ATHENS CITY BREAK – GREEK GASTRONOMY
ATHENS GREEK FOOD COOKING CLASS AND WINE TESTING
Greek Gastronomy and history go hand by hand for more than 3000 years. Archestratos wrote the first cookbook in history (330 B.C.).
Greek cuisine is rich in authentic flavors and aromas. Like other Mediterranean cuisines, Greek food has a reputation for being heart healthy with its heavy use of olive oil, fish, lean meats, vegetables, herbs and grain, with special characteristics based on pure and unique quality products of the Greek land. Its culinary secrets are: quality fresh ingredients, fine use of flavorings, the famous Greek olive oil and simplicity!
In this tour we’ll have a hands-on cooking experience on some Greek food, test them and get their recipes
Winery – Wine testing. You have no more to say. The god of wine and fun was Greek, Dionysus and first teach Greeks how to make good wine according to ancient myths. We visit one of the vinery regions near Athens and we’ll learn the secret of its production and test the famous retsina.
TOUR DETAILS
Tour Code: GAST_05cb
Duration: 5d / 4n also available 4d / 3n (Days: 1,2,3 with Greek night,5)
Season: All the year round
Location: Athens city, Mesogeia region
Style: City Break – Greek food Gastronomy – winery visit and wine testing
HIGHLIGHTS
Athens sightseeing tou
Visit Sounio the Poseidon Temple and enjoy one of the best sunsets
Greek food cooking class
Walk to Athens neighborhoods and street food testing
Learn how to make some Greek dishes and get their recipes
Visit awarded iconic wineries in Mesogeia or Nemea
Learn the unique history of Greek wine.
Taste local wines paired with traditional appetizers and titbits
Test the delicious Mediterranean fish food at atavenr in Greek Riviera
Test traditional Greek dishes in a dinner at a Greek tavern with live bouzouki music, wine and Greek dances.
INCLUDED
Transportation with Luxury car / minivan or bus
Experienced En speaking driver
Official En speaking experienced guides
Hotels 4*, 5*
Meals Breakfast & dinner (B,_,D)
Greek food cooking class
Cooking food recipes
Greek street food testing (10 mezes)
Greek night at a local tavern with live bouzouki music
Winery visit in Mesogeia or Nemea regions
Test a variety of PGI awarded wines
Meet & Greet on the arrival at the airport
NOT INCLUDED
Flight tickets (Can be included upon request)
Hotel accommodation tax (1.5€ per day per room for 3* hotels, 3€ per day per room for 4* hotels, 4€ per day per room for 5* hotels)
*All packages are flexible and dynamic for any changes according to any personal needs and desires upon request.
Arrive to Athens airport; meet our staff at the airport and welcome. Athens city tour. Constitution Square (Syntagma), the House of Parliament, Memorial to the Unknown Soldier, the Evzones in their picturesque uniform, the Hadrian’s Arch, the Temple of Olympian Zeus and the Panathenaic Stadium where the first modern Olympic Games took place in 1896. Transfer to your hotel. In the afternoon, walk on your own to Plaka, Athens old town, and Monastiraki area. Optional: Dinner at a local tavern with shish kebab and souvlaki dishes
Day 2: FD Winery excursion – Sounio visit (B,_,D)
At mid-day, we get the bus for a tour to Messogia, Attika wineries region, the birthplace of the renowned retsina wine, based on Greek indigenous superior quality variety Savatiano. According to Greek mythology, the god Dionysus taught Ikarios, the King of the area, how to cultivate it and produce wine. Now we will learn how it produced and test it, along with the other Greek variety Roditis, at a winery of the area. We continue with a guided visit to Poseidon temple at Sounio, where we’ll enjoy one of the most beautiful sunsets of Greece. And, since we learned that retsina is the ideal partner for seafood and tzatziki we’ll find out it at a fish tavern in the area of Glyfada.
Alternative upon request FD tour Epidaurus, Nafplio and Nemea winery visit OR Delphi excursion OR 1 Day 3 island cruise.
Day 3: Corfu Old Town – Athens. (B,_,_)
HD guided tour to Archaeological museum. Old Fortress, Kanoni, Vlacherna and historical town. Lunch on your own and transfer to airport for your flight to Athens. Transfer to hotel.
Day 4: Athens ss, Acropolis and Museum. (B,_,D)
Full day Athens city tour. Constitution Square (Syntagma), the House of Parliament, Memorial to the Unknown Soldier, the Evzones in their picturesque uniform, the Hadrian’s Arch, the Temple of Olympian Zeus and the Panathenaikon Stadium where the first modern Olympic Games took place in 1896. Then Acropolis, the architectural masterpieces of the Golden Age of Athens, 5th Century BC, with Parthenon – a place any civilized person has to visit. We complete the tour with the new Museum of Acropolis. In the evening, walk to Monasiraki and have dinner at a tavern with souvlaki and shish kebab dishes.
Day 5: Delphi Excursion (B,_,_)
FD excursion to Delphi. Delphi city considered by the ancients Greeks to be the omphalos of the world and holy religious center. Today you will discover those archeological sites, including the Temple of Apollo, theater, market and the famous Omphalos (navel of the earth) and the Delphi museum with the fascinating sculptures. Continue to visit a traditional Greek village of Arachova before drive back to Athens for overnight. OPTIONAL In the night walk to Plaka and have dinner at a tavern with Greek music and folklore show
Day 6: Crete island – Chania (B,_,_)
Morning transfer to Athens airport and get your flight to Chania Crete. Transfer to your hotel. In the afternoon, visit the picturesque Chania on your own. Walk at the Venetian harbor and the old city. Go to the leather street (Skridlof), at the knives street (Sifaka), walk on the Kanevaro street, the old Muslin quarter on Zambeliou. Go to the old municipal market of Chania, a beautiful building from the early 20th century, to buy herbs and cheese. From the back door walk down to Agios Nikolaos Square with its plane tree, which is over 200 years old and have a coffee. For dinner, you can walk to Tamam tavern, in an old Turkish bath, and test the amazing mezes.
Full day tour to the famous Elafonissi Beach with a stopover to visit the Chryssoskalitissa Monastery en route. The sand of Elafonissi is bright white, but in many places, it is pinkish due to the fine particles of countless seashells it contains. Passing through the lagoon sea of 1-meter depth at most, you can get on the island just in front with a number of beautiful and uncrowded coves. Spend some relaxing time here before returning to the hotel.
Day 8: Chania – Rethymnon – Heraklion – Knossos (B,_,_)
Morning drive to Rethymnon to visit the Fortezza, the citadel of the city of Rethimno (walk around on your own). The castle built by the Venetians in the1573 to protect the city. We continue our tour to the city of Heraklion, we visit the archaeological site of Knossos. It is the location of the legendary Palace of Minoan and the most important evidence of the existence of Minoan civilization during the Bronze Age. The guide often associates its history with the Greek mythology of the Labyrinth with the Minotaur. It follows the visit to Heraklion museum, it contains by far the most important and complete collection of artefacts of the Minoan civilization of Crete. Transfer to your hotel and check-in. OPTIONAL transfer to mountain village of Karouzanos for dinner at a tavern with Cretan food, local music, and traditional local dances may be a great ending. Seat in coach or private transfer can be arranged.
Day 9: Heraklion – Rhodes island (B,_,_)
Morning transfer to Heraklion airport and get your 1hr flight to Rhodes. Transfer to your hotel. In the rest of day walk to the old town of Rhodes.
Day 10: HD Rhodes city and Old town tour (B,_,_)
HD guided city tour and old city walking tour. Colossus of Rhodes, Acropolis of Rhodes, Mandraki, Temple of Apollo, Old City: Jewish Quarter, Hippocrates square, famous street of the Knights, Grand Master Palace, Archeological Museum and Fortifications of the Palace.
Day 11: HD Lindos tour – Departure
Morning tour to Lindos. HD tour to the picturesque little town of Lindos. Visit the Acropolis (Lindos Acropolis 250 stairs) with the fantastic views, wander the small streets in the white town and visit a traditional ceramics studio. Transfer to Rhodes airport for your flight to Athens to catch your flight back home.
Note: The tour can start from any other place Athens or Crete or Rhodes. Contact us to tailor it as you wish.