Private Katakolon Excursion to Ancient Olympia, Winery and Beach

Andreas was amazing! He was super responsive from the time we booked our excursion, and was very accommodating with our requests! We opted to do a private excursion rather than a group excursion through our cruise line, and I'm so glad we did! He took us to a wonderful winery, and was very flexible when we asked to do an olive oil tasting rather than go to the beach. I would definitely recommend Andreas, and this tour to anyone traveling to Katakolon!

Andreas was great. Picked us up at port, gave us a nice explanation of the history as we headed to Ancient Olympia. Some in our group could not walk for long stretches so he accommodated us and gave us the flexibility we needed to see all that we wanted to see.

What a great day we had with Andreas! He was great communicating during the booking, was easy to find as we disembarked, and was full of interesting information throughout the day. We especially appreciated that he used a microphone so all passengers in the van could hear. He got us to Olympia before the tour buses arrived, then he arranged visits for us to enjoy a tour/tasting at a family owned honey farm followed by olive oil production site that also had a tasting with an opportunity to purchase olive oil and products. This was one of our favorite tours from two weeks of traveling in Greece and the Adriatic Sea.

Our day in Katakolon was the best day of our trip! Our guide met our ship promptly (actually he was early!), in a very clean and nicely air-conditioned vehicle. We drove to Olympia, he provided cold water, we drove to the winery and then, instead of the beach, we asked if there were an olive oil experience we could substitute. He graciously said yes and we had a delightful time at all three destinations. We arrived back at the ship on time. Of all of our excursions, this is the excursion that exceeded our expectations.

We had an absolutely amazing day on this private tour of Katakolon and Olympia. Our driver, Andreas Stamos, was outstanding — incredibly knowledgeable, friendly, and professional. He shared fascinating history and local insights throughout the day, and even provided us with extra reading materials and pictures to enrich our visit to the ancient site of Olympia and the archaeological museum. In addition to the wonderful stops — including an aviary with honey tasting and a delightful olive oil tasting at a local mill — Andreas went above and beyond when we mentioned we had broken a pair of eyeglasses the day before. He kindly found several possible opticians so we could get replacement contacts — an unexpected and truly appreciated level of care. Andreas made the entire experience smooth and enjoyable, especially for our young child. This tour was the perfect mix of culture, nature, and authentic local experiences. If you’re visiting Katakolon Port and want to maximize your time, this private excursion is an excellent choice. Highly recommend!

Wow! Marisela was amazing. Best guide ever. We saw so many different things. The Honey was amazing. The olive oil processing center was also outstanding.. Her knowledge of Olympia was outstanding. Her professionalism was second to none. We really appreciate it having someone like her to take care of us. She’s a keeper.

If I could give Nancy a million stars I would. She was polite, knowledgeable and at our disposal. Had lots of rain and she immediately made alternate plans for us and they accommodated us at an oil tasting and wine with lunch on short notice thanks to her. I highly recommend Nancy!!

We had Nancy as our guide for this excursion, and it was an outstanding day. My goal will be to give you a feel for the day, so you can determine if it is a good fit for your own vacation plans. Pick-up at the cruise port was both on-time and easy. Nancy was easy to find, and we were off and exploring very quickly. Nancy did a great job of narrating as we drove along, and we greatly appreciated her insights and willingness to answer questions about the area. Visiting the area of Olympia - the ruins and museum - takes time simply because it is a huge set of ruins to navigate. My advice would be to limit your time in the ruins themselves and focus more on the museum. Unfortunately there are very few markers in the ruins, telling you about what you're seeing, or what the ruins looked like at the time of their creation, so it's a bit boring (IMHO). The museum is very nice, and has beautiful artifacts. We asked to visit an olive oil processing business next, and that was interesting. You can taste their variety of olive oils, olive tapenade, and olives, and purchase those that you like. Their products are excellent, and the purchase prices are ridiculously low. If I could carry / ship readily, I would have. Our next visit, and the star of the day (and entire vacation) was the Drouva Winery. I would ask for this winery by name. We lucked into this visit because the originally scheduled winery had a busload of people visiting and couldn't accommodate us. Drouva Winery is a very small venue, out in the middle of nowhere, but......OMG.....it was the place of dreams. Quiet, peaceful, attentive, friendly, beautiful. Oh....and the wine was very good, and the lunch they served was outstanding. In comparison to the commercial venue we didn't go to, there was a grand total of 5 visitors while we were there - a couple, and my group of 3. We didn't even see each other until the end of our visit. The owners are very sweet and friendly. The wine tastings were extremely generous, and you were offered more if you wanted it. The wine was very good. The food we were served was outstanding.....so delicious. Nancy delivered us back to Katakolon and our cruise ship, and we had time to walk thru the small downtown shopping area before boarding the ship. In summary: Nancy was a great guide - we really enjoyed our time with her. She watched out for us and took care of us. We enjoyed our trip to Olympus and the olive oil venue, and LOVED our visit to the Drouva Winery. Overall it was an outstanding day, and I can highly recommend this excursion to you when you visit the Katakolon / Olympia area.

Had a great tour with Nancy to the winery and visiting ancient Olympia. She gave us a book to take with us on our self guided tour around the grounds and had some knowledge of the grounds as well for us. The winery was very nice and pretty to walk around and tour and all around a great tour.

It was excellent. Nancy picked us up and we had a wonderful time with her. She showed us the main sights avoiding crowds, and went the extra mile taking us to local ventures too. She was informative and great fun. The family owned winery we went to was magic great food nice wines great way to spend a day.