A very nice and informative trip.
The service and kindness from the staff was amazing. They welcomed us - 4 adults and our 10 month old son, with open... read more arms and smiles all the way.

  Off the beaten tourist track - fun day with new friends - Ed is a great guide. Yes, it was informative and interesting, but mostly it was fun. As a solo traveller, I appreciated how Ed brought the whole group together and... read more involved everyone. While this trip is for all ages, if you are travelling with kids, you should know Ed does a particularly good job at engaging young people. For me, I really enjoyed seeing the villages and learning from Ed about them. These are not tourist destinations, these are real Crete. The highlight was a local meal in a family-owned restaurant. The food was wonderful and authentic. Ed was great at ordering just the right amount of everything and explaining the food. All around, this was a wonderful day and I highly recommend this trip!

  Crete is beautiful but Ed is Amazing  - I honestly don't know where to start ,I am not very good at writing long reviews ,Just one word Ed when someone love the job they are doing you can... read more honestly see that.Crete is beautiful no doubt about it,but you are incredible.Stay happy and smiling always and please come and visit us in Inverness.

  Brilliant Crete - Ed was easy to communicate with and a wonderful safe driver. He is highly knowledgeable of Cretan history and genuinely interested in his guests. We had a wonderful day and... read more would highly recommend. We love his support of the local villages. Thanks Ed! You are the best!

  A perfect day (despite the cold and rain) - Ed was an amazing tour guide — knowledgeable, patient, and hilarious! He is a wonderful storyteller and our conversations went from the ancient to modern. He was absolutely the best... read more guide we had during our tw weeks in Greece.

  Excellent day on Crete - We had a great time with Ed. He picked us up from Chania port and drove to several small mountain towns, the other side of the island to view... read more the different landscapes. We explored old town Chania and Rethimno. We even got a bottle of some local homemade olive oil which was great! He was very knowledgeable, had a great personality, and made the day enjoyable. We would highly recommend this company!

  Where do I start? We just spend 2 1/2 weeks in Athens, Napfoli, Crete (Heraklion) and Istanbul during January 2023 and our entire family of six adults unanimously agreed... read more that the best day of the trip was our day with Ed. That's especially important as my 21-year-old son who is an engineering student with a minor in Islamic Art & Architecture insisted we add Istanbul to our itinerary... even with big sites such as the Hagia Sofia and Topkapi Palace... when asked he said his personal best day was in Crete with Ed going to Zeus's cave and touring the olive oil factory. Oh, and everybody put the lunch we had overlooking the Lasithi Plateau as one of the trip's top meals - two 21-year-olds wolfing down dishes that included boiled dandelion greens, green beans/zucchini and goat in a heavenly tomato sauce and loving it? It happened.

We followed the basic itinerary that Ed had listed, but he also customized it as much as possible when certain places were close by and if would be on the way or only a tiny detour, he made it happen. Five specific instances where he went over and above to include things we asked about:

1) I had mentioned that I had been watching YouTube videos about olive harvesting which occurs Nov-Jan and when he saw an older gentleman with a truck just pulling out his equipment to begin harvesting, he pulled over and asked if we could give it a go. We each got a try and it was a blast. The pictures are priceless.

2) I had mentioned that there was a convent nearby I had seen on Google Maps and on the way back to Heraklion he stopped by so we could see their chapel. This was really nice because we were only in Crete for three full days so didn't have time to get out west to where some of the more famous monasteries are located.

3) Five of us were engineers and we had so much fun earlier that morning at the olive oil factory that he took us to a second one that he knew was actually operating that day so we could see the process live. Ed knows just about everybody on the island.

4) I had mentioned that I had read an article about Crete's 'banana villages' and he pulled into the next town so we could get out of the car and take 5 mins to walk around a banana plantation.

5) I knew we were arriving in Heraklion (by overnight ferry from Athens) the morning of the Epiphany celebration so before we left the states, I tried to get on the local church's website to find out the schedule of events, but it was all in Greek with no English translation. I reached out to Ed on WhatsApp and he said he would look into it resulting in him sending me a snapshot of their program in English. On that day (which was the day prior to ours with him) my family got to join the procession down to the harbor and watch the cities' youngsters jump into the sea to grab the crucifix for a year of good luck.

Lastly, our whole family felt safe with Ed driving. People from Crete don't exactly follow the same kinds of rules that we do here in the states, but it was obvious we were in capable hands. We only later truly appreciated this after renting a car in Athens and driving out to Napflio. The interstate in the Peloponesse was fine, but the towns? It was nerve wracking. And in Istanbul... we didn't have a driver who wasn't simultaneously facetiming and texting while doing 90 mph in the left-hand lane. Terrifying.

We had so much fun that we hired him for a half day the next day so that probably says everything. Our only regret is that we wish we could have stayed it Crete longer. Next time we're in Crete we're definitely calling Ed

  Fabulous day, highly recommended! - What a brilliant tour this is, I have been so impressed from start to finish with Explore Real Crete... Excellent and easy communication before my arrival, by email and then... read more by WhatsApp with my guide who replied quickly to my questions. I was a bit nervous as a solo traveller going for a group tour but it was a very small group and I thoroughly enjoyed the group experience and made new friends! So if you are a solo traveller I highly recommend!
For the actual tour, I was picked up on time, and the car was very comfortable and spotlessly clean. I felt like I truly discovered authentic Crete, not the usual busy tourist sites, with visits to quaint sleepy villages and a friendly family restaurant where we were given all kinds of dishes in a "family style" dining experience so everyone could try a little bit of everything! This was amazing as it meant I could try homemade traditional foods, and they were so delicious! We visited an olive oil farm, which had a shop that was very reasonably priced, and Zeus cave which had fantastic views on the walk up and down to the cave entrance (the guide had told us to take our time so I did not feel rushed at all). Our guide stopped several times to explain local history, share interesting facts, to show us all kinds of plants and trees and to take photos at view points. We saw windmills, goats, met local people and tried all kinds of fruit and vegetables even purple carrots!
This was definitely one of the best tours I have been on, I felt so relaxed and saw and learnt so much in one day from our guide was very passionate, knowledgeable and funny. Explore Real Crete is the perfect name and exact description of the tour, I really did explore REAL Crete!

  Do this tour!  - This was an exceptional tour. The guide Ed was highly knowledgeable and extremely accommodating. This was a fantastic way to see the island.

  Great guide and great tour - Edmond is a knowledgeable and professional tour guide. We had such a fruitful time that day. His recommendations were perfect. Thank you very much.

  Go explore with Ed - We booked a tour with Ed as we wanted to see some of the real Crete. From the moment he arrived Ed was full of enthusiasm, stories and life. He... read more adapted the tour based on what we told him. He took us on an amazing trip around so of the less touristy places. I'll be calling him when we're next in Crete and recommend him to anyone visiting.

  Great for Families with Kids - We took Eddie’s drive tour to Spinalonga. He was a great guide with fantastic energy.

Beyond the info-sharing, which he made very interesting, he also went out of the... read more way to engage the young minds in our family, both on the drive and when walking around. He also exceeded expectations by making special arrangements to ensure we had the best experience even though we went in winter (i.e. off-season).

He is a good choice for families with children between maybe 5 to 15 (ours was 9 to 12).

  We had a wonder time on our tour with Ed! We made many memories that will last a lifetime and truly felt the spirit of Crete. Ed was so genuinely... read more kind, accommodating and interesting. He even went out of his way to drive us to the Minoan Palace of Knossos when it wasn’t on the itinerary! My brother and I learned so much about the history, culture and localities of Crete while having fun doing so. If you want to truly gain a better understanding and deeper appreciation for this beautiful island while you’re here, I highly recommend booking this tour!

  Highlight of our trip in Crete - My husband and I had a lovely time on this tour - Ed helped us make the most of it and it was the highlight of our time spent in... read more Crete. He showed us various herbs (rosemary, lavender, jasmine, Mediterranean curry etc.) and fruits (oranges, apples, lemons, strawberries, even bananas) and we were lucky to have the chance to pick (and eat) fresh fruits along the way. We particularly enjoyed the lunch at one of the local village restaurants. It was also refreshing to see the vast number of olive trees and be educated about olive oil production. And nonetheless, Zeus cave was also an enjoyable short hike as well. Ed had great personality too and livened up the tour - especially when both my husband were introverts. Will highly recommend this tour.

  An incredibly immersive day - This tour turned out to be our favourite of our entire Greece trip. Ed was delightful and graciously ran a small tour, even when bigger companies may not have thought... read more it worth the time. We spent time walking the back streets of sleepy rural villages, learning about the lifestyle, stopped to pick strawberries on an elevated plateau with a breathtaking view, saw a tree older than our home country, and stopped in at a local village taverna to eat and drink with the locals. The heartbeat of this country is comprised of caring, hardworking people and we had an amazing interaction with some, via Ed as a translator. The Cave of Zeus had a hushed awe quality to it, that really conveyed the sanctity of the location, and there was no time limit to stay in it, so we were able to take it in at our leisure. It was exciting to see the olive oil press factory in action, and how the community comes together to have everyone’s harvest diligently processed with care.

  Unique, authentic experience - My family and I had a fantastic time with Ed. We were given ample time to hike to the Cave and visit traditional villages for some sight seeing and lunch.... read more The best part was going to the farms and having an authentic Cretan experience. We could not recommend this tour enough. The only thing I would have liked was more time to visit shops in the villages, however it did not make us enjoy the tour less. Next time we would call Ed directly to have him host us again! Thank you for your hospitality and charisma! We hope to see you again soon.

  Absolutely incredible day out - Ed was absolutely lovely; friendly, funny and charismatic. He showed us around traditional Crete with a fantastic energy and a genuine appreciation for his home island. He showed us an... read more enormous amount of fresh local fruit, vegetables and herbs, and we had our hands absolutely full as we went back. He also provided recommendations where to go afterwards, and helped us plan the rest of our trip - absolutely could not recommend this tour higher.

  A definite must! - This was a wonderful day, even though I'm afraid of heights and kept putting myself into situations where I should have known better. Ed, our guide, was very knowledgeable and... read more kept us informed. We learned so much from him about the real Crete. Highly recommend this tour.