Explore the Real Crete-Zeus’s Cave - Villages-Olive Oil Factory

Top experience! Stavros completely adapted the tour to our children. We picked tomatoes, alabour. The children could also play pots in a pottery! In addition, we saw traditional villages. Good explanation about the history of Crete! In addition, top wines to taste! Stavros took us to the most beautiful pictures of Crete. Finally, for dessert we got superversion Greek yogurt with fresh honey.

I HIGHLY recommend this tour. In the simplest words, it was absolute perfect combo of fun, informative, and authentic. We only had 4 days in Crete, so my husband and I booked this tour hoping we'd walk away with a decent, well-rounded sense of the island. We got that and then some. This tour was a major highlight of our stop in Crete. Crete is gorgeous, obviously, with tons of history and no shortage of things to do. But what made this tour so much better than we expected was our guide, Ed. Ed's an actual lifelong Cretan and the owner of Explore Real Crete Tours, and you can tell within about five minutes that this isn't just a job for him — it's his home and he genuinely loves sharing it. Our group ended up being 6 people total: me and my husband (the Americans), plus two great couples from Australia. It started the way these things always do — a van full of total strangers doing the awkward "so where are you from" small talk. But it did not take long before we were all cracking jokes and swapping stories like we'd known each other for years. Ed's energy facilitated that quick/smooth transition. The way Ed shows you around feels like your friend or family member is giving you the grand tour of their hometown — not some rehearsed, "and on your left" tour-guide script, but genuine enthusiasm and pride. You hear it in every story he tells. And you SEE it too — at almost every stop, he'd wave or quickly chat local shop owner, friend, or stranger... you could just feel the respect and care there. He also surprised us with extra stops that weren't even on the original plan, and a couple times he'd throw out options and let the group vote — depending on what we were into, how we were feeling, that kind of thing. That's honestly the best part of touring with someone who's truly from there: he can just adjust on the fly instead of sticking to completely rigid script. Bottom line: my husband and I cannot say enough good things. This tour was a blast, and it gave us a fun and authentic look into the beauty and history of Crete. If you're headed to this area of Crete, do yourself a favor and book this.

Ed is an excellent tour guide, supports locals and knows all of the best spots!

We booked a private tour with Stavros from Real Crete Tours - he’s known as the best guide on the island! His energy and genuine love for Crete make the day one big adventure. He will take you to places that you would never find on your own—from beautiful villages and stunning views to delicious local food and hidden beaches. He even had wine for us in the van overlooking a gorgeous beach vista stop! Speaking of his van, it’s a luxury Mercedes nearly brand new that made the full-day tour relaxing and comfortable. You definitely won't regret it booking with Stavros.

This was an absolutely wonderful tour. Our tour guide, King Ed, as we affectionately called him, was very welcoming, funny, and knowledgeable. He kept us entertained and learning by teaching us in a very fun manner. The semi-private tour itself was also amazing. Seeing and learning about the olive oil factory, exploring Knossos Palace, spending time at the villages, seeing and learning about the farms as well as the vineyards all added up to a wonderful tour. He also gave us olive oil from his own trees. Overall, a for sure 10/10; we had an amazing time and learned a lot about Crete.

Stavros was the best guide we have experienced on any vacation to Europe- his vast knowledge, informational stories regarding Greek history, combined with his wit and humour made the day a great pleasure

We are 3 couples who traveled to crete with edmund. The trip was beyond our expectations. He was an outstanding guide, very knowledgeable, and a wonderful sense of humor. I thought it was perfect and way. Beyond our expectations. You would be very privileged to travel with Ed.

A very enjoyable and interesting day trip. There was enough information. The bus driver and guide Stavros was excellent. With a good sense of humor, but at the same time serious enough. In short - a professional in his field. Many thanks, Stavros!

I booked us (me, husband & 18 yr son) onto a small group tour to see olive oil factory, the windmills, Lasithi plateau and traditional village. Stavros kindly picked us from our resort near agia Pelagia (for a small surcharge as it’s outside their normal pickup area), lucky us a cancellation meant that we had a private tour! Stavros then took us to see an olive oil factory (with tasting), followed by coffee in a village square. On the way Stavros kept us entertained with trivia question about Crete’s geography, mythology and history. We continued to the Lasithi plateau where we visited a farm, had some lovely strawberries and wine and looked at new/hydroponic ways to grow strawberries and tomatoes. After visiting a local pottery, we had lunch near the windmills, then visited the old plantane tree. On the way home, more trivia and yes we were “wrong again”…too much raki tasting too! Very, very enjoyable day was had by all - even by our 18 yr old, who really didn’t want to get up for 8:30 pick up! Thank you very much, highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Crete!

We had a fantastic day with Stavros! The itinerary of this tour was great - gave us a good feel of the island. We would have loved to see the cave, but it being closed is obviously not under the tour’s control. Stavros as a guide is truly phenomenal! He was a wealth of information and kept everyone, including our 18 yo & 19 yo, engaged with humour and interesting conversation. Highly recommended!