Naxos Wine Tasting & Artisan Cheese Experience - Piccolo Gruppo

It’s hard to find experiences that strike such a balance of feeling curated, yet still very personal and local. You get an excellent value for what you pay, and this was one of my highlights of visiting Naxos.

My boyfriend and I wanted to curate a full day tour that didn’t quite match the agenda of the tours outlined by Philema. I reached out to inquire about a custom tour to include wine, olive oil and cheese and the founder, Eleni was super helpful and let us know this would be no problem! She was thorough in her responses and was a delight to work with. The tour itself was an amazing way to explore Naxos and truly spend time with the locals — our tour guide, Alex, grew up in Naxos and was very knowledgeable! The tour included a visit to a farm where we had brunch, explored the gardens, fed the animals and made cheese! Next we visited an olive tree grove with trees over 900 years old… and stopped at two other olive oil presses / mills before ending at Tranampelo winery. The vineyard is run by Konstantinos, who also owns a wine bar in town called Oinochoros (if you’re looking for good wine to sip amongst locals, go here). Overall, we were very pleased with the day and were extremely grateful to have found Eleni who is incredibly warm and inviting to all visitors of Naxos. Highly recommend!

My husband and I did the Cheese, Wine and highlights full day tour. We loved getting to go to/see areas of Naxos we may not have known about if we didn't sign up for this tour. Our stops included: a farm, a pottery shop, Chalkio, Aperathos (marble town) , and a local winery. Everything was amazing and our guide, Alex, knew SO much about the history and culture of Naxos. We learned so much from him. We ate so much delicious food and tasted delightful wines. It was a wonderful day and I would highly recommend Philema Food Tours to anyone travelling to Naxos.

We loved everything about this tour. Alex, our guide was a delight. He has a wealth of knowledge to share and gave us an unforgettable experience. The farm and cheese making was a big highlight. We loved seeing the traditions and not to mention all the animals. Wait til you meet Maria!! The personal touches Alex provided went above and beyond - a quick stop for Greek coffee was delicious and his photography skills were excellent lol. The winemakers passion at the vineyard was unmatched. The next day we went to visit his wine bar in Naxos town and purchased some wine to take home. This tour was filled with history, laughs, delicious food and lots of fun. 10/10 would recommend

We did the KIDS FIRST TOUR with Eleni and it was the highlight of our entire trip to Greece. The tour was perfectly suited for our kids -- ages 9 and 11 -- although I can imagine older and younger ages being equally enthralled. We visited beekeepers, made cheese, threw clay on a wheel, played with farm animals, explored small villages, and made lots and lots of memories.

Note: This review is not for the tour itself since they cancelled last minute at 10pm the night before a morning tour. My wife and I booked to join a small group cheese and wine trail to celebrate the end of our honeymoon week and birthday with Philema. This was our last day in Naxos and Greece in general and we saw great reviews and figured we could not go wrong. Unfortunately not the case. We recieved a text and email at 10pm the night before our tour that the tour has been cancelled. Keep in mind that we were to meet at the bus station at 9:30am the next morning, less than 12 hours notification. Luckily we were out to dinner and still up but I could imagine sleeping and waking up to find the tour cancelled. The reason given was that there was only 4 people booked so far and they needed 7 for a full tour. I don't necessarily understand that reasoning (why would it make a difference if there are 4 vs 7 people on a farm cheese and wine tour? - other than profit $$$ margin of course). Fine, whatever, they had that mentioned in their booking description. What is unacceptable, however, is to notify people less than 12 hours before the tour start at 10pm the night before. At that point, there are no good excursions/tours online left to book on the rest of the island and all of the booking/tour companies are closed to book in person at 10pm (Especially since that day is a Friday). The very least Eleni and the company could have done is to notify us earlier or at least tell us that only 4/7 slots have been filled so we can have a backup plan. Instead we are scrambling around close to midnight trying to figure out what to do the next day. I have no idea if the cheese and wine were any good, but this company certainly left me a poor taste in my mouth.

The tour allowed us to glimpse the life of the real Naxos. It was the first thing we did when we arrived, and it was all we talked about for our remaining 5 days on Naxos. Do not eat breakfast before you go, as there is a plentiful amount of food throughout. We had the most amazing day with Eleni. We got to hold & feed a 5 day old goat & help make cheese. We drank wine & enjoyed exploring the organic farms of Naxos. It gave us a great appreciation for the work involved. Truly unforgettable.

We had the absolute best experience on our Cheese & Wine tour with Eleni! She went above and beyond to show us everything we needed to see during our short stay in Naxos. She is very knowledgeable about the island and its history and knows all of the best local spots to visit that we wouldn’t have known about had we toured the island alone. It was such a unique and immersive experience that we will remember for years to come! We highly recommend you take a tour with Eleni during your stay in Naxos!!

Eleni was a great guide. Communication prior to the tour was prompt and superb. The tour was well thought out and structured. It is a must to understand the “food culture” of Naxos. Highly recommend the full day full tour.

Put simply, there’s a reason this tour is rated 5.0 – it is one of THE best tours we have done anywhere in the world (and we travel internationally several times per year). If you are considering this tour, stop what you’re doing now and book this before it fills up…you will not be sorry!! My extended family of 5 has people of varying generations (from ages 20 to 60), including two picky professors, and we rated all the tours we took in Greece and unanimously gave this tour an A+ (even those of us who are stingy with high grades! ) Eleni, who started this company with the “Philema” name (roughly translated from Greek to mean “highest form of love”) absolutely wants to offer something special, unique, and truly authentic, and she accomplishes her goals with flying colors. Nothing about the tour is “cookie cutter” or can be found with another tour. As a local Naxian, she has curated a tour that gives you a daily glimpse into the lives of locals—accompanied by food and delicious wine. First, there is a visit to a lovely farm where an adorable, hard-working couple (non-English speaking; Eleni translates so you can communicate with them), Mr. Yannis and Maria, open up their home and kitchen to show you how to make cheese and so you can enjoy Maria’s homemade delights (some of the best food we ate in all of Greece, including a variety of rice and herb-stuffed vegetables, farm fresh eggs, their own homemade feta, “arseniko”, and “mizithra”—all to die for…I’m afraid I won’t be able to appreciate any cheese after having theirs!), home-made tzatziki, cheese and spinach pie, and more. Other highlights include a demonstration of their cheese-making process, a cuddle with their adorable collie, and the opportunity to feed their very enthusiastic goats! Not only was the food amazing but it felt like a real “family” gathering. Next was a visit to a small vineyard run by a father and son. We have toured many vineyards in the United States and other countries, and Costos (the son) gave us the most engaging tour of his small vineyard, explaining in depth his grandfather’s techniques and all the experimentation (e.g., planting vegetables in between rows of grape vines, creating) he does in order to make the process the best it can be (both for wine taste and for the land itself). His knowledge of all things chemistry and agriculture was incredible, and his passion was infectious—it was one of the best, most informative vineyard tours we had ever taken. After, he let us taste several of his wines (including his own homemade “moonshine”) while we also tasted some veggies from his garden, and had a wonderful time. Like with Maria and Mr. Yannis, we felt like we genuinely got to know Costos and to see a slice of his daily life. We connected so well with Eleni and Costos (both of whom were such intelligent, passionate, charming individuals who clearly love and appreciate their island) that we later that evening went to try out his wine bar in Naxos (Oinohoros—I highly recommend you stop by for a visit; they have great wines at a reasonable price, and Costas built everything inside himself, which is a marvel to see). Eleni joined us for a drink, and we continued our fun chats from earlier in the day about Greek life, family, relationships, and much more. We learned more about Greek culture from Eleni’s tour that anything else we did during our entire visit! We cannot thank Eleni, Costas, Maria, and Mr. Yannis for this wonderfully authentic Naxian experience. We will be back!!!