Minoan Crete: Knossos Palace, Winery Visit And Lunch At Peza

We had a delightful 1/2 experience guide by Tony and exceptional tour guide. After a short self guided tour at the Knossos Palace we can continued a lovely countryside drive to Titksas Winery where Maria hosted an informative and fun tasting. We love the wine! From there we had the best meal of our 7 day journey in a farm to table restaurant in Archanes.

Had a great day with Angela. Went to Knossos, a traditional olive grower and a winery. Finishing up at a traditional restaurant, the food was fabulous. She definitely went above and beyond.

Such a memorable day with Roula. We picked up a special guide at Palace of Knossos for 100 euros + tip. That made all the difference in understanding the importance of the site and moving efficiently past the lines. Totally worth it. The tavern lunch was unique and delicious. They were waiting for us with a special table. Just my husband and me on this tour. We love winery tours and we learned a few new things. Liked 4 of 5 wines, so that’s amazing. Our only challenge was coming up with a meeting point when arriving in the Port of Rethymno. The pick up point wasn’t in the pre-set list, so that made things a little frustrating for everybody. I did really appreciate their sending a car all the way to get us in rethymno. Roula stepped in at the last minute to lead us and she was a delight.

Lovely tour by Tony for our family of 4 from NYC. Tony was on time and very nice to chat with throughout the car ride to Knossos and to the winery for the tasting and taverna for lunch. The tour was well paced and most of it you are left on your own to tour Knossos. The winery tour is given by someone there which was really nice and not too long. The lunch at a taverna in Archanes was lovely too. Highly recommended if you don’t have your own car and want and easy day where everyone can do the wine tasting and not worry about driving.

Though our guide was a little difficult to find at first (our internet was poor so we didn’t get meeting spot updates, perhaps a name sign would be helpful), Yanni was amazing. We didn’t need the full time at Knossos (plus it was darn hot), so we had the flexibility to choose a museum visit or visit to an olive farm (with tasting) to fill in some of the time we didn’t use at Knossos. We loved that! Wine was tasty and the lunch in Archanes was delicious and plentiful!

Lunch at the village was very tasty, plentiful and Maria the chef was friendly and a great cook. The wine tour was informative and enjoyable. We spent just over an hour by choice at the palace ruins and the driver agreed to be back at 11.30am as she left to transport other people returning 25 minutes late. She also left us at the restaurant to transfer other people but didn’t tell us that until she returned. We were not told we had the opportunity to see the village, just dropped at the restaurant and picked up. Disappointing as this was a private tour with a personalised chauffeur which wasn’t what the description said. The driver was very friendly, hospitable and engaging. Despite all this we did enjoy the day.

Our guide Tony was kind, knowledgeable and very accommodating to our group of four. He went out of his way to take care of us. We spent about 1.5 hours at Knossos Palace touring the site on our own. We found that this was plenty of time to view the ruins. The winery tour was very delightful and informative. The selections were enjoyable and we purchased a few bottles at a very affordable price. Although lunch was tasty and quaint, the menu was nothing close to the photos posted from previous guests. We were served a completely vegetarian lunch (not requested) with the main course being rice stuffed peppers and tomatoes. Given the price of this trip, that part was a very disappointing.

Yanni was wonderful for our tour. We wanted a slight change to our tour to include an Olive press farm and he accommodated us with no problem. I would suggest a tour guide at Knossos because it is a large site and difficult to do on your own. We had an excellent lunch at the Olive farm press and at our wine tasting venue. Very informative tour of the winery. Our last stop was local Greek cuisine for a third lunch! It was a full day and Yanni made it very special! I look forward to returning to Crete!!! I highly recommend this tour

We had an amazing experience! We visited Knossos by ourselves and did a self guided tour which was sufficient for us. Our driver, Yanni, then took us to an amazing Raki distillery/winery, lunch at a restaurant that served so much delicious food we were stuffed and then we ended at another wonderful winery with amazing tasting wines! It was a great personalized experience that was well worth the money!

This was tour that showed some of Cretes highlights as well as hidden gems. The tour operator did an excellent job at communicating. The whole experience was exciting and worry free

What a great day. What a service. Door to door, no hustle. Fantastic day well spent with locals. Worth booking this experience. Is more of what the title says. It is well designed and well organized, managed to offer you a true taste of Crete.

Unfortunately the activity was cancelled 20 mins before the pickup time due to lack of drivers. We were obviouslyquite disappointed and because of the last minute cancellation we could not return our tickets to Knossos palace, which we had already booked. Very annoying and bad customer service. There can always be unforseen circumstances, but cancel at least the night before, not at 8:40 when we should get picked up at 9:00! We stood there wondering what happened when I checked my mails and saw the cancellation. So I can't say anything about the activity itself, it might be good, but be aware it might be cancelled last minute.

Knossos Palace was fascinating. We got the private tour. We got off the ship at 09:00 am and went straight there. The private guide we got for $100 Euros was worth it. She gave us the history very personalized. No headsets. No large groups. It was still early in the day so not too hot. Yannis had us picked up privately from the port. It was amazing just having a personal tour guide of Crete. The winery was great. Tasted 5 wines with olives, cheese, tomatoes and bread. Lunch at Filosofos was spectacular. Too much food. 5 courses. We had a traditional Greek salad, bread with tomatoes and cheese, bread with tzatziki, saganaki was just perfectly made, braised lamb with hand cut French fries. We had chocolate cake and raki for dessert. The lunch was just mind blowing good. Yannis, thank you for the amazing experience you gave my fiancé and I. If you are going to Herkalion you need to take this tour

Excellent private day trip with Yanni as our guide! He brought us to Knossos in perfect timing before the big buses arrived, then whisked us to a gorgeous winery for private tour and tasting, and finished off with a truly delicious meal at a family-run taverna in Archanes village on the way back to Heraklion. Thanks for a great day, Yanni!!

This was the perfect day! Yannis picked us up straight from our hotel and whisked us to Knossos with plenty of fascinating and entertaining commentary on the island and specifically olive oil and wine production. We arrived before all of the big tour buses, so got to take our time and really enjoy the whole palace and grounds without being overcrowded. There is a nice little cafe to cool off with fresh squeezed fruit juices and ice cold water when you are done, and plenty of little souvenir shops and restaurants on the outside street. Next, we visited Titakis Winery and received a private tour of the gorgeous cellars and bottling and fermenting chambers. That stop culminated with the best wine tasting experience we have EVER had. We actually appreciate that there can be a magic with the right food and wine pairing now… And finally, we stopped in the charming Archanes village for a truly delicious feast in a lovely spot shaded by an attractive arbor. The family who owns the taverna pulled out all the stops, and catered the meal perfectly to my vegetarian preference with decadent dolmas, perfectly melted saganaki, fresh salad with feta and bread, and tender grilled chicken with perfectly cooked potatoes. They finished the perfect meal with a little jug of raki alcohol and some warm chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream. WOW! Such a good day. Thank you so much, Yannis. Highly recommend!

Great experience. Good communication, prompt pick up. Our guide got us to the palace before the huge lines that form later in the day. We were able to tailor our specific route. The wine tasting was informative and enjoyable. Lunch was so wonderful!

Great private tour and visit of a Titakis winery. We sampled 5 different local wine varieties. The lunch was also delicious - 4 traditional courses at a small restaurant in Arcanes village.