KNOSSOS, WINE, AND PHILOSOPHY PRIVATE TOUR

Your half-day tour will start by meeting up with your knowledgeable guide at your hotel lobby or cruise ship and let yourself be whisked off to the village of Myrtia, 15 kilometers inland and south of Heraklion. “Every perfect traveler always creates the country where he travels” quoted Nikos Kazantzakis. Nikos Kazantzakis was born in Heraklion, Crete when the island was still under Ottoman rule. He studied law in Athens before moving to Paris to pursue postgraduate studies in philosophy under Henri Bergson. Among other distinctions, he was president of the Hellenic Literary Society, received the International Peace Award in Vienna in 1956, and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. His works have been translated and published in over 50 countries and have been adapted for the theatre, the cinema, radio, and television.

Enjoy a tour of the Museum’s premises and be guided through the most representative exhibits that provide insight into known and less known facts about the Kazantzakis’ life. Every day, visitors arrive from all four corners of the globe, bearing witness to the lasting relevancy of the word expressed by the great Cretan, universal author and thinker. The tour lasts 40-50 minutes.

Next, we will head south of Heraklion and to Gavalas Winery. The grandfather Emmanuel Gavalas, son of Nikos, planted the first vineyards in 1906. At that time he would use the Minoan dressed stone treading tank that used to be at the village of Agios Thomas, where he came from, to tread the grapes. The must was fermented into big storage jars. He transported the wine into leather flasks and he sold it to taverns and stores. Some years later he settled down at Vorias, a village 15km away from Agios Thomas where he planted new vineyards. In 2001 the vineyards became part of the organic cultivation system.

You will have time to walk among the vineyard and enjoy 5 glasses of organic wine with local nibbles made by the family from their farm.

Finish this adventure by learning all about the Minoans by visiting the most important archaeological site on Crete and the second most visited archaeological site of the country, the Minoan palace of Knossos and the mythical Labyrinth of Homer. You will be visiting an amazing area which consists of 22,000 square meters.

By the end of this tour you will have the opportunity to touch,sip, eat, feel, and see the Legends and Myths of Ancient Greece and Minoan Crete!

We will visit:

The Palace of Knossos (2 hours)
Gavalas Winery (1 hour)
Nikos Kazantzakis Museum(1 hour)

Included:

• Round-trip transportation from/to your hotel or cruise ship.
• Certified English/German-speaking driver.
• Licensed archaeologist guide
• Wine tasting (4 glasses & local finger food)

Not Included:

• Tips for guide and driver (non-compulsory).
• Personal expenses during the tour (drinks or food).
• Knossos entrance fees. 15 euros per person We offer to all our guests’ skip-the-line service by which we purchase the entrance tickets in advance in order to save you time and avoid lining up at the cashier. You can pay for your entrance tickets upon check-in to our staff in cash
• Kazantzakis Museum General entrance ticket: 5 €