The Real Crete from Rethymno

Discover Crete’s rich history and traditions: explore Melidoni Cave, Margarites pottery, Arkadi Monastery, and more. Enjoy live music and local cuisine.

Duration: 10 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Monastery of Arkadi - Take a break from the beach and discover the more authentic side to Crete on a small group tour of the small villages and rural landscapes. Visit an old olive oil mill, see the island’s oldest monastery and learn more about ancient Eleftherna.
  • Melidoni Cave - Take a break from the beach and discover the more authentic…
What's Included
  • In-vehicle air conditioning
What's Not Included
  • Lunch
  • Other
Additional Information

The Real Crete: On this excursion you will have the opportunity to see many places that represent the traditional lifestyle and some historical facts of Crete. The first stop is at Melidoni Cave which is a cave full of history and dates back to Neolithic Period based on tools and items found it the cave. The second stop is at the village of Margarites….

Location
Monastery of Arkadi
Arkadi
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
5.0
(68 Ratings)
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Chrishx6
Aug 8, 2025
A wonderful holiday experience - We had two fantastic trips with Nektarious and Kostas for the real Crete experience and Lazaros for a trip to the Lake Kournas. Both trips were an amazing way to see the beautiful island of Crete and a highlight of our holiday. We would thoroughly recommend booking with Markidis Travel if you are looking for some day trips in your holiday.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Glen330
Jul 22, 2025
The Best Ever Trip - We had a fantastic full day of visiting the Real Crete filled with local history; entertainment; the local people and lots of fun. Our fun packed day was made even more special thanks to Niktarius and Kostas, who not only had impeccable knowledge of all the sites we visited, but also turned out to be talented dancers and musicians. This is the best trip that we have ever been on and will certainly be booking any future trips with Markidis, when we next visit Rethymno.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Marionsk1955
Jul 15, 2025
Excellent day out - A fantastic day spent with Kostas and Nektarious. Friendly, informative and entertaining. Lunch in the taverna was excellent and the musical entertainment provided by Kostas on the Lyra was outstanding. All in all, a great day which was well organised. Would highly recommend this tour company and is now our preferred choice.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jacqui_r
Jul 13, 2025
fantastic tour - Superb - could not recommend highly enough. The guide and driver were outstanding. Best excursion I have taken
Review provided by Viator
Peterty7696bk
Jun 23, 2025
Lace - Great guide (Mr. Nectarius) , super driver (Mr. Costa). Entertaining and informative. A top level care. All well prepared by the agency. Again and again and recommended.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Derwolf1224
Jun 19, 2025
Super day trip - recommended. - The trip inland was great. The grotto, the monastery, the gorge, everything beautiful. But what was the highlight: lunch in the tavern at Grandpa "Janis" (I don't remember the name...). The bus driver mutated into a musician and the tour guide swung his dance leg. To put it in the words of the tour guide "we became friends, maybe even a big family" - was a really nice day trip. Thank you again.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Clarecq8265mh
Jun 7, 2025
Fantastic trip into rural Crete - We really enjoyed this trip which enabled us to get a great flavour of the centre of Crete without a car. It was well organised, punctual and the highlight was the delicious Taverna meal and Costas' lyra playing. Our guide provided commentary before we reached the different attractions, so we could wander around as we liked. Excellent.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Aurelie
Jun 5, 2025
Atmosphere on top! Thank you Anastasia - We set out to discover the ridge with the cave of melidoni, the village of Margarites and the monastery of Arkadi. The driver was perfect with impeccable driving in hard to reach places. Anastasia the guide was very dynamic, kind with a very soft voice! Throughout the trip she explains the anecdotes about Greece, the history of Greece and also introduces us to typical Greek music. We had a great warm time where we took full view! If you go with Anastasia, you will be delighted!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Elkemy8111pb
May 28, 2025
A beautiful day - A beautiful day with great impressions, a confident, great driver and a fantastic tour guide, the super nice and linguistically gifted Anastasia...that was our experience yesterday. It couldn't be better!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Drewl808
Oct 6, 2024
The Only Excursion You NEED to Book in Crete! - Markidis Travel is the ONLY company you should be booking this excursion with! Nectarios the travel guide and Constantine (Costas) the bus driver (and lyra player!!) were both absolutely amazing. The best highlight was the trip to the restaurant where we had authentic Cretan cuisine as a group and enjoyed live Cretan music and were taught how to dance the traditional Cretan dance. It was almost the best part of our entire trip and HIGHLY recommend it to anyone wanting to experience authentic Cretan culture! You also get to learn a lot about the history of Crete. We would rate higher than 5 stars if possible!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
From $41
up to 15 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).