Greek wine and food itinerary

Greece is one of the places where wine was born. The Mycenaeans already drank it, the ancient Greeks mixed it with water at their symposia and dedicated it to Dionysus, and the amphorae of Chios and Thasos travelled all over the Mediterranean. Today Greek wine is enjoying a second youth: ancient and unique grapes, such as the assyrtiko of Santorini, the agiorgitiko of Nemea and the vidiano of Crete, are being rediscovered by a generation of winemakers who trained in France and Italy and came back home. Alongside the wine there is one of the healthiest and tastiest cuisines in the world, built on olive oil, vegetables, cheese, fish and mountain herbs.

This nine-day itinerary crosses three great lands of wine and food: Attica and the Athens market, the Nemea valley in the Peloponnese, the volcanic island of Santorini, with its basket-shaped vines, and Crete, the great island of olive oil, raki and country cooking. You don't need to be an expert: all it takes is curiosity and a willingness to sit at the table and take your time.

Wine and food in Greece

Greek cooking is what nutritionists call the Mediterranean diet in its purest form: seasonal vegetables, pulses, plenty of olive oil, sheep's and goat's cheese, fish, a little meat and lots of wild herbs. Meals are shared, with mezedes, small plates, in the middle of the table. After decades in which it was mostly sold in bulk or resinated, Greek wine is now among the most interesting in Europe, with more than two hundred native grape varieties. See our pages on Greek wine, Greek cuisine and eating in Greece.

Day 1: Athens, the market and the tavernas

In the morning head to the central market on Athinas Street, the Varvakios: in the 19th-century iron halls meat and fish are sold amid the shouts of the traders, and the surrounding streets are full of shops selling spices, olives, cheese, honey and dried pulses. Have breakfast with a bougatsa or a koulouri, the sesame bread ring. In the afternoon take a food walk through Psyrri and Monastiraki, stopping for souvlaki and Greek coffee, and in the evening dine in a taverna in Plaka or Koukaki, with your first mezedes and a glass of house wine. See where to eat in Athens and markets and shopping in Athens.

Where to stay: in Athens, for two nights.

Day 2: the wineries of the Mesogeia

Pick up the car and drive into the Mesogeia, the Attic plain east of Athens, towards the airport (under an hour). It is the land of savatiano, the most widely planted white grape in Greece, and of retsina, wine flavoured with pine resin, as old as Greece itself: once the wine of every taverna, today some producers make it in surprisingly elegant versions. Visit one or two wineries, with a tasting and lunch among the vines. In the evening, before dinner, try ouzo with a plate of grilled octopus: see ouzo and what to drink in Greece.

Day 3: Nemea

Drive into the Peloponnese to Nemea (about an hour and a half), where according to myth Heracles killed the lion. This is the largest red-wine area in Greece, with more than forty wineries scattered among the villages and hills. The grape is agiorgitiko, "St George's grape", which gives soft, fruity reds when young and deeper, more complex wines from the high vineyards. Visit two wineries, with tastings, and the archaeological site of ancient Nemea, with the Temple of Zeus and the stadium of the Panhellenic Games. In the afternoon drive down to Nafplio (under an hour). See the Peloponnese.

Where to stay: in Nafplio, for one night.

Day 4: to Santorini

Drive back towards Athens, return the car and take the fast ferry from Piraeus or Rafina to Santorini (about five hours), or fly from Athens. On arrival, watch the sunset from Oia or Imerovigli, over the caldera, with a glass of local white.

Where to stay: on Santorini, for two nights; it is cheaper in Fira or in inland villages such as Pyrgos and Megalochori.

Day 5: assyrtiko and vinsanto

Santorini is one of the most extraordinary vineyards in the world. On the volcanic soil, swept by wind and almost rainless in summer, the vines are trained as kouloura, woven into basket shapes at ground level to protect the grapes from wind and sun. The roots are so old that many vines are over a hundred years old, and phylloxera, the pest that destroyed Europe's vineyards, never reached the island. The king grape is assyrtiko, which gives dry, mineral, salty whites, among the most admired in Europe. Vinsanto, by contrast, is a sweet wine made from sun-dried grapes.

Visit two or three wineries, many with terraces over the caldera or cellars dug into the volcanic rock, and have lunch in a taverna in Pyrgos or Megalochori with the island's produce: Santorini fava, sun-dried cherry tomatoes, capers and chlorotyri, a fresh goat's cheese.

Day 6: to Crete and Heraklion

The fast ferry takes you from Santorini to Heraklion, on Crete, in about two hours. Pick up a car and visit the market on 1866 Street, in the old town, with its stalls of herbs, thyme honey, cheese, olives and raki. In the evening dine in a Cretan taverna: dakos, barley rusk topped with tomato, cheese and oil; kalitsounia, little cheese pies; fried snails; and at the end raki, or tsikoudia, on the house. See Heraklion.

Where to stay: in Heraklion or the wine villages, for two nights.

Day 7: Peza and Archanes

South of Heraklion, among the hills of Peza and Archanes (about half an hour), lies Crete's main wine area. Here they grow the island's ancient grapes, such as the white vidiano and the reds kotsifali, mandilari and liatiko, and many wineries welcome visitors with tastings and lunches. Archanes is an elegant village of restored houses and tree-lined squares, a few kilometres from the palace of Knossos, which you can visit early in the morning. Visit an olive mill or an olive oil museum too: Crete is one of the places in the world with the highest olive oil consumption per person. See the Minoan Crete itinerary.

Day 8: Chania

Cross the island westwards to Chania (about two and a half hours), with a stop in Rethymno. Chania is the most beautiful town on Crete, with its Venetian harbour, lighthouse and the lanes of the old Jewish quarter. Visit the cross-shaped covered market and dine in one of the old-town tavernas: the moment to try lamb with herbs, gamopilafo, the Cretan wedding rice, graviera cheese and honey pastries. If you like, in the morning drive up into the villages of the White Mountains to visit an olive mill or a cheesemaker. See Chania and Greek cheeses.

Where to stay: in Chania, for one night.

Day 9: home

A last breakfast by the harbour, then fly home from Chania Airport, about half an hour from the centre, with direct flights to many European cities in summer.

How much it costs

To save money: the most expensive tastings are on Santorini, where it pays to choose two or three good ones rather than five; on Crete and in Nemea many wineries charge little or nothing if you buy a bottle. Village tavernas cost much less than those by the sea.

Practical information

• Driving and alcohol: the blood alcohol limit in Greece is 0.5 g/l, lower for new drivers. Whoever drives should spit at tastings, or book a tour with a driver, widely available on Santorini and Crete.
• Bookings: many wineries open by appointment only, especially in Nemea and on Crete; write a few days ahead.
• Ferries: in summer fast ferries between Piraeus, Santorini and Heraklion run daily; in rough seas they may be cancelled. See ferries to the Greek islands.
• Taking wine home: bottles travel well in checked luggage wrapped in clothes; many wineries ship abroad.
• Meal times: Greeks have lunch after two and dinner after nine; tavernas stay open late.

Variations

• Naoussa and Macedonia: xinomavro, the great red of the north, in the vineyards of Naoussa and Amyndeo, an hour and a half from Thessaloniki, the city with Greece's richest cuisine. See the Alexander the Great itinerary.
• Kalamata and olives: the olives and oil of Messinia, around Kalamata.
• Samos and Lemnos: the sweet muscats of the eastern Aegean islands.

What to read before you go

For the cooking, a good Greek cookbook to recreate the dishes you tasted; for the wine, a guide to Greek wines. For atmosphere, Kazantzakis's Zorba the Greek, with its Cretan feasts. See also feta and moussaka.

Final tips

• Pace: no more than two or three wineries a day; wine is best enjoyed slowly, at the table.
• Combinations: Crete combines with the Minoan Crete itinerary, Nemea with the myth itinerary in the Argolid.
• A tip: in Cretan tavernas, don't order dessert at the end of the meal: fruit, a little sweet and raki almost always arrive free. It is Cretan hospitality, and refusing would be rude.

See also our other itineraries in Greece.

Santorini on the map

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