Follow this four-hour Heraklion food and wine walking tour that will introduce you to the best food that Heraklion has to offer by treating your palate to traditional Cretan dishes and exceptional local wines! Being one of the healthiest and tastiest diets in the world and the base of the Mediterranean diet, the Cretan cuisine is so unique due to its strong tie with local culture, history and geography of the region. The best way to get to know a place is through its food and we will take you on an unforgettable tasty journey through Heraklion’s local neighbourhoods. After meeting your local guide, you’ll start off with a traditional Greek coffee also known as ellinikós kafés. Learn why Greeks love so much coffee and see it brewed the traditional way in sand and yes, we will teach you “cup reading”, a centuries-old tradition that reads your future!
Next, you’ll enjoy Heraklion’s well known bougatsa in a family-owned business that has mastered their bougatsa technique since 1922! Consisting of semolina custard, cheese, or minced meat filling between layers of phyllo, bougatsa is a must-taste pastry that you shouldn’t miss while being in the city.
Passing through the historical center of Heraklion, you’ll continue the exploration to a local market where you’ll meet the local vendors and learn about their products. Here, you’ll have the opportunity to sample some of the basic elements of Cretan cuisine such as olives, rusks, and cheese – and yes, we’ll teach you how to become a cheese–tasting expert by giving some local hints and learning how to spot the best local cheeses! And of course, taste the island’s famous olive oil and find out why organic Cretan olive oil is one of the best oils in the world.
At our next stop, you’ll sit down for a local organic meat dish or if you want to show yourself how brave you are, you can sample a dish that is loved by most Cretans and it is …fried snails! Moving on to our last stop, your Heraklion food tour couldn’t end without tasting some local Cretan wines in a family-run shop. Keep in mind that winemaking in Crete has a long history that dates back to the Bronze Age! Before you go, don’t forget to ask your local guide for more tips on what else to see, do and eat during your stay.
Maya was an excellent guide! The trip is long but doesn’t overstay its welcome. We were a group of 8 including the guide, with Maya saying that was a larger group. We got to try lots of traditional Cretan food and drink. Best for people who are happy to drink Alcohol and eat Pork, as these are included.
Maya was a wonderful guide, full of knowledge about the food, culture and history of Crete. We visited establishments we would never have found without her knowledge. Beautifully presented. Highly recommend.
Maya was our guide - who was really very good and took us to many places we would never have found on our own. There were 7 of us on the tour- our family of four (with our sons who are 24 and 22), plus a family group of 3 from the Netherlands. We had a lot to eat and plenty of drinks to sample, plus some history and local interest on the way. Thoroughly recommended.
Eva was amazing!!!!! I was unsure about doing a food tour but it was soooo much more than just that! Eva gave great history of the places we visited and was so positive and friendly, she made the experience 10x better! We left with authentic olive oil, honey, and memories with a great tour guide and friend. 10/10 recommend!
We did the Heraklion Food Stories Walking Tour last Friday and had a brilliant time. The food was excellent throughout, with plenty of different local dishes and drinks to try. Come hungry, because there is a lot of food included – far more than we expected, and great value for money. A special mention to our tour guide, who was fantastic. She was knowledgeable, engaging and had a great sense of humour, which made the whole experience even more enjoyable. We learned a lot about Cretan food, culture and local history while having a good laugh along the way. If you’re visiting Heraklion and want to experience authentic local food away from the usual tourist spots, I would highly recommend this tour. One of the highlights of our trip to Crete. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This food tour was excellent in and of itself but our guide, Eva, made it even more exceptional!!! While we visited several food and drink places we also toured some of the cultural and historical places as well. All throughout Eva was highly knowledgeable and informative. The pace was perfect, the food & drinks were awesome, and we thoroughly enjoyed Eva's company. If I could rate the tour higher, I would!!
We really enjoyed our food tour. Our guide Maya took us to a number of great places to eat & drink, some you would never find. Great food & drink, so much food that we couldn’t eat it all & some to food home with them. Another great point is where restaurants that looked fully packed magically produced tables & chairs for us.
This tour was exactly what we were hoping for. We wanted a little food, a little history, some interesting stories, all from an exceptional tour guide…and we got it! Highly recommend that you take advantage of this tour to experience Heraklion.
Ioannis is an amazing guide! We had a splendid time on our food tour with him! The food was delicious and our guide was funny and very knowledgeable about everything, we asked various questions and we got many interesting information. I can really recommend this activity!
This tour takes you to some unique local places and focuses mainly on the food and drink with some historical knowledge added in. It was a lovely afternoon spent enjoying really good food and company. A highlight for me was enjoying a cup of Greek coffee at a cafe that used to be a Turkish fountain (probably one of the most unique cafes I have been to) and the visit to a local herbal shop.
Guide Maya was sweet. We went to 4 food/drink places and an herbalist shop. No wine shop stop which I had hoped to go to. The food was abundant and delicious. A fun way to experience the Cretan foods.
A really great food tour thanks to our guide, Eva. She was able to strike the perfect balance between the history of Heraklion and their foods. We got to see parts of the city that we would have not found on our own and gain an understanding of how the various areas in the city evolved. Each of the stops provided us with tastes of Heraklion and we did not leave hungry. We really appreciated the education we received on judging the quality of olive oil that we will use going forward.
Our guide, Eva, was so kind and knowledgable about the Greek cuisine, sites, and history. Every restaurant and shop had the kindest people and the best food. The tour was fun and relaxing! Highly recommend!
We went on this tour for my birthday and it was a wonderful experience. The dishes were nicely balanced throughout the tour, starting with a delicious Greek coffee, and sampling pastries, cheeses, teas and more before finishing with a really tasty lunch. Everything we tried was delicious, and our tour guide Maya was an absolute delight. The walk around the city was really enjoyable and Maya was knowledgeable, enthusiastic and lots of fun (with excellent English). I'm a vegetarian and there was plenty of options available to me. Be warned, lots of the restaurants on the tour are very generous with their servings of Raki! I would definitely recommend this tour as a must-do for anyone visiting Heraklion!
Our food tour in Crete was an authentic and delicious highlight of our trip! We sampled local specialties from savory pastries to excellent olive oilsand cheeses, guided by our passionate local tour guide, Maya. The tour not only offered incredible food but delighful conversations with Maya as she shared cultural insights and personal stories, making it a truly memorable experience. We highly recommend it for an unforgettable taste of Crete's unique cuisine! And if you are lucky, Maya will be your guide!
Fabulous food tour with Maya! We were lucky enough to be the only people in our group, so had her all to ourselves. The food was great, especially the bougatsa which I could have eaten all day, and the herb shop was so interesting - lovely produce but also nice to hear about the process behind it. I’m regretting not having bought a bar of snail soap… Have to say that the best bit of it was talking with Maya, learning about what it’s like to live in Crete, the people, economics, politics, education, and we got to ask her all about what we were interested in because we were the only ones there. I suspect she would have been just as interesting talking about the weather, if that’s your thing. Gave us lots of food for thought, excuse the pun, and a real insight into the island. Thank you Maya. One of the highlights of our holiday and worth every penny, couldn’t recommend it more highly. P.S. do not eat breakfast beforehand!
Eva was the best guide we have ever had. She was very attentive and taught us so much about Cretan life. The food and drinks were great and she took us to some shops that were really good as well. Highly recommend taking the tour. Well worth the money
Don’t eat before going on this tour. Everything was delicious. Great history lesson as well. Our tour guide Eva was amazing! She is definitely a part of the community and we felt welcomed everywhere we went with her
Local Delights & Warm Hospitality – Heraklion Food Tour 🇬🇷🍷🍽️ We were hoping to discover local food and products away from the usual tourist paths – and that’s exactly what this tour delivered. What made it extra special: on the day of our tour, it was just my daughter, myself, and our lovely guide Maya. She’s 21 years old, from Crete, polite, friendly, patient, and easy to talk to. She spoke excellent English and Spanish, which made the tour feel relaxed and comfortable from the start. The tour began in the center of Heraklion at 11 a.m. and felt more like a walk through the city with a well-informed local than a typical guided tour. We tasted Greek coffee, bougatsa, dakos, a variety of Cretan cheeses, local wine, bean mousse, olives, fried liver, and more. A real highlight was the visit to the “Herb Shop of Vasiliki”, where traditional products are made using old, handed-down recipes. The selected locations were charming and authentic – slightly off the busy streets, which made for a quieter and more intimate experience. One stop around lunchtime was quite empty, which slightly took away from the atmosphere, but the food and wine still stood out. A personal, authentic and relaxed way to explore Cretan food culture with a local perspective. 🌿🫒🧀
This tour was one of the highlights of our 10 day Greek island trip. Our guides…Maya and Eva were incredible. Eva was very knowledgeable about this history of all the places that we visited and Maya was so refreshing to talk to. She was genuinely interested in us, asking questions, curious about life in Canada and how it compares to Greece. We shared pictures and laughed the entire day. We met 6 people from the Netherlands who were also a pleasure to be with. Breaking bread with these strangers, turned friends, was amazing. Now the food…incredible! Visiting all the local establishments, tasting their traditional Greek dishes, and learning the history, how the dishes are prepared and a little about the families that own each place truly immersed us in the Greek culture. You would be crazy to not add this tour to your must dos while visiting Heraklion!1
We loved this tour. Eva was so accommodating to our group & was so friendly, engaging & knowledgeable. We learnt so much about Heraklion’s history & the local food & went to authentic places we never would have found on our own. We are still dreaming of the bougatsa!!! Thanks Eva :)
Our family loves to do food tours. I believe this was our seventh. This was the best food tour we’ve done so far, & Eva was the most outstanding guide we’ve ever had. She perfectly wove together food, history, & culture, & she was so, so personable. Before we left, I made a list of all of the sights we wanted to make sure & see in Heraklion. Without even asking her, she took us to every single one of those sights during the tour. The coffee, food, wine, & other drinks were plentiful throughout; we definitely left full! Because of Eva, our day in Heraklion far surpassed our expectations. Take this tour; you won’t regret it. Like me, you will want to hug Eva’s neck at the end.
Wonderful food, excellent guide. We ended up as the only ones on our midweek tour but our guide was very accommodating and friendly. Took our 1 year old around in his scroller without much difficulty. Ended the tour very full and happy.
I had a tour with Magia and it ended up just being me on the tour. Other tours would have cancelled but we still went ahead and it was the best experience. It was like walking around catching up with a friend talking about everything while eating delicious local meals. I had already explored a good part of the city but the places we went to were definitely more akin to local hangout spots where you get to chat to store owners and have a good laugh. Highly recommend this tour for anyone who loves food and wants to see where the locals hang out.
We so enjoyed our time with Eva!! What a great tour guide. She introduced us to all different types of culture and foods and Raki!! Our family had a blast with Eva.
Eva was incredible! We had so much fun walking around the city with her. She was informative, kind, and funny! Everyone included two young adults loved the entire tour. I would absolutely recommend this experience to anyone wanting to experience the Cretian culture up close.
Vassilis my guide made my experience one that I will never forget, he is a very passionate local with second to none knowledge regarding the culture, food, drinks and in particular the arts of Athens, exceptional evening and would recommend a tour with this to many that I cross paths with! Fantastic evening 👌🏽
We signed up for this tour 3 months in advance and they immediately charged our credit card. They sent us an email reminder the day before about where and when to meet. We arrived at the location a bit early and waited and waited. Finally I called the tour company and they told me they had no record of our tour. I forwarded the reminder email to them and they said apparently the part of their system that took our payment and sent the reminder was not connected to the part of the system that assigned the tour guide. They got a tour guide to join us very late, so we were famished by the time we got any food, and our afternoon plans after the tour were ruined since the tour ran very late. Their apology was perfunctory as if this were a minor inconvenience. They didn't offer any compensation. Highly recommend you call them the day before and confirm they have a guide scheduled.
Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and took us to some amazing coffee house and restaurants. We totally enjoyed or experience.
This food tour was fun. As much walking and explanation of the city as there was food. We got to see more "authentic" areas of Crete than the touristy waterside area. We were definitely full at the end of the tour - only managed some gelato for dinner that night.
A wonderful immersive experience within Heraklion on this tour. Eva was wonderful in telling the historical stories of the city as we took in various sites and food along the route. This was a unique experience mixing a traditional food tour with history and stories/sites and we loved it. Highly recommend this tour for something unique while in Crete.
Margarita was a fantastic tour guide, very knowledgeable! This great way to see the city and try local specialties! Would do in every city possible if it was like this experience!
Unfortunately I can not recall the guides name but she was very friendly and extremely knowledgeable. There were only 3 of us on the tour so it was like having a walk round Heraklion with a friend. She took us to so many places to try the foods and wines of Cretan cuisine. The tour was through so many cut throughs that you would have to live in Heraklion for years to find these hidden gems that she took us too. Her knowledge of Heraklion was immense, and she also gave us many recommendations for places to eat and other tours to book for the remainder of our holiday. We tried many dishes and didn’t need tea when we returned to our hotel in Stalis. One bit of feedback would be to have a more precise meeting point as we found it difficult to find our guide, may be suggest meeting at the statue of the unnamed soldier?
Margarite was an amazing guide. She gave us great extra information about the food, the culture and history. I think our favorite was the last stop Where the menu changes daily depending on what is good in the market that day. The whole experience was a delight!
One of the best food tours we’ve been on, lots of local food and drink, stopping at historic sites in the city. Marguerite was fun and enthusiastic, giving us a real insight into Cretian life
Our tour was great. Off the beaten path and all the history and information we received from our guide Margarita was great. The food was a treat and all enjoyed. Loved the creme pastry with cinnamon and tapas at the last stop. Thoroughly enjoyed this tour.
We went on the tour for the food and ended up enjoying the tour more than the food per se. The guide was delightful and knew a lot about the fascinating churches in Heraklion. She was even able to get us into see a church with a stunning collection of icons that was closed. The food part of the tour was fine but not amazing.
Margarette was charming and fun to tour with. Well able to discuss local produce. A very pleasant experience. You will not need lunch after the tour. A diverse range of cheese, olives, meats, local coffee and wine.
Perfect way to discover heraklion. Our guide, Eva, was very happy and open. We were only on tour with her which made the visit very pleasant for us. She took us around town and we stopped here and there at less visited places for a local snack and a drink. Meanwhile, Eva gave us some history. Best not to have a big breakfast before you start this tour because it's more than enough, we had a fantastic afternoon
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