A 10-Day Culinary and Cultural Experience in Crete

10-Day Culinary & Cultural Journey Through Crete

• Complete Cretan Culinary Journey: Spend 10 days moving through Crete’s greatest culinary destinations — olive mills, wineries, cooking classes, market visits, and producer encounters from Heraklion to Chania
• Cultural Archaeological Integration: Weave Cretan cultural and archaeological heritage — Knossos, Phaistos, Akrotiri — throughout the culinary journey, understanding how 4,000 years of Cretan civilisation shaped its exceptional food culture
• Complete Cretan Experience: Taste the full breadth of Cretan cuisine — from the PDO Peza wines to Sfakian pies, from Graviera cheese to thyme honey — in a 10-day celebration of everything Crete has to offer

Day 1 — Heraklion-Arrival-Welcome Dinner

Arrival at Heraklion airport. Check in to your room. Relax before dinner.

Meals included: Dinner

Overnight Heraklion

Day 2 — Heraklion – Archeological Museum – City/Food Tour & Pastry Lesson- Visit Pastry History Museum

A food and cultural walking tour takes you through the heart of Heraklion — an easy 1.5-mile walk where you try local mezedes and Greek coffee with bougatsa while learning about the city’s unique history and culture.

Heraklion Archaeological Museum, founded in 1908, houses Cretan antiquities spanning seven millennia — from the Neolithic period (7000 BC) to Roman times (3rd cent. AD) — across 27 rooms.

At the Unique Pastry History Museum, opened 1-7-2021 with 400 rare exhibits including 32 unique in the world, you tour the production area, see the utensils and machines, learn about the chocolate-making process, and make chocolate eggs or filled chocolates.

Meals included: Breakfast – Food Tour

Overnight: Heraklion

Day 3 — Agios Nikolaos – Cheese Making – Cooking Class

Experience hands-on cheese-making with a local shepherd — milking goats, making two types of cheese, and enjoying a tasting with famous Cretan cheeses, homemade meze, and raki.

A guided cooking class follows, using fresh organic ingredients from the garden to create authentic Cretan plates, enjoyed with local wine. Agios Nikolaos features a beautiful lake (“Voulismeni”) connected to the sea by a narrow inlet.

Meals included: Breakfast – Lunch with wine

Overnight Heraklion

Day 4 — Heraklion Knossos Palace – Cooking Class with Wine Experience – Wine and Olive Oil Tasting

Visit the Palace of Knossos, built 3500 years ago, before a guided cooking class where a chef and certified sommelier lead you in making four authentic Cretan dishes — Dakos, handmade pasta, Cretan pies, and a traditional dessert.

At Domaine Paterianakis in the Peza wine region, a guided winery tour includes five select estate wines, tsikoudia, and a virgin olive oil tasting accompanied by Cretan cheeses, deli meat, and handmade marmalade.

Meals included: Breakfast and lunch with wine.

Overnight: Heraklion

Day 5 — Heraklion – Pottery Workshop –Olive Oil and Honey- Rethymno

The olive oil tasting at a Cretan olive mill lets you compare three different olive oils and see traditional production methods. A honey tour in Crete covers the history and production of honey, from hive to jar.

In Margarites village, a pottery workshop introduces Cretan ceramic art — watching pots thrown on the wheel, decorated, and fired.

Meals included: Breakfast

Overnight: Rethymno

Day 6 — Rethymno Free Day

Explore Rethymno’s picturesque streets, wander through the historic Old Town, relax on the beaches, or people-watch at a cozy cafe.

Meals included: Breakfast

Overnight: Rethymno

Day 7 — Rethymno – Chania- Cooking Class

A private driver transfers you from Rethymno to Chania (departure approx. 15:30–16:00, duration 4–5 hours).

In the evening, a cooking class at a traditional estate in Kissamos — just 500 meters past the port — begins with homemade spoon dessert, then moves into cooking with local ingredients, a farm tour of olive groves and orchard, and dinner accompanied by estate wine, finishing with homemade raki.

Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner

Overnight: Chania

Day 8

Chania – Become a Shepherd for a Day

A scenic drive through western Crete leads to a family farm, where you participate in daily shepherd activities:

• Feeding the Animals: Getting up close with farm animals and learning their care routines.
• Collecting Fresh Eggs: Gathering eggs from the henhouse.
• Harvesting Organic Vegetables: Picking seasonal vegetables from the garden.
• Milking Goats: Milking goats under shepherd guidance, learning traditional farming practices.
• You’ll make kaltsounia — a traditional Cretan pastry — rolling dough, creating the filling, and shaping the pastries. Lunch features chilopites with fresh goat milk and homemade cheese, a taste of authentic Cretan cuisine.

Meals included: Breakfast – Lunch with wine

Overnight: Chania

Day 9 — Chania Free Day- Farewell Dinner

Wander through Chania’s old town, admire the Venetian architecture and colorful alleys, and browse the open-air market or relax on the sandy beaches. A farewell dinner rounds out the day.

Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner

Overnight: Chania

Day 10 — Chania – Departure

Meals included: Breakfast

Transportation to the airport for the flight back home.