About Us

Welcome to Guides of Greece EE – The Tour Experts EE of Crete  – Official Licensed  Tourist  Guides

The Guide of Greece EE – Cretan Tour  Experts boutique travel agency was created by two licensed professional tourist  guides Panos Kritikos and Ioanna Christofakaki, which decided to offer their services directly to the guests of Crete. After working for several years all over Greece, in 2004 we decided to settle down on beautiful Crete, birthplace of Ioanna Christofakaki. We gained valuable experience in the field of tourism over the past years, working mainly as professional licensed guides in  excursions and private tours on Crete and the nearby islands – Santorini, Rhodes, Kos, Nissyros  – during summer and during winter we continued offering our services abroad (mainly in Europe escorting  Greek groups ). After returning to our birthplace, the beautiful Crete, we decided to focus on the tailor made tours  and excursions and the excellent service.

We can organize tours and excursions  upon request, customized according to every guests’ wishes and needs , tours  for groups of friends or families, groups with special interests in History and Archaeology , tours for incentives, coach tours for groups, educational excursions for colleges and schools . We are active tourist guides and we personally guide our groups, but we  also have a small team of  licensed tourist guides with further professional, academic and other special qualifications to illuminate your tour. (Besides working as registered guides are also graduates of Archaeology, History and Art). We can arrange chauffeur services, transfers and professional licensed travel guides for your private tour in Crete. This option (chauffeur  service with a licensed guide ), provides the advantage of having access to the archaeological sites with an expert, not just the transportation . We have our own vehicles, registered for transporting our guests, with a permission issued by the Greek Ministry of Tourism.

Our boutique travel agency is focusing on excursions and specializes on private tours οn Crete and upon request we plan and guide our groups around mainland Greece or the islands depending on the desired itinerary.  We can offer our services directly to small groups and families that want to avoid big groups and crowds.

If you are planning on visiting Crete and you would like to make the most of your trip, this is the right site for you. Choose the archaeological sites, museums, places of interest or natural beauty you wish to explore and book a licensed tourist guide to make your visit, a memorable one. In Greece, tourist guiding is a recognized profession. We are of course licensed  professional guides and all our tourist guides are qualified professionals, they have a license and they are registered with the Ministry of Tourism (they can be members of the local Union of Guides of Crete and Santorini.)

Plan your tour, according to your needs. Choose the tour, the tour guide, the pace…. During your holiday you get to decide what is best for you. Explore the hidden beauties of Crete and organize your own private tour, out of the ordinary. Combine interesting archaeological sites (Knossos, Phaistos, Malia) with places of natural beauty (Cave of Zeus at Lassithi for example) or religious places (such as the Monasteries of Kera, Toplou or Arkadi).

We don’t have set tours, all the experiences that we offer are tailor made. That is why , we cannot provide a standard price per tour. Do not hesitate to contact us, in order to get the plan  and cost of the tour, according to your need.

Always service minded and with a friendly approach we make sure that you will have an amazing experience.

Our team

The Guides of Greece EE – The Tour Experts EE of Crete  – Official Licensed  Tourist  Guides  was created by Joanna Christofakaki and Panos Kritikos.

We graduated from the Guides College of Mytilene 1997 and started working as professional licensed guides on the island Rhodes, where we lived for 2 years. On 1999 we decided to move to the nearby island Kos, where we had the chance to work with Plotin (representing Thomson) and Voukouvalidis Tours (representing Tui), Kosland Tours (representing First Choice), Dodecanese Travel and Rhodos Tours Traveland Kos. We were working on the island Kos until 2002. The next year Mr. Kritikos returned back to Rhodes and worked there for the season of 2003, while the same year Mrs Christofakaki came on the island Crete, back to her birthplace. The year of the Olympic Games of 2004 we focused on working on the island Crete, were we started our family. Having our basis in Heraklion (central Crete), we started cooperating with tour operators, such as Tui, Versus group, Tez, Cretan Holidays, Deltanet, Rhodos Tours – Traveland Crete, Hellenic, Destination, Creta Tour DMC . During the beginning and the end of the season 2004- 5 Mr. Kritikos cooperated with Agora travel in Athens guiding groups all over Greece and Rhapsody Travel for Cruise Ship shore excursions, at Olympia, Mykonos and Kefalonia.

During winter months, which is considered to be low season for Crete, we invested in learning foreign languages, in order to improve our career chances. (Mrs Chistofakaki English and Italian and Mr. Kritikos English, German and Polish). Mr. Kritikos also worked during the winter period of 2010 – 12 abroad, mainly in Europe, escorting Greek senior groups and school groups from Crete.

This season of 2014 we decided that the time was right to take one more step and to create our own company, a travel agency with a boutique approach, that we will be able to control the little details that make the difference. That is the reason , that we decided to focus not only on tailor made tours for individuals and small groups, but also for normal groups that visit Crete and wish to combine sites and live a true  and  memorable Cretan experience. We will try to act as insiders and tell you the little secrets and all the information needed to make the right choice for you and your friends while staying on Crete.

Our philosophy

The purpose of our travel agency  is to provide high quality of service, with friendly approach to all our guests. We personally handle the emails, that is why you will not get ready made response mails.  We are available to answer your questions, whether it concerns a tour, or information about our beautiful island. Always service – minded we try to fulfill your wishes, so that you can take advantage of every second of the excursion. Take some time to explore our programs and excursions and if you cannot find what you are looking for send us a request. We are able to organize tailor made tours according to your standards. We can plan routes and tours combining  highlights on the island according to your pace…

This company (  Guides of Greece EE – The Tour Experts EE of Crete  – Official Licensed  Tourist  Guides ) , organized by us , Panos and Ioanna , with passion about guiding , the island of Crete and the glorious Minoan civilization, have decided not to sell our services through platforms like Viator, Getyourguide, Klook, Bokun, Booking, etc. The reason is that although we would have received more bookings , we prefer to work directly with travelers, providing the best possible prices for our services to the guests … As you probably know the platforms like Viator, getyourguide etc charge a commission of 20 to 30 % of the price of the tour. We prefer to provide a better price to the final consumer- that is you the traveler and to create a connection, rather than  work through platforms. We will try as long as this is possible, to keep working this way. You can read reviews about our services through TripAdvisor, but you cannot book our services through their platform. You have to contact us directly. We  strongly believe that the real travellers – you – that wish to explore the real Crete, to get in touch with the authentic Cretans, you will search for our website directly.

Important note :

Guides of Greece EE – The Tour Experts EE of Crete  – Official Licensed  Tourist  Guides

Why It Matters Who Actually Guides You at Knossos or any of the sites on Crete or Greece 

Booking a “tour” and booking a guide are not the same thing, and at Knossos this distinction has legal weight.

In Greece, only individuals who hold a state license issued after completing formal studies at a Tourist Guide School, or archaeologists who have passed the Ministry’s Tourist Guide Seminar, are legally permitted to guide visitors inside archaeological sites and museums such as Knossos and the Heraklion Archaeological Museum. This is not a marketing claim, it is national law, enforced by the Greek Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Culture. A travel agency license allows a company to sell tours, arrange transport, and handle bookings, but it does not, on its own, authorize anyone to stand at the Throne Room and narrate the history of the Minoans to a paying group. Those are two separate licenses, and many companies only hold the first one.

This is why, when you book with VisitKnossos, you should know exactly who you are getting. VisitKnossos is registered as Guides of Greece Sustainable Tourism Development – Tailor Made Travel Services E.E., authorised by the Greek National Tourism Organisation under license number 1039E60000454101. Every tour we run is conducted personally by one of our team’s state-licensed guides or archaeologist-guides, each of whom has completed official training, sat the Ministry’s examinations, and holds the credentials to legally guide you on-site. We do not outsource your tour to a “local expert,” a freelancer who simply speaks the language, or a driver doubling as a storyteller. If a person guiding you inside Knossos does not carry that state license, the tour is not legal, and the quality and accuracy of what you hear is not guaranteed by anyone.

We’d encourage you to ask any company you’re considering a simple, direct question before you book: “Is the person guiding me a state-licensed guide, and can you confirm their license?” A travel agency that owns a registration number is not the same as a guide who owns a license. With us, the two come together, because we are the licensed guides ourselves, and the agency exists to put you directly in front of our own credentials, not someone else’s. In addition we cooperate with a small dedicated team of licensed guides archaeologists / historians ( always with the state license ) to match you with your ideal guide for your tailor made day tour on Crete or Greece .

When you book your tour, you are entitled to know who will meet you at the entrance of the palace. With VisitKnossos, the answer is always the same: a fully licensed, qualified professional, accountable under Greek law for the tour you have paid for.

Our island – Crete

Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. The island Crete is a different world compared to other parts of Greece. Crete is a place with its own tradition, its own character and its own dialect. Local people are very proud of their Cretan origin. The island forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural features (such as its own poetry and music).

Visit all archaeological sites, Knossos the palace of King Minos, Phaistos the palace of King Radamanthys, Malia the palace of King Sarpedon according to Mythology. But don’t visit only the well known Minoan palaces, but also the hidden beauties of Crete, the Plateau of Lassithi with the Cave of Zeus, the Messara plain with the beautiful beach of Matala, mountainous villages likes Assites and Krousonas or Zoniana  in Central Crete , Omalos in Western Crete…