Olive Oil, Wine, Cheese and Honey Around Chania: Which Tasting Tour Is Worth It

The short answer: if you want one food day around Chania, the seven-hour olive oil, wine, cheese and honey tour at €42 is the one most people book, and with 1,151 reviews it has the track record. The €120 wine-and-oil tour is a different product, more about the wine. Shorter village tastings of an hour or two exist and cost €30 to €50.

Crete’s food is a good reason to leave the city for a day. Olive oil, the local cheeses, honey and wine are made in the villages and hills around Chania, and the descriptions of these tours name the kinds of places you visit.

The all-round day: €42, seven hours

The olive oil, wine, cheese and honey tasting tour from Chania is €42 per person for 7 hours, with 4.6 stars from 1,151 reviews. The description lists an ancient olive tree, a bakery, an olive mill, a cheese factory and a winery, with traditional local products tasted along the way. It is the most varied of the group and, at €6 an hour, among the cheapest per hour.

A close cousin, the olive tree, bakery and winery tour with tasting, has the same price and length (€42, 7 hours) and a similar-sounding list, with 4.5 stars from 30 reviews. The Cretan flavours tasting of wine, oil, honey and cheese is €37.80 for 6 hours, 4.6 stars, 22 reviews. Both have too few reviews to rank above the big one; they are options if the first is full.

The wine-and-oil day: €120, six hours

The wine and olive oil tasting tour with snacks costs €120 for 6 hours, with 4.8 stars from 384 reviews. The description names family-owned wineries, an olive oil factory and award-winning wines, plus snacks. It is nearly three times the price for one hour less.

Why the gap? The descriptions do not say, and we will not guess. What they show is a different focus: wine rather than a spread of products. Before you pay the difference, look on the booking page at what is included in the €120 (food, number of wineries, group size) and decide whether those things are worth it to you.

Short tastings: €30 to €50, up to two hours

If a whole day is too much, three shorter options are listed. The private tasting of six Cretan wines in Fres village is €30 for 1.5 hours, 4.9 stars from 41 reviews. The olive oil tasting tour with a traditional Cretan meal is €35 for 2 hours, 4.5 stars from 12 reviews. The five-wine tasting with locals near Kissamos is €50 for 1.5 hours, 4.6 stars from 9 reviews. These are small numbers of reviews, so read the comments before you book.

A cheaper way to taste honey and wine

Several beach day trips include a tasting as a side stop. The Elafonissi pink beach tour with honey and wine tasting is €26.18 for 8 to 11 hours, with 4.7 stars from 2,768 reviews. The tasting there is a short stop in a long day, not the point of it. If tasting is the point, book a tasting tour.

Tour or drive yourself

This is the one place where a tour is simply the sensible answer. Tastings mean wine, and wine means someone else drives. If you do hire a car for the rest of the week, keep the tasting day as a tour.

What to check before booking

• What is included. Lunch, the number of stops and the group size differ and are not always in the title.
• The pickup point. Check where the tour starts and whether it collects from your hotel.
• Dietary needs. Cheese, bread, honey and wine are on these menus, so tell the operator in advance about allergies or a vegan diet.

Our pick

For most visitors the €42 seven-hour tour is the right default: broad, good value per hour, and the most reviewed by a distance. Choose the €120 tour if wine is your reason for coming. Everything else is for a short slot in a busy week. More choices are on the wine and food tours page.