Small Group Greek Traditional Food Tour in Athens 20+ Tastings
Description
Discover authentic, fresh, traditional food in non tourist, hidden spots of the City! Food and places you may not find alone! Visit local streets where we see, taste and shop for cheese, cured meat, fruits, sweets and spices in markets of colour, scents and noise. Taste olives, oil and honey from a farmer and local wine made on site. 4.00pm tours will see SOME of the market as it is closing. On Sundays the markets ARE SHUT so we visit a taverna and eat traditional food with ouzo and local wine. Visit a delicatessean and a spice shop and a producer of olive oil and honey. You will also enjoy Greek coffee and yogurt from a local producer. 20+ tastings offered including sit down meals of meat and fish on all tours. Learn about Greek culture and meet with the locals. Vegetarian, vegan, GF options available. Vegan not available on Sundays. Discounted childrens rate offered. If you want a particular host then please message before booking to find out which tours they are running!
Tour Options
Itinerary
You will be fully immersed in the meat, fish, spice and fruit markets. This is not a supermarket experience. The markets are the hub of Athens shopping area and a must see to truely understand how we shop and prepare our food. The fish market is the biggest fish market in Europe with over 5 ton of fish daily. It is loud, busy and fascinating.
Learn about how the Greeks eat seasonal fruits and vegetables as we walk through the local laiki (farmers market). We will discuss when we eat fresh products and sample some seasonal fruits
The wonderful spice market and home to many local producers shops. Here we will stop at three different stores, a honey producer, olive and olive oil producer and a highly esteemed deli shop. We will tast their products and learn about what makes olive oil good and how Greeks use honey in their diet. You will have an opportunity to shop for souvenirs as we visit the amazing shops in this street
Sample souvlaki in one of our favorite places right near the markets. The tender pieces of meat (or vegetables) on a skewer with Greek yoghurt and a local wine is the first of our 2 sit down tasting experiences. Some tours will go to a mom and pop taverna instead of the souvlaki stop but all tours will have 2 sit down stops.
Now for the grande finale. A big meze meal with meat, fish, vegetables, beans and more. This covers many aspects of Greek gastronomy. A desert of Greek yoghurt with honey, all accomponied with our national drink, Ouzo.
A honey tasting in a wonderful family owned honey business. Sample different honies and discover how honey is made and how the Greeks include this delicacy in their daily diet.
We meet in Athinas Street at Ev Athinas, a hole in the wall pie shop and start our tastings immediately with our most favorite filo pastry pies and Greek coffee. As we walk along this busy shopping street, you will start to see signs of the food markets and the daily shoppers. The scenery changes as we move away from the tourist away and get deeper into the local area for shoppers and traders. You will walk past many small food shops selling delicous, local products and will have the opportunity to talk to the vendors and shop if you want to.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Child rate applies only when sharing with 2 paying adults
- Minimum drinking age is 18 years
- When booking the tour starting at 4pm or later the market will be closed
- On Sunday the markets are shut so we do not visit them. We have a honey and olive oil tasting instead
- Most dietery requirements can be accommodated including vegetarian, vegan and gluten free
- We have over 7000 online reviews
- Licensed tourism office number EOT 0259E70000815901
- Featured on UK TV show, A new life in the sun
- Vegan options not available on Sundays
Reviews(1,961)
We experienced a broad variety of local foods and learned a lot about Greek culture. The tour covered the whole spectrum of food types and dishes. Our guide was very knowledgeable, organized, and fun. A great treat for a group or family activity.
Had an awesome time- The food and restaurants were amazing I would recommend this tour with Michallis.
We really enjoyed learning the history of the Greek food and wine. It was very informative plenty of food, lots of new taste but good..
This was our second time taking this food tour, and somehow it was as good as the first! We first experienced it three years ago with friends and loved it so much that we brought our three adult children back to Athens specifically planned to do it again. What impressed us most was that the tour wasn’t simply repeated. Every stop except one was completely different, which made it feel like an entirely new experience. We visited markets, sampled incredible local specialties, learned about Greek food traditions, and discovered places we never would have found on our own. It was obvious that a lot of thought goes into keeping the tour fresh for returning guests. Our guide was knowledgeable, engaging, and passionate about sharing Athens through its food and history. Every tasting was delicious, from savory pastries and cured meats to olives, cheeses, seafood, and authentic Greek street food. We left full, happy, and with a much deeper appreciation for Greek cuisine and culture. If you’re visiting Athens, don’t hesitate to book this tour. And if you’ve already taken it before, book it again! The new itinerary makes it well worth a return visit. It’s one of the highlights of both of our trips to Greece, and we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone.
Come hungry. There is so much good food to eat. Our tour started off with a welcome message and very clear and easy to follow directions leading us to the meet up point. Árela was our guide and greeted us so warmly that it felt like meeting a friend. We sat and chatted while sampling our first tasting. We had spanakopita, a traditional cheese pie with leaks and fennel. The best part of that dish was the hand made phyllo dough. So flaky and good. We moved on through the market, stopping to notice how people of Athens buy their food and other items. The tour through the fish and meat market was amazing. Calamari and Octopus. Fresh fish. The other section had amazing steaks and pork chops. If I wasn’t on holiday, I would have bought plenty! Another stop at a small snack shop where we tried the pink pistachio and the Loukoumi, a jelly type candy (we bought 3 boxes to take home). We then went down a side street and tasted some local wine with some small samplings of saganaki cheese, pita bread, tomato, cucumber, olive, and chicken meatball. After, we went across the street to olive heaven. So many different kinds of olives. Sample after sample. So good. We followed that with the very best (and I am not exaggerating) feta cheese I have ever tasted in my life. I will never forget it. We then went to the fruit market and saw all the local fruits and vegetables. Stopped into an olive oil shop and learned how to properly taste olive oil and know the quality of it. After, we went to a honey shop. You have to try the lavender honey! At that moment we decided that we needed to find a way to check in a bag so we could take home the delicious honey and pistachio butter. The last stop was at a small family owned restaurant. We had a small meal of butter beans, beef sausage, orzo, calamari. We also had ouzo and Greek coffee with some fresh cherries on the side. The food was great but the time spent with our guide felt like meeting a long lost cousin who was excited to show us her home town in Athens. What a great experience!
Amazing tour. Excellent and knowledgeable tour guide, wonderful food. Real value for money. Highly recommend.
What an amazing experience! If Greece is a bucket list item like it was for us, you have to do this food tour while in Athens. It will not disappoint! Dimitri, our guide, was PHENOMENAL!! We truly couldn’t have had a better time. Dimitri was like a good friend filling us in on his stomping grounds. He met our group at our level and accommodated all of our needs and wants and then some. Wear loose clothes because you will eat so much delicious food and learn so much at the same time. I cannot recommend this tour enough, especially with Dimitri!!!!!
Kate was an excellent guide! She was friendly and easily approachable. She had an excellent sense of humor! We were impressed by how well planned the tour was. Every merchant knew we were coming and was prepared. The food was plentiful! We ate an entire meal’s worth including appetizers, main courses, desserts, and beverages. We highly recommended this tour if you’re interested in trying traditional Greek food in a safe and interesting environment
A very interesting and filling experience. Or guide Fotis was informative about both Greek cuisine and culture. Come hungry as there is plenty to eat👍👍👍
We had a fantastic time with Michalis, Rachel & the group walking the streets of Athens soaking up the sights, sounds, smells & locally produced foods of all types. The information shared throughout the tour was both interesting and very informative. We came away feeling extremely well fed and were even offered take away at the end of the tour. Days later we are still chatting with some of the other attendees we met on the day. If you are considering a food tour we would highly recommend Food Around Athens as a #1 choice. Thanks for a great day Michalis & Rachel.
