8-Day Greek Culinary and Local Experiences Tour

My daughter and I planned a trip to Greece to celebrate her college graduation. A friend told me about Zicasso and they set me up with a tour company to help plan out our trip. They exceeded my expectations and our trip was seamless because of their help. The owner was amazing from the start. We discussed what we were most interested in when it came to picking out which islands suited us best. She had many ideas and then we collaborated on what fit best with our timeline, budget, and dates.

We went to Crete, Santorini, and Naxos, and ended in Athens. In total, our trip was 10 days. The travel company does everything for you except domestic flights. Honestly, if we had had to do all the trip planning ourselves, it would have been so much more work. Knowing there will be someone to greet you and get you to your next destination when you land at airports or seaports is huge.

We picked hotels that were three to four stars and they were all fabulous. Our family has traveled extensively and I usually do most of the legwork myself. However, there are places like Greece where you need help and insight. The travel company’s owner knew the hotels well and had relationships with the staff. We couldn't have done it without her.

We enjoyed all four destinations. We loved Chania in Crete and had a wonderful cooking class/olive oil tasting that I would highly recommend. We loved our guide and the chef, and the food was delicious. We would definitely go back to Crete.

We then ferried over to Santorini, which was worth seeing, and we kayaked and hiked there. The best food and wine was in Santorini. However, I would not go back. There are way too many tourists and cruise ships.

We then ferried to Naxos and loved it. We rented a car and found a tiny town (one eating shack) where we hopped on a little boat with 12 other people. It was beautiful.

We then flew to Athens and had a great private tour to see the Acropolis/Parthenon. It was magical.

Our Zicasso travel agent and her company were fantastic! We wanted to work with someone who knew Greece and had excellent travel partners to guide us in creating our itinerary. We visited Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, and Crete. Our agent helped us plan a fabulous vacation and was available during the trip to ensure everything ran smoothly.

Throughout the planning process, she provided details about tours and hotels. She recommended wonderful hotels that were located in great areas in each of the cities and was clear with the pricing as we decided to upgrade our room types/amenities (no hidden pricing). We loved that she shared her travel expertise and feedback from other travelers in helping us.

She recommended tours for our vacation. The tour guides were excellent (they clearly love what they do) and we loved all of our tours. She also assisted us with dinner reservations, flights, ferries, and transfers. The view from the restaurant in Athens was amazing!

In Athens, we had a private tour of the Acropolis and Plaka, and visited beautiful Cape Sounion and the Temple of Poseidon. We loved our five-hour catamaran trips in Mykonos and Santorini. They were perfect ways to see the beauty of both islands, swim, and connect with other travelers.

In Santorini, we had a private six-hour tour with a fantastic guide and learned so much about the island, visiting so many beautiful sights, including Oia, avoiding crowds, capturing fabulous family photos of the blue-domed churches, tasting wine overlooking the beautiful caldera, and so much more. We loved our sunset food tour along the caldera footpath, tasting so many different local foods, wines, and beer. Our guide was charming and fun.

Crete was beautiful and we visited a nearby beach for swimming, dined at a quaint local restaurant with excellent grilled fish after swimming, and enjoyed a sunset tour of the old town in Chania. We even learned a little Greek. We enjoyed everything about our trip – the food, the people/guides, the beautiful places, and the history.

Our agent created a full travel itinerary that we could access on our phones throughout the trip. When something was updated (one boat had a technical problem and our agent booked us an alternative; our gate changed at the airport), we received an alert. I used that itinerary each day to review what we were doing and ensure we were meeting our transfers or tour guides at the correct time. It was very helpful for planning and packing tips too.

Our agent connected with us through WhatsApp during the planning process and the trip, which was very convenient.

We are incredibly grateful to her and her team for their dedication to creating a fantastic family experience with lots of wonderful memories. We hope to visit Greece again and will definitely contact our agent for vacation planning.