Katakolon Small Group Tour: Sítio Olímpico, Degustação de Óleo de Oliva e Mel

Great experience and excellent guides! Had a safe and beautiful experience!

If you’re in Katakolon for whatever reason, whether a cruise stop or other vacation event, it’s a must to go to the ancient Olympic site. Most tour operators have this on their itinerary. The challenge is to decide which operator to use. After traveling for a number of decades and planning excursions, I found that figuring out what the tour operators were offering, and excluding at this location was rather difficult. In order to write a fair review of theTravel Insiders tour, I checked out the description of four or five other tour operators as well as their traveler reviews since being back home. What’s good? 1. The communication prior to the tour. They gave a fair description as to where to meet and updates with regard to our ship’s arrival. (Getting information while on board a ship is difficult if not impossible without Internet access, FYI.) using the WhatsApp app is critical. The small group with regard to this tour was about 13 people – all from the ship. 2. The guide, Gregory, at the Olympic site was knowledgeable, patient, and considerate of the group and day’s conditions. It was very hot so he chose shady spots and a number of resting periods while explaining the history and mythology of the Olympic site. (not every tour seemed this considerate). Also, between the driver and Despina, they kept walking to a minimum. We are dropped off close to the ancient Olympic area and picked up right at the entrance gates. Having read some other reviews, this was above average. 3. The itinerary. *Visiting the ancient Olympic site is a must. (however, whether you got to see a museum or not, was not quite clear) and we did not *Visiting the olive oil market and taste testing various olive oil infused with flavors, balsamic; tasting honey from the area was fun. It was also a great place to shop for gifts, including olive oils, products made from olive oil, honey, and other souvenirs. *Visiting the bee farm was great. This was a generational family farm and the hostess, Klio was warm, hospitable and enthusiastic. We were greeted with cold towels, cold juices, water, a Greek staple known as spoon sweets, and coffee. A description and history of honey making was given, followed by a tour of the equipment used and a small museum. This part of the excursion ended with taste testing of the honey made from the farm and a visit to their family farm gift shop. What needs improvement? A clear description of what’s not included. It seems that most of the tour operators do not include the entrance fees to the Olympic site and in this case to Klio’s bee farm. Those were €20 and €12 respectively. The Travel Insider excursion had two price offerings. One was with a guided tour and the other not. We chose the higher priced one, but I’m not sure what was extra or added regarding a guided tour since we were met with Gregory at the Olympic site. Would we have had a guided tour at the Olympic site or not? I don’t know. Would the transfer at the port have included a speaker on the van or not? I don’t know. And was it worth the extra money? I don’t know. I’m still frustrated about that. The higher price was about $36 a person. It would’ve been nice to have a very clear description as to what a guided tour meant. Overall, the itinerary was great. The communication was adequate. The tour operation was timely with regard to time at a cruise port. But I would recommend a better description of pricing and what a guided tour meant were not meant.

Great experience! The meeting location for this tour was changed ahead of time and the provider communicated the information well and even included a picture of the meeting location. The tour was informative. We enjoyed the flexibility of choosing either a visit to a bee farm or the museum. We went with the bee farm and it was great. We would recommend at Olympia to pay the small extra for the live tour guide. He brought the ruins to life. I am not sure we would have gotten that much out of it on our own or listening to an audio guide.

The trip is definitely worth it. We visited the Olympic site first. It was raining, so we did the museum first then went to the site. It was something everyone should experience whether you enjoy sports or not. We then went to the olive market where we tasted local olive oils and balsamic vinegar. We then went to a honey bee farm. This was my favorite. It is a generational farm that is run by mostly woman. There we tasted the local quince fruit jelly and honey. We learned all about bees and how they make the honey. We also were shown how they process the honey from the beehives. The presentation was spot on.

Nice and comfortable tour with a punctual, friendly, and knowledgeable driver. The AC vehicle was a huge plus. We were informed in advance about the Olympia entrance fee (€20/person), and going early helped us avoid both the heat and the crowds. The only downside was that we were not told beforehand about the cost of the honey farm entry €42 for our family of 4), which I felt was a bit expensive for what it offered. Overall, a pleasant and comfortable tour, and we enjoyed our day.

Interesting visit to Olympia as well as olive oil+ tasting and family bee/honey operation. But completely spoiled by the pricing. On the evening before the tour we were informed by email that an extra €20 pp was required for entry to Olympia. This was not apparent at the time of booking. At the end of the visit to the bee operation we were required to pay an additional €12 pp for the presentation and tasting. Neither additional charges were apparent at the time of booking. Altogether adding 33%% to the price.

great tour! Very interesting! We enjoyed this tour. Honey farm excellent! A great way to spend the day.

Klio’s Honey Farm was so much fun and interesting. Effy was a great guide for the day and so sweet. Highly recommend this tour and itinerary!

A must do experience in Katakolon! Mt Olympia was wonderful! Also, be sure to do the bee keeper experience! It was incredible! We got to taste the most incredible honey, learn all about beekeeping, then we got to taste amazing olive oil and balsamic vinegars. It felt like a truly authentic Greek experience! Our tour guides were amazing!

This was a wonderful excursion. Just enough time and information at the Olympic Site. The honey farm was very nice. But the Olive oil market was really just a big gift shop. It was still nice.