Frequently asked questions

Closed comfortable shoes (volcanic gravel, cellar stairs), light clothes with one extra layer — caves hold 15–18°C while terraces bake — plus sun hat and sunglasses. Skip heavy perfume; it flattens the tasting for everyone. Full packing detail lives in our what-to-wear guide on the blog.

On private tours, yes — wineries welcome supervised kids and we stock juice and snacks. Shared small-group departures are adults-only for the group’s comfort, except the museum-based First Sip, where the 300-meter cave genuinely entertains kids. Tell us ages when booking and we’ll route you honestly.

Absolutely, at a reduced rate quoted upfront — the caves, villages, history, and food carry the day well without the pours. Wineries serve juice or coffee without fuss. Designated partners and pregnant guests join regularly; the only tour we’d steer non-drinkers away from is the wine-forward sunset departure.

Mixed, honestly. Modern tasting rooms (Estate Argyros, Vassaltis, Gaia, Karamolegos) are largely step-free; Mikra Thira on Therasia is explicitly wheelchair-accessible. Cave cellars and cliff terraces — the Wine Museum, Venetsanos’s lower levels, Art Space — involve stairs by nature. Tell us your needs and we’ll build a genuinely accessible route, not an apologetic one.

Yes, adapted: Santo Wines, Estate Argyros, Hatzidakis (Tue–Sat), and the Wine Museum stay open November–March, cellars are naturally warm, and winemakers finally have time to talk. Several wineries close or shrink hours, so winter days are built around what’s genuinely open — message us your dates first.

September — harvest energy, warm seas, thinning crowds, everything open — with May, June, and October close behind. July–August work well booked a week ahead. Our month-by-month guide on the blog breaks down the whole calendar.

Send the booking-request form or a WhatsApp message with dates, party size, and the tour you want. We confirm availability within a day — usually within the hour on WhatsApp during Greek daytime. Nothing is charged until your booking is confirmed in writing.

Free cancellation up to 48 hours before your tour — full refund, no forms, no argument. Inside 48 hours we always try to rebook you to another departure first. If a winery closure or (on sea days) the port authority cancels, you choose between full refund and priority rebooking regardless of notice.

Always, on every departure: a licensed driver who doesn’t taste, and a wine guide who doesn’t drive. It’s a safety matter first and a quality matter second — the person explaining Nykteri shouldn’t be merging onto the Fira ring road mid-sentence.

With a day’s notice, comfortably: Santorini’s traditional table is half-vegetarian by default, and the kitchens at our stops adapt platters and menus for gluten-free and most allergies. Flag it at booking and we confirm the adjusted menu with each venue before your tour.

The island’s full canon across any full-length tour: bone-dry Assyrtiko, the fuller night-harvest Nykteri, rarities like Gavalas’s Katsano, reds where available (Mavrotragano if you’re lucky), and always Vinsanto — the amber dessert wine — to finish. Tour pages list per-stop tasting counts; the Wine Guide explains every style.

Yes — in checked luggage, wrapped (cellars pack flight-safe on request; bubble wrap plus clothing works). EU travelers have no meaningful limits for personal quantities; non-EU allowances vary (typically 1–2 bottles duty-free) — check your country’s rules. Carry-on liquids rules make cabin bottles a no unless bought airside.

The larger cellars — Santo Wines and Gaia especially — ship internationally with proper wine packaging; smaller canavas generally don’t, though Canava Roussos has arranged it. Shipping costs are real (often exceeding cheap bottles’ value), so the classic move is shipping a mixed case of the good stuff and flying the Vinsanto half-bottles yourself.

Tipping is optional in Greece — never expected, always appreciated. €5–10 per person for a guide who made the day is generous; €20–40 per group on private tours is common. Nobody on our team will ever hint at it.

Every winery sells at the cellar door, usually below restaurant and often below Athens retail prices — and several pour-only or library wines exist nowhere else. Buying where you tasted is also the single best way to thank a small producer.