Greece
Winter in Greece: The Magical Island of Crete
Program No. 22935RJ
From its arid east to the lush forests of the west, Crete beckons to be explored. Experience this ancient island like a local during the quieter winter months when the climate is mild.
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Participant Reviews
Based on 44 Reviews
SHOWING
What a fabulous program!!! We had some weather-related challenges, but with our wonderful group leader and our fabulous group of travelers we continued to have a great time! As usual, RS has wonderful activities scheduled all over the island. I loved the family-owned businesses we got to see: olive estate, potter and baker making phyllo!! Chrysa was knowledgeable about Cretan history as well as the island's ancient history. I absolutely loved this trip; and if I took it again, it would not be boring!
— Review left March 7, 2025
I absolutely adored this trip! While others thought it was possibly too cold or windy, I loved the weather and appreciated being very in crowded everywhere we went. It seemed like we were more a part of Crete because it wasn’t high tourist season. Everywhere we went we felt special and individual. I would take this exact trip again
— Review left March 5, 2025
Incredibly interesting and the tour guide was extraordinary.
— Review left February 26, 2025
This program came highly recommended and it surpassed our expectations. Crete and its impact on Western history is something we had very little appreciation for. The Program and it's guide, Eleni, were passionate about pre-Greek history and life on this beautiful island witjh lovely people. Highly recommended Program!
— Review left December 13, 2024
What a wonderful week in Greece! Our tour leader, Eleni is fantastic--so knowledgeable, warm, funny and helpful. I hope to travel with her again. The trip included such diverse activities from exploring the ruins in Knossos to swimming in the Aegean Sea, to learning about olive oil production. Crete is so beautiful and the food is delicious. For vegetarians, this is a dream come true...on other trips the vegetarian food has been repetitive and uninspired. Not in Crete---every meal featured local fruits and vegetables and many choices. Vegetarian moussaka and stuffed tomatoes really stood out. If you've never been to Athens, I would suggest starting your trip a day or two earlier and taking a tour of Athens, especially the Acropolis. My RS friend and I went on "The Mythology Tour of Athens" with alternativeathens.com, which was excellent. Our guide was an archaeologist and I learned so much. Finally, November is a great time to visit Greece. The weather is very pleasant, 70 degrees and low humidity and the crowds are gone. I highly recommend this RS trip and hope Eleni will be your guide.
— Review left November 23, 2024
Our trip to Greece and Crete was very educational and enjoyable and we had the best group leader. Eleni was gracious and loves her country and has a vast knowledge of the history dating back thousands of years. Our day trip were very enjoyable, we went to area churches to see the ancient icons, a pottery factory dating back generations, an olive tree farm where I made some purchases, the little towns are charming and the lunch stops are fabulous. I highly recommend this trip.
— Review left November 23, 2024
This was a wonderful trip! Eleni made it so enjoyable that I cannot praise her enough. I especially loved her enthusiasm for Crete history and culture. She made it come alive. Also this was a perfect mix of activities. We explored ruins in Knossos (a particular interest of mine),visited an olive oil producer, enjoyed a wine tasting, and saw a demonstration of hand made phyllo dough among other things. Eleni filled us in on some of the mythology and how that influenced the culture up to and including modern times. The food was tasty with a variety of traditional dishes offered. In short, this was one of my favorite trips and I highly recommend it.
— Review left November 21, 2024
RS Adventure #12: Winter in Greece: The Magical Island of Crete was a terrific adventure! Not only did we have stops at architectural sites such as Knossos and learn about mythology, and geography of the area, we visited locals including a phyllo dough maker & a potter, who each gave up their days off to demonstrate their skills for us, a knife maker, an olive pressing plant and the Ladies' Cooperative, where we had a lesson in making traditional pasta. I loved the local musicians who provided the backdrop of our lunch at the cooperative.
Eleni is a superb leader who is both knowledgeable and personable. She surprised us with loukoumades, a sweet dumpling treat, as we walked down the Heraklion market street, just one of the daily surprises we experienced . Eleni is a true gift to the program, both in her skills in of sharing knowledge and her ability to provide a diverse group of activities to inspire us to learn.
Each of the hotels were lovely and I very much enjoyed my view from Heraklion at the end of each day. Make sure you check out the rooftop! The food was plentiful , delicious and included many traditional foods and treats including raki to finish our meals. The buses were comfortable and clean.
I thought there was just the right amount of free time, and I felt we were well oriented to the community before striking out on our own to explore.
I really enjoyed the variety of the activities each day, which made the days fly by. Our group ranged in age from mid 40's to 87 and included solos & couples. The activity level is appropriately described. We definitely kept moving!
— Review left November 20, 2024
Led by a very knowledgeable leader. Just the right amount of activity. Great experience.
— Review left November 15, 2024
What a wonderful trip. I love to travel and Road Scholar makes it fun and educational. Will use Road Scholar again and again.
— Review left November 10, 2024
Our Guide, Eleni, was incredible! This was my 5th RS program and all of the guides were amazing, rating my highest scores consistently. However, Eleni’s expertise was beyond superlative. Her breadth and depth of the subject matter was extensive and her warmth and leadership took it all a step beyond. The personal touch she put into the history of Crete made it all come alive. I hadn’t studied, or read on my own, about the Greek gods since high school; but Eleni’s telling of the stories brought it all back and then some. In addition she gave us a booklet with pictures of the places and some of the places we were going to experience, and then, a few days after the program she wrote an email to all of us with a detailed synopsis of our entire trip, something that I found valuable to help enhance personal memories.
— Review left March 28, 2024
This was a fantastic time to visit Crete. We are so glad we went
— Review left March 15, 2024
Crete is a wonderful place to visit to learn the history and culture of Greece and Winter in Crete allows this in an uncrowded time.
— Review left March 15, 2024
We had a fabulous time going to Crete in Winter. It was our first Road Scholar trip and we were uncertain what to expect. I can honestly say that the entire trip was wonderful. The only downside was that I wanted to spend more time there, but we knew it was a quick trip when we signed up. Our instructor, Eleni, was amazing, we made friends, and we are already looking into another trip.
— Review left March 6, 2024
We were very impressed in the organization, logistics, and quality of the group leader/instructor. Program was structured but also allowed plenty of opportunities to individualize the free time to tailor to our taste. Attention to details to make participants comfortable was notable and appreciated.
— Review left February 11, 2024
Excellent experience all around.
— Review left February 11, 2024
What can I say? The trip to Crete exceeded my expectations. I recommend that anyone considering a trip that is 10 time zones away take the opportunity to book 3 days in advance so you are fully awake for every minute of your tour. That is my plan for the future.
— Review left February 7, 2024
A fabulous opportunity to explore the largest Greek island - its towns, museums, a vineyard, a pottery and other sites. As an added our particular guide studied archeology and had done field work on Crete.Itwas a magical experience.
— Review left November 30, 2023
What a wonderful program! It very much exceeded my expectations, from the marvelous group leader to the amazing historical sites & museums. Definitely glad I was able to attend!
— Review left November 22, 2023
Excellent informative and entertaining program led by a top-notch guide.
— Review left November 17, 2023
The tour has all the elements of a favorite movie about discovering a new and magical place.
— Review left November 8, 2023
Winter in Crete is a very interesting and well-planned program. You will learn a lot!
— Review left November 8, 2023
It was an interesting program. The leader was less than good! I’ve only had two inferior leaders and she was one of the two.
— Review left May 8, 2023
We went to Crete on a relatively short trip. The trip was wonderful, made memorable by the simply phenomenal tour guide (Eleni Petroutsou). It was educational, fun, and the food was spectacular. However, the trip was, in the end, also memorable for the totally miserable voyage home. We chose to fly business class and allowed RS to make our itinerary. We came home via Lufthansa from Athens to Munich, then United from Munich to Newark to Raleigh. It was in Munich that our semi-tragedy occurred. We got off the plane into a vast and empty terminal (it was about 9 A.M.), with no Lufthansa employees in view, and no signage indicating where we were to go to get to our next flight. Fortunately, an employee soon appeared; we immediately asked her what to do, and she asked us whether we were the passengers who had requested aid. We were not, and she told us to wait there while she got those people, and that in the meantime she would call for aid for us. Soon a man appeared, and then proceeded to take us through several locked doors, into a locked elevator, out onto the tarmac and into a locked van. He then drove us across the tarmac, out of the terminal and around another building, back into the terminal at the other side of this building, out of the van into a locked door and a locked elevator, and after a significant walk in another huge terminal, to our gate and onto our plane. Now, no one had mentioned that we might have difficulty going from one terminal to another, nor that we should ask ahead of time for help (who would do that?). This was a truly terrible experience -- especially for two 88-year old, but still quite healthy and reasonably active, travelers -- and makes me wonder about the ability of Road Scholar to make reservations without warning people about such things, and about whether I'll take any more RS trips.
— Review left April 24, 2023
Winter in Crete was one of the best programs we have taken with RS. From the beaches to the snow in mountains, we immersed ourselves to a variety of things that Crete is famous for, whether it was the archeological sites, the culture, its people and the variety of the Cretan food. It was our first tour after COVID and it was most enjoyable, with the participants being welcoming and friendly.
— Review left March 27, 2023
Winter in Greece: the Magical Island of Crete was indeed a magical experience. Making traditional cheese high on a rugged mountain and listening to live folk music while rolling pasta certainly beat jostling crowds for a sunset photo! We toured an archeological site one day, an olive farm or Romaniote synagogue the next. We met a baker of phyllo dough treats, a knife-maker's daughter, and the curator of the Natural History museum. If you crave variety and love learning, look no further. Unique local cuisine is a bonus.
— Review left March 26, 2023
This program was wonderful. There is so much history and things to see and do in Crete. The guide was wonderful----very knowledgeable; and she made the trip very special by all the inside stories and her special connections with the people of Crete.
— Review left March 26, 2023
"Winter in Crete" was absolutely perfect! Eleni is experienced and knowledgeable. Hotels are conveniently located. Food is to die for. I recommend coming a day or two before or staying a day or two afterwards to see the Acropolis and other attractions in Athens.
— Review left March 26, 2023
"Winter in Crete" proved to be a fabulous immersive experience in Cretan culture, community, food, history and geography. Our tour guide's relationships with people in the local communities that we visited enhanced our experience beyond compare. Being in Crete at this time of year made the experience more intimate and fulfilling, too, because of the lack of summer crowds. We would highly recommend this program!
— Review left March 25, 2023
My wife and I are considered exotic travelers by our family and friends. And we are. We are humbled though by the experiences of our fellow travelers. They were friendly, fun, generous and involved. Add two more nouns, love and passionate, and you have Eleni Petroutsou our group leader. She was truly a Greek Guidess. Her love for Greece was easily embraced by the group.
— Review left March 24, 2023
One program in, and I am at high risk of becoming a Road Scholar addict....
— Review left March 23, 2023
A wonderful experience with a remarkable guide Crete is truly Magical!
— Review left March 22, 2023
This program and guide was the best of all the programs we have been on.
— Review left March 22, 2023
I couldn't ask for a more rewarding trip. Everything was either flawless, fascinating, or delicious, and most things were all three.
— Review left March 22, 2023
To experience and understand in depth the history, culture, economy, and food of a small and beautiful place on our planet I strongly recommend the RS program in Crete. Winter is a great time to do so.
— Review left February 17, 2023
Road Scholar is not your everyday tour company. If you not only want to see known sights, this is an outfit for you. The leadership is excellent and knowledgeable and you will go to non tourist places and enjoy the local culture and its people. The accommodations and food are wonderful as well.
— Review left February 8, 2023
I loved this tour. I went because a friend encouraged me to, but it may be my favorite tour. Crete is a beautiful and interesting island and Road Scholar was amazing!
— Review left November 26, 2022
Crete is an amazing place to visit. My adventure was enhanced by my travel partners and our group leader. I would recommend this program.
— Review left March 24, 2022
We experienced a wonderful combination of ancient history and people today living and working, often in ancient crafts in Crete.
— Review left November 27, 2021
I loved this trip - a concentrated look at a small island! The guide was incredibly knowledgeable and each of the stops was a treat. I am not just enthusing to enthuse. I love it.
HOWEVER, my trip home was enough to want to stop going with you all. We flew to Athen, arrived late, drove through traffic for 45 minutes to a hotel that was not so nice and food that was OK, Then at 2:30 am we had to get on a bus and drive back to the airport. Many of the people on the tour said your logistics are always poor, particularly flight arrangements. I wanted to sleep at the airport, on the floor!
— Review left March 13, 2020
If you want to experience an immersion into culture and learn the history by living it with a knowledgeable, local guide , you want to travel with Road Scholar.
— Review left February 22, 2020
This was my first trip with Road Scholar and it was really great. Our guide, Eleni, was wonderful. Lots of information, food, and laughs.
— Review left March 25, 2019
A wonderful program in a beautiful location with a nice variety of activities.
Eleni is a fantastic guide!
— Review left March 25, 2019
Fabulous program for the traveler curious about Crete culture and in particular for anyone with an interest in ancient history. And oh, the food!!!
— Review left March 2, 2019
