Athens, Santorini, and Crete Itineraries & Vacations

The service provided by this Greece travel company was first class.  Our agent provided us with a hassle free trip.

I had originally contacted this agency with a rather vague idea of what I wanted to do - something along the lines of three weeks, four or five islands, four star hotels.  Our agent put together a superb itinerary with three nights on Mykonos, Naxos, Santorini and Crete bookended with three and two nights in Athens.

The hotels he chose were all great although totally different from each other (New in Athens, Harmony in Mykonos, Porto in Naxos, Ira in Santorini and Lato in Crete.)

He prebooked trips in Athens (City Tour, Temple of Poseidon and Delphi), Delos whilst in Mykonos and a sunset cruise in Santorini. All were good choices

The local agents were not up to his standard, especially on Crete where we did not even see the agent (it was explained that the agent they used had offices 2 hours from Heraklion where we were staying).  Having said that we were met at airports and ferry terminals promptly on all the islands

I was particularly impressed that our agent phoned me twice during the trip to see how things were going.

I would recommend this company to anybody considering a trip to Greece.  

We booked a 2 week vacation to Greece with this agent and travel company for the end of May.   Our travel agent helped us plan the perfect vacation for our 25th wedding anniversary. It was the most incredible trip, more than we could ever have imagined! She planned accommodations, excursions and tours at each place we visited that highlighted each place.  We started our trip in Athens for 3 nights, Crete 3 nights, Mykonos 3 nights and Santorini for 4 nights.

We were met promptly at the Athens airport by our driver taken to our Hotel in Athens where we were met by our agent personally to give us all of our tickets and instructions for our stay in Greece. As well she gave us a cell phone programmed with her number and the travel agency in case we had any issues during our time in Greece.

We stayed at the foot of the Acropolis in Athens at a wonderful boutique hotel. Our trip started with a private tour(highly recommend)  of the Archeological museum of Athens ,the Acropolis and the area surrounding. Truly specials and unforgettable! A romantic dinner at a beautiful restaurant in the center of Athens.  Watching the sun set on the Acropolis with all of Athens at our feet...stunning. A free day to explore a bit of the ancient and beautiful city then onto Crete.

We were met by a delightful young man, who was our guide for all 3 days on this amazing island. Wine tours, Palace of King Mynos at Knossos, ancient cities Rhethmynon and Chania, beautiful beaches and stunning views. We fell in love with Crete.

Then Mykonos. A beautiful little jewel of an island with beautiful beaches and ancient cities once attacked by pirates. A romantic dinner, tour of the island of Delos (incredible!) and getting lost in the maze of streets that make up Mykonos town.

Then onto Santorini. A jewel in the beauty of the Aegean Sea. Stunning hotel on the cliffs with a view that you never tired of, wine tours, a full day Catamaran sail to beaches and the Caldera ending with a magnificent sunset at Land's End. Santorini was the cherry on top of the trip. Truly a stunning island.

And everywhere we went the friendly, hospitable and welcoming Greek people.  We can't say enough on how well orchestrated this trip was. We had flawless connections, over-the-top accommodations, incredible guides, amazing excursions that did not disappoint at any of our island visits.  "More than we could have ever imagined" is how we describe this trip to friends and family.  We highly recommend this company and the travel agent who planned a trip exactly to fit us personally.

Thank you Zicasso for your stellar travel agents and fantastic job of Jackie who paired us up with such great agents to choose from.

Tanya and Ross

My sister and I decided to plan a trip to Greece and it was everything we wanted it to be. We worked with our travel designer from this company to plan a itinerary for our trip and she was attentive to all of our requests. She met us at the airport when we arrived in Athens to welcome us, review our trip plan, offer additional suggestions and answer questions and checked in to see how our trip was going. All of the hotels we stayed at during our trip had great customer service, they were clean and in convenient locations. The transfers between locations were smooth and we had no difficulties. The timing of our arrival to the locations allowed us to miss the large crowds. 

Our trip included Athens, Meteora, Olympia, Delphi, Corinth, Santorini and Crete. 

Our Athens tour guide was very passionate and knowledgeable about the history and made our tour of the city, Acropolis and Acropolis Museum very enjoyable. 

We then left on a 3 day private tour of the mainland, Meteora-monasteries, Delphi, Olympia and Corinth. Our tour guide was great.  He made sure that we met up with each of our guides, had everything we needed and took us to lunch and dinner at great restaurants that had delicious food and allowed us to experience Greek cuisine. 

We then left for Santorini. As expected, it was beautiful. Our local tour guide made the day fun with is knowledge of the island, all of the great spots for great pictures and local wineries that did not have all the tourists.  Our itinerary allowed us enough free time to explore on our own, hike the Fira to Oia trail and spend time swimming and eating in Amoudi Bay. Our last night there we did a kayak tour where we were able to see the island in a different perspective. We swam at the white beach and watch the amazing sunset from the sea. 

Our visit to Crete was wonderful. We had a short stay in Heraklion and able to tour the town and eat local food.  We got to explore the Minoan Palace and learn a lot of history from our tour guide and driver. The car ride was long to get to Chania, but we did get to break it up with a stop in Rethymnon. 

Our excursions in Chania allowed us to have a real Cretan experience. We learned about olive oil and honey production and attended a cooking class. The locals we met during these experiences will be remembered for a life time and our tour guide made it a great day.  Our hike through the Samaria Gorge was breath taking. Our tour guide allowed us to go our pace and enjoy the scenery. 

During our last day there, we took a semi private sail boat to Balos and Gramvousa. The weather was windy which made the sailing and snorkeling a little more interesting, but overall fun. 

A trip of a lifetime!!!!!

This is an exceptional travel agency. If you are looking for bespoke experiences with knowledgeable travel guides, Zicasso’s company can help you craft the perfect itinerary. Ours included tours of Athens, the Acropolis and museum, day trips to Mycenae/Epidaurus, Delphi, and the archaeological museum. The sites themselves are a wonder, but all the more marvelous when you have a private guide with a deep understanding of Greek archeology and mythology to explain it. Our guide had a phenomenal ability to bring to life the artifacts and sights we were seeing. We deeply appreciated her knowledge of Greek history and culture.

We also spent a few days exploring the large island of Crete. Our days in Heraklion included a visit to Knossos, the archeological museum, a Cretan cooking class, and an olive tour. We concluded our trip with a tour of the Arkadi Monastery and the picturesque towns of Rethymno and Chania.

We toured Crete with another amazing guide, who elevated any conversation with his mastery of Greek, Cretan life, genuine humor and good spirit. He delivered on every detail of our itinerary and helped us bypass the crowds where possible. The wine tasting, cooking class, and olive oil tasting were a testament to his experience and knowledge about the island. We tasted organic wines and olive oils from local and family-owned businesses, and got to tour their facilities. Every day was better than the next.

The company partnered with extraordinary guides and drivers who were passionate about making our visit to Greece an exceptional and memorable one. We highly recommend booking with them.

On a different note, we’d like to offer a tip about air travel from the islands: if you are in the Greek islands and plan on heading home on an international flight from Athens airport, think about getting to Athens the night before. We made the mistake of booking an 8.15am flight from Chania, Crete, to Athens. We were told by everyone we asked that we would have more than enough time to collect our bags, go through security, and make our 12.10pm international flight. Unfortunately, on that particular day, May 31, 2024, the airline experienced delays and we didn’t board our local flight until 11am. We were reassured by multiple of the airline’s gate employees that we would make the connection. We did not. Boarding for our international flight home had already closed by the time we landed in Athens. We did not have enough time to gather our bags and run to the gate. We had to rebook our flight home, which was extremely expensive and caused many headaches and extra hours at the airport. The airlines were their usual “helpful” selves. Our international airline was more than “happy” to help us rebook, at a cost of a few thousand dollars. The other airline was “sorry” for the delay, but wasn’t responsible for any of the problems caused. Even here, the travel agency helped us as much as they could, suggesting hotels and transportation until we could get on a flight home.

Our travel company is the type of agency with which you can feel comfortable and secure!

Thodoris provided us with an amazing trip to Greece. After a conversation about what we wanted to do and see, he planned everything for us and took care of all of the details for our entire trip. We started out in Athens where we spent four days at a wonderful boutique hotel in the heart of Athens. Thodoris met us and made sure all of our needs were met. He arranged an amazing private tour of the acropolis and the Acropolis Museum. Kiki, our tour guide, was incredible and a great source of information and geared the tour to our interests. Our second tour, to Delphi, was also amazing with Penny as another very knowledgeable and interesting tour guide. All of our pick-ups and deliveries, from the airport to the hotel, each tour, and from the hotel to the airport were provided with no issues or delays. We also had plenty of time to explore Athens on our own, which is what we requested. It was a truly wonderful experience. 

We left Athens and went to Chania, on Crete. There we stayed at another adorable boutique hotel with amazing customer service. Thodoris arranged a tour of the traditional villages of Chania where a true local, Dometri (sp?) showed around his villages. You could tell that he knew and loved the area very much. We also had plenty of time to explore Chania on our own. After three nights, Dometri drove us to Knossos. George was our tour guide at Knossos and he was also wonderful. The crowds were a little heavy, so George offered to wait until later in the day to tour the museum, since the line was around the block, which we took him up on and we went on our own to get lunch and when we went to the museum later in the day, the crowd was much improved. Knossos was just outside Heraklion and the museum was within walking distance to the hotel. We then caught the high-speed ferry to Mykonos the next morning.

On Mykonos, we stayed at another beautiful hotel. We had a day trip to see Delos, the birthplace of Apollo and Artimus lead by another excellent tour guide. We had plenty of time to explore, relax and enjoy the Spa at Petasos! Then it was on to Santorini for the grand finale. We stayed in Oia at a spectacular place overlooking the Caldera. We had an amazing wine tour with Steve as our very energetic and entertaining guide. We were not sure we really wanted to do this tour, but it was one of our favorites and we got to see three wineries in different parts of the island. The last stop provided dinner with paired wines and our first incredible sunset view. We then had a free day on Santorini and ended our trip the next day with an incredible sunset cruise which took us to the red beach, the black beach, and the white beach with opportunities to swim and experience the warm springs. Another wonderful meal on the catamaran followed by an amazing view of the sunset on the water. 

Thodoris took care of every detail and we did not have to worry about anything other than enjoying ourselves. All transfers and pick-ups were from our hotel and everyone was right on time and very professionally handled. We were free to totally enjoy ourselves and was a completely stress-free vacation.  I would highly recommend Thodoris and his travel company to plan a once-in-a-lifetime trip. I hope that we will have an opportunity to use them again on another trip.