Agreco Farms, Crete
Calling all those who think a farm surrounded by bleating goats, vineyards, fruit trees and olive groves is pure bliss and aren’t impartial to a little touch of luxury on the side… meet Agreco Farms in Crete. It’s truly a slice of rustic Mediterranean farm heaven, where you ought to be wined and dined if ever you’re in Crete…
Owned by Grecotel, Agreco Farms sits just a 20-30min drive outside beautiful Rethymno…
My boyfriend and I were staying at the Amirandes Exclusive Resort (close to Heraklion) and found out about a ‘farm tour’ on their list of excursions - straight away I was set…. we musssst go to the farm! We rented a car from the Hertz representative in the hotel, it wasn’t cheap at around 95€ for the day but it was so so worth it. The way it worked for us was, we booked into their organised afternoon of ‘a farm tour, wine tasting and rustic farm dinner’ which was about €40 per person. It started at 5pm and there were all in all I’d say about 20 other people attending the evening - mainly from other Grecotel hotels but you don’t have to be a Grecotel guest to visit. My big big tip though is arrive an hour or so early! We arrived at 4pm and had the entire farm to ourselves to explore… pure bliss….
After driving up totally the wrong road and ending up inside the farm, rather than the car park (lol) we were greeted by a lovely waiter who offered us a variety of juices, we drank some tasty cherry juice and walked through to a wonderfully authentic cobbled courtyard. There was a couple planning their wedding arrangements over wine and olives and the odd waiter laying the outdoor tables for dinner. The views here are just breath taking; vineyards and greenery all around and the ocean meeting the sky…
Our truly wonderful host Maria let my boyfriend and I treat the farm as if it were our own and so off we went ready to say hello to all the animals and explore. There is a big goat pen where we spotted cutest little baby goats. There were also two very friendly older goats who liked to pop their heads up every so often. Lots of big fluffy chickens roaming around, some sheep, a donkey and, my personal favourite, ducklings. I Kristen Bell style cried when I saw just how many there were! I just love ducklings so much! If you follow me on Instagram (@summerbysabine) you might spot my pet duck in some of my stories or reels!
After wandering around discovering a pond, walking by the vineyards, it was time for the tour to begin. We were shown avocado trees, something I have never seen before in my life! So many different trees, but most important of all were the olive groves and the old mill where they used to grind the olives down. We tasted a sample of their own delicious extra virgin olive oil with some homemade bread, learnt about how olive oil is made, and then it was time for the wine tasting. The daring of us were encouraged to join in with some grape treading before heading into the cellars for a variety of their own whites and reds with some cheese and fruit. The whites were wonderfully refreshing. And how can I forget - their own Agreco Farms Raki! Raki is a traditional Cretan spirit made from grape skins and only for the brave!
Then lastly as the sun started to go down, we stumbled back up to the courtyard for a feast and what a feast it was*. Dish after dish would appear of food made largely from their own grown produce, so make sure you arrive hungry! When the moon was in full glow, the final celebration of the evening was a display of making traditional Greek coffee. All in all our time at Agreco Farms was something really to be remembered.
*My only tip for dinner would be if you are a vegetarian as I am, let them know before hand as they are more than happy to accomodate. I told the waiters about half way through the dinner when I was already getting full on bread, potatoes and veggies when then voila, suddenly I had an epic plate of a vegetarian feast to demolish!!
This post is in no way sponsored by Agreco Farms or Grectotel - this is purely a personal recommendation.
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Thank you so much for reading! If I have inspired a love for rustic farm living, please do feel free to view my prints available for sale for your home:
