out of his way to make sure that you get the most experience in your tour. He has connections with the locals & make things happen. We’re so bummed to find that the Olive factory was closing for the day, Kostas used his charm & persuaded them to give us the tour & he performed his ‘how to drink Olive the right way’ performance for us😆 He’s also very organized, he came prepared with packaged of snacks that he treated us with at each stops. Each of those snacks represented authentic Greek foods & some of them were prepared by his mom & crops from their own farm…how thoughtful! We had three young adults & two adults but I think any age group would have a great time with Kostas.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Chrisbq3894re
Jan 16, 2024
A brilliant tour experience, excellent top-end transport, and fantastic guide. - An absolutely brilliant tour with Kostas! If you want a trip anywhere in Crete, I couldn’t recommend him highly enough. Kostas sorted a fantastic itinerary - based exactly on the sort of tour we wanted. This included some great historical sites, a boat trip, and the best off-the-beaten-track coastal village for lunch and a swim you could ever imagine 👌 He’s exceptionally knowledgable about all things Crete and ancient history too (if you want him to be!) Clearly knows the island inside out. Really great full day out for us and for the kids. Kostas’s vehicle is superb -absolutely top-end and really comfortable with loads of room. Great communication beforehand - we booked at really short notice when we were already in Crete - but he sorted everything very quickly and very easily. Tailors everything to what you want. Top stuff 👍👍
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Tzaman09
Jan 15, 2024
East Crete - The best tour I had while in Greece. Kostas is by far the best tour guide I've ever had. Family was able to see different sites of East Crete. Car used for this was the most comfortable for our family. At each stop he gave us homemade food including his own families honey, which was amazing!!!! Kostas made the trip very informative and was able to make it very enjoyable with his jokes! Learned a lot of the history of Crete and Greece. Took us to authentic Greek restaurant and helped our family order food with dietary requirements. If go to Crete highly recommend this tour and ask for Kostas!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
James_p
Nov 12, 2023
A wonderful day in Eastern Crete - Great tour guide in the Heraklion area- knowledgeable personable, fun, energetic and responsive. Pretty day for our early September tour of the area and Kostas suggested touring the Leper colony first- great suggestion because we were able to beat most of the crowds and enjoy the boat ride over and the walk around the island which makes up the Leper colony before the noon sun. Loved it. Kostas provided good background on the history of the colony so that we could appreciate the site. We especially wanted to tour the Cave of Zeus (which closes earlier in the day starting in September than in the summer months) so Kostas suggested a quick drive through the pretty but more travelled lake area since we decided to pass on the shopping. We stopped for a few scenic observation point pictures and then headed to Cave of Zeus. Moderately challenging walk up and many stairs down, but really enjoyed seeing it. A very special treat was the late lunch location that Kostas picked at a family run restaurant in the mountains near the Cave— incredible grilled lamb, BBQ goat, oven roasted potatoes, wild greens (amaranth), fava spread, cheese stuffed zucchini blossoms— all wonderful! Enjoyed with some very pleasing Cretan red and white wines. Kostas then explained to us the Cretan tradition that restaurants offer complimentary dessert and a shot of raki after lunch. The raki is often house distilled and is a potent alcohol that takes some getting used to, but the tradition grew on us as we traveled through Crete. Kostas toured us in a luxurious Mercedes van with captain chairs facing a table and provided many local Cretan specialties for us during the day including partireis, honey coated dough, cookies, healing local herbs for teas (along with the very interesting stories of the tradition of their use) and locally gathered honey along with background of bee keeping on the island of Crete and the healing use of homey. The honey had an incredible flavor and Kostas shared samples of all these goodies with us. A native of Crete, Kostas enhanced our trip with the historical and cultural background that he provided. Truly delightful. All of our group was wowed by his knowledge and his fun-loving approach to showing us Crete. We would definitely tour with him again
Review provided by Viator
Select Date and Tickets
up to 15 guests
1
Traveler
September 2024
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Today