Encounters with the Cretan land through the eyes of locals
Staori is a social cooperative dedicated to ecotourism on the island of Crete. While cultivating sustainable destinations that promote nature and their communities, our specialty lies in walking, wildlife, culinary and cultural tours.
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one-day tours
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Rebecca M2025-04-05Verified Must NOT miss this experience! What a wonderful experience!! I'm so often sceptical of guided experiences and find them 'touristy' and cookie cutters. This experience with Haris, Yorgos, and Maria was anything but cookie cutter! So warm, so generous, so informative, and such a highlight of our time in Greece! I would give this experience 10 starts if that were possible. Georg G2024-09-27Verified Crete Nature - much more than expected Had a great nature and birding trip with Haris. He is very deep Into Cretan nature and especially birding for me. Well equipped and prepared we saw many interesting sites and their birds,Organisation was easy and very helpful. I can only. recommend Staori and the team when You want to dive deeper into Greece and Crete and also into its history. This was very enlightening and pleasureful for me this day !! Kind regards Georg Gewers , Berlin, Germany Sarah K2024-04-28Verified Unique experience within a caring environment The travel agency made us a trip tailored to our request, which included an interactive visit in the mountains accompanying a lovely shepherd family and a pastery workshop with a women cooperative in the same mountain village. We had a unique experience and loved the caring environment, from the guides and the people we got to know. Highly recommended if you want to practice a different kind of tourism! djr_482023-08-17Verified Amari Valley It was like having a day out with a knowledgeable and cultured friend rather than a tourist excursion, Excellent driver as well. Highly recommended. Laura2020-05-15Verified Fantastic and warm experience Really professional quiding and unique experience with Eleni and this company, from mountains to sea. Loved to see the big birds and get to know some wild greens and spring's first flowers as well. Lovely and caring feeling that I will never forget. Met locals and spend time with them. Learned a lot about Cretan culture and way of life. I hope to get back soon and experience more. MLS992019-08-07Verified Highlight of our trip! We have hiked several of the gorges on Crete on previous visits, and wanted to do something a little different this time. Let’s hike upwards! We were a group of 5 with 2 fit adults, 2 fit teens, and me. All communication with Eleni ahead of time was very smooth and clear. She picked us up from the village where we were staying (Spili) and drove us to the south side. She works with the local shepherds so that their knowledge, experience, and traditional ways are respected. Georgios, the shepherd who met us at the base and guided us with Eleni up Psiloritis, has herded sheep and goats there since he was a child, and his father before him. He was so kind and considerate. Eleni was wonderful: knowledgeable, inspiring, and full of interesting information. And her homemade walnut cake and zucchini pies! The hike was amazing: more strenuous than I expected but I’m not a regular hiker. Eleni told us that we were taking the longer but easier south side route because the weather was not conducive to coming up the north side; it wasn’t easy for me so I was relieved. Of course, the goats just looked at us and jumped up the rocks! It took us about 7 hours in total. The landscape was incredible, and we saw so many gryphon vultures. The scent of the wild thyme is one of my favorites. What was amazing to me was that there were alpine flowers still in July - spring was very late this year, and we saw several patches of snow still there. I highly recommend Greentour - you should go out of your way to hike with them: they care about Cretan culture and nature, and are working to keep it well cared for. Jane T2019-07-04Verified Personalised tours, authentic experiences into the heart of Crete Eleni and her co-operators really know and love their country and you can sense this when you go on a guided tour with her. This hiking tour was into Platanias gorge - we had the whole gorge to ourselves, except for the gryphon falcons who put on a magnificent display and of course, the goats. Quite a strenuopus hike up and then but with such rewards! The views were stunning. Eleni provided some small home cooked snacks at our half way point, beside a small chapel built into the rockface, and then we ended up at a local taverna - fresh sardines delivered by the travelling fishmonger, local sausages, Greek salads, fried potatoes, tzatsiki, bread, olive oil, tomatoes - fantastic! Thank you again Eleni, hope to return again soon. Mike L2019-07-03Verified Excellent experience We decided to do the Platania Gorge walk to experience some Cretan scenery. Eleni picked us up and we joined the rest of the group at the gorge entrance. Haris pointed out plants birds and tress and gave us lots of fascinating facts. Eleni was a brilliant guide, judging the pace of the walk perfectly, and providing a simple tasty shepherds lunch at the halfway point. We were lucky to see lots of griffon vultures feeding their young, and giving us aerial displays. The walk was quite challenging in places, but there was always a helping hand. Next was an excellent lunch of local freshly cooked produce, then a visit to olive trees that were thousands of years old. Finally an unexpected visit to the Arcadia monastery which was moving and a real highlight of the day. I would recommend greentours to anyone wanting to experience a unique day out, it was the best tour we have been on. We felt we had made new friends, and want to thank Eleni and Haris again for all their kindness. Vibeke E2019-06-09Verified Great day - Platania gorge tour We were picked up by Eleni at Rethymnon bus station. Then we drove into Amari valley. The gorge tour is actually going not in the bottom of the gorge but at the sides. It is going up with great views, and great spotting at Griffon vultures birds and their nesting area , and their youngsters. Eleni had a binocular so we could watch close. Many flowers to see along the path. , and we "collected" some nature-hearts as well.When we came down to the village we ate a really well tasting homecooked meal in a local place. This was a highlight day in our one-week stay in Chania area in Crete. loutre1232018-10-02Verified Ascent of Mount Ida/Psiloritis I engaged the services of Greentour Crete for a guided hike up Crete's highest mountain. Giorgos, my guide, arrived to pick me up from my hotel exactly at the appointed time and drove me to the start of our hike, pointing out interesting cultural, historical and biological features on the route. We had an excellent hike to the summit and back from the valley to the north, stopping to examine and discuss the flora, fauna and geology. Giorgos was an engaging companion, with wide and extensive knowledge. I recommend him, and Greentours, and hope to hike again with him on my next stay on the island.