Insiders Foodie Tour of Greece - Catoctin Creek Presents...
April 20-26th, 2026, Greece
Becky and Scott have something very exciting for you! We are going to spend 6 wonderful days on mainland Greece in the region known as the Peloponnese. You will get to experience the breadth of what Greece has to offer – the mountains and the sea. We will be based at two beautiful accommodations in the town of Nafplio on the coast for our first three nights. We will then make our way to the mountains where we will stay at a picture perfect farmhouse near the town of Kalavryta for three additional nights.
Each day we will head out for a little bit of culture and a long leisurely lunch or dinner. You will be on your own for 3 evenings in Napflio if you want head out in the narrow streets in the evening. We will have both lunch and dinner as a group during our stay in the mountains.
Fly into and out of Athens.
- Price per person for the Peloponnese tour is $4,300
- Single travelers most welcome, single supplement is $600
Generally, all is included except airfare, and, if you choose trip insurance.
Passport
Remember, your passport must be valid for at least 6 months from the date of the flight.
Food restrictions
We can accommodate most food restrictions with advance planning. If you have restrictions, please let us know as soon as possible.
Until we meet...
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact our
Impressions of Greece
- Did you know that 80% of Greece is mountainous?
- Did you know that all Greek males are required to serve in military for a year?
- Did you know that half of the population, over 5 million people, live in greater Athens?
- Yes, there are 227 inhabited Greek islands waiting to be discovered.
- You will see Greece is a study in contrasts – small, big, rich, poor, old, new.
We will have done our job if you consider someone you meet along the way during our time together as a friend.
Current itinerary - Peloponnese
Day 1 – making our way to Nafplio via Corinth
A long day for sure, but rich in culture, food and wine. Leaving Athens is busy and it will be start and stop for a bit. It will probably take about 30 minutes to reach the outskirts where the road opens up. There are no skyscrapers or even tall buildings in Athens, just row after row of low slung buildings, probably not more than 7 stories in the entire city.
Culture – However, once out of Athens, we will make good time to Corinth. Our first stop is to see the canal. Bungee jumpers made it cooler to see, but, either way, the canal itself is a marvel of engineering.
Next stop, old Corinth.
The site itself is amazing looking out over the Bay of Corinth. Some of the pieces are exceptional, plenty that required the use of one’s imagination. We will take our time to look around.
Wine focus – Perhaps it is a given that we will mispronounce most things in Greek on this trip. Yiannis and his wife own Papargyriou. The production is small, around 90,000 bottles per year. It is a bit off the beaten path and at some point, you will ask where are we going? Upon arrival, it all makes sense.
Food focus – Yannis is quite fortunate. He has a seasonal restaurant and the chef is working for pleasure and not out of necessity. You can taste the result. We can’t tell you what we will eat because the menu changes frequently. The chef is inspired by Italian cuisine as much as Greek cuisine. We can only promise that the end result is very good. Until today, just about 100% of the clientele is Greek.
Finally, we will make our way to our destination in Nafplio.
The drive to the hotel is approximately 60 to 70 minutes. The motorway is good, and the scenery is beautiful. We will drive for about 30 minutes off the motorway. Not bad, heading down into the town. The town itself is quite cute, not too small, not too big. Nafplio was the original capital of Greece after independence from the Ottomans. We are going to stay in sister properties within 100 meters of one another.
Day 2 – Mycenae is a must.
Culture – We need a guide here to fully comprehend the magnitude of what this site civil meant to civilization. We are talking 1000 BC +. The beehive tomb, the Lions Gate and the view itself are independently worth the journey.
The drive to Mycenae is easy and uphill just about the entire way. The road is lined on either side by groves of orange trees. Perhaps it would remind one of Southern California pre Disney. The smell of orange blossom is everywhere.
Food focus – The Greek taverna really does exist. Lunch will consist of salad, some very good grilled red peppers, grilled feta, which is hard to describe but is sumptuous, along with the house specialty - mixed grilled meats. To finish, a little candied bergamot orange.
It’s a very humble place, totally off the beaten path, but nice authentic people. It is husband Dimitri and wife Margarita in the kitchen.
Drink – We are going to head to a small nearby winery for a tasting.
Day 3 – A boat ride on the Argolic gulf and a feast for the auditory senses
Culture – We are going to have a full day. We will head out for a boat ride along the coast for a couple of hours. Just lounge on the catamaran or jump in the water if you like. The Argolic Gulf coastline is pretty dramatic.
Food and wine focus - After, we will have lunch at a taverna a stone’s throw from the hotel. Wow, the eggplant dip is to die for. If you like spicy, remind us to order the peppers.
After lunch, we will visit the ancient theatre of Epidaurus. The setting and acoustics are as good as advertised. It is incredible to imagine yourself at a performance 2,400 years ago. Someone in our group will have to test the acoustics.
Before you go your separate ways for dinner, we will have an informal fun wine tasting at a nearby shop.
Day 4 – Nemea and heading to the mountains.
Nemea is arguably the most important wine region in Greece. It might remind you a little of Napa Valley before it was commercialized in the 80’s and early 90’s, maybe even 70’s. It is fun that we get to see it now.
Drink focus – 60,000 bottles and it seems even smaller. Xrostos doesn’t speak a word of English, but it does not matter. We will do a tasting in the barrel room. The wines are traditional Nemea, and awesome.
Food focus – After our tasting, we will head into town and have a good lunch at a place where the generational shift has happened. Of course, we will have some juicy red wine from Nemea to wash it all down.
Culture – The highlight is the meandering drive to arrive at the farmhouse. The road is empty and surprisingly better than the roads in Tuscany. The scenery is stunning in every direction. We might need to pause for the sheep crossing the road or wait for the dog lying in the sun to get the picture and get up. We will pass a few small villages, but not many. Just enjoy the view out of either side.
We will finally arrive at our destination. John and Cristanti and a furry friend or two will greet us with a warm welcome. We will have a bite to eat, hopefully outside in the evening. There shouldn’t be any snow at the top of the mountain in the distance, but believe it or not, they ski and snowboard around here.
Day 5 – Your first monastery and wines (and view) not to miss
Fodis will make coffee to your liking for your breakfast this morning. Proper American style filtered coffee as well. The color of the eggs is a rich deep yellow. Having resident free range chickens on site (thankfully, no rooster) certainly helps.
Culture – We are going to visit the oldest monastery in Greece, literally nestled into the mountain.
It was here that Luke the Disciple roamed 2,000 years ago. It doesn’t feel old and it’s not. The structure has been destroyed and rebuilt at least four times in its 1,600 years of existence, most recently from a fire. It is still worth seeing. Wine and lunch - We are going to head a bit further down the hill, not much, to visit the team at Tetromythos. Assistant winemaker Mellitini is a jewel. The head winemaker was years ahead of his time before the term “natural wine” became trendy. You will receive an interesting lesson in why this entire region is virtually organic. We will have lunch at the winery, hopefully on the patio overlooking the hills and coast. With any luck the owners cousin is the chef today.
This evening, we will have a light meal back at the farmhouse.
Day 6 – Mountain Greece
Culture – It is all about natural beauty today in the mountains. The plane tree has special symbolism in Greece mythology. Here you are surrounded by hundreds of years old trees, giving it this Game of Thrones like feeling, in a positive way. As if the trees were talking to one another.
Adjacent to the forest is lunch, adjacent to the snow fed stream.
Food experience – You probably have some opinion about freshwater fish. Among a number of other things, we are going to try smoked trout, almost delicate. But beforehand, the red pepper and feta pate is pretty addictive (with some of the better bread you will taste in Greece). We can finish with either surf or turf, you decide. But the house decides the playlist and the house wine is special. And you will never find it on your own... imagine 3 wrong turns with a functioning gps.
A tiny bit more culture – A half hour visit for a few million years of nature, why not? Plus, it’s on the way home. You won’t spot the bats, but they are there, all 38,000 of them.
More food – Going all in on the smoker at the farmhouse this evening. Our last evening together will be a treat.
Day 7 – We are going to head back to Athens at 8 00.
