Drinks on Crete





Greeks drink a lot of alcohol, and the Cretans even more. They drink for fun, but you won’t see extremely drunk Greeks often; they don’t tend to get up to the same antics that British and German tourists get up to.

Cretan Wine

There is a lot of wine grown and drunk in Crete. Whilst it’s not going to win any international awards, it is perfectly pleasant to drink. If you order the house wine, you’re guaranteed a cheap, pleasant drink.



In a simple taverna, you can get a glass for €1, half a litre for €2-3, and a litre for around €5. Quirkily, the Greeks refer to litres as ‘kilos’. Should you order a kilo or so of wine, it’ll arrive in a metal carafe and as many glasses as people on your table. In more rural settings, you may be offered wine that the taverna owner has made himself; he will be extremely proud of it, and it is inadvisable to say anything negative about it. Red wine is on the whole more popular than white.

Wine Box on Crete  Retsina in a Bottle

Important tickets for Crete

Some tickets for Crete can be bought in advance on the Internet. This improves the planning of your holiday and saves time as you don't have to queue up at the ticket offices or search for ticket sales points on Crete. Tickets for the 3 most important sights on Crete:

1. Excavation of Knossos, often long queues at the cash desk: tickets Click here

2. A good overview of bus tours to the famous Samaria Gorge, which can be booked online: Click here

3. Former leprosy island of Spinalonga. Various tickets, ferries, tours: Click here

See also: Many other tickets, excursions on Crete: Tickets Crete

There’s also Retsina, a special wine matured in pine casks. Some like it, others dislike it for its strong and unique taste (like me). It is certainly an acquired taste.

Beer

Mythos Beer on Crete  Amstel Bottle  Drinks Crete

Greeks are starting to drink more beer than they used to. It usually comes in 500ml bottles, which cost €2-2.50 in most bars and restaurants. Most places stock two or three brands, mostly Mythos, Amstel and Heineken. German beers and (canned)Guinness is starting to come on the scene. For a quick, cheap beer though, your best bet is a Mythos or an Amstel.



Raki (Tsikoudia)

Raki

Raki is the national drink of Crete (and Naxos), as opposed to the mainland, where ouzo is drunk. It’s a spirit created from the distilled leftovers of wine-production. It’s also a bloody cheap drink, at the average price of 50 cents. Hardened drinkers can order a carafe or bottle of raki, though I do not recommend this – raki has a strong alcoholic content of 45-55%.

No hotel on Crete yet?

There are thousands hotels and other accommodations on Crete. In our opinion the best overview is at Booking.com. You can sort accommodations by price or display only accommodations in certain cities. The hotels can be booked quickly and easily on Booking.com, there are also many holiday apartments.

Non-alcoholic Drinks

Soft Drinks

You can buy Coca Cola and Pepsi anywhere, plus the other brand name drinks. I better recommend the local alternatives, which are cheaper and tastier for many. "Gerani" is a great lemonade. You can get it in many supermarkets on Crete but not often in bars or coffee shops.

Water

Waterbottle Crete

Tap water is mostly safe to drink on Crete, and many Cretans drink from the tap. If it is spring water often tastes really good. In autumn, after the usual dry summer, the quality of the tap water can be lower in same areas of the island. Just ask the locals.



In the dry East of Crete the tap water has in same regions a salty taste which renders it undrinkable. You can buy cheap bottled water everywhere. A big bottle (1.5l) is rarely more than 60 cents. Good brands from the island are Zaros and Samaria. The water from Zaros was elected by an organisation to "the best water of the world" in the beginning of the ywar 2017.

Coffee and Tea

Greek coffee is a small, potent drink. You can order it gliko (sweet; two spoons of sugar), metrio (one spoon of sugar) or sketo (without sugar). Nescafe, is also very popular – you may hear it referred to as ‘nes’. Filter coffee is available in all tourist areas, and is called galiko kafe (French coffee).

In summer Cretans drink their coffee more often cold than warm (ice coffee). The most popular version is called Frape (see picture). In many bars almost every greek customer orders a Frape. Another type of cold coffee is called Freddo. Both you can order with or without sugar and / or milk.

You can get tea everywhere, usually Lipton’s brand. Better recommended is to try mountain tea, which is made of herbs growing high up in the Cretan mountains; it’s very healthy, and contains a herb, dittany, that grows only on Crete. Many english people living in Greece bring their own tea from England.

Kafenio

Kafenio on Crete  The Simple Menu of a Kafenio

Kafenios have a long history and tradition in Cretan history, providing a meeting point for generations of Cretan men. Sadly they are a dying species with the continuing westernisation of Crete. Former bastions of masculinity, they only started to allow women in a few years ago (although foreign women are exempt from such rules), though in the remote areas women still don’t go into them. They’re simple affairs, serving wine, beer, raki and coffee which are usually accompanied with a small plate of food, which is usually free. Kafenios are mostly frequented by elderly and friendly people, who will try to strike up a conversation with you. Often you’ll find someone speaks English, thanks to a sojourn in the USA, Britain or Australia.

Bars and Clubs: In tourist areas and bigger towns there are now many western style bars and nightclubs, often with glitzy decor. Prices are usually high and equivalent to those in Britain and the USA; the clientele is mostly tourists and young Greeks, though the two groups rarely mix.

 

Popular Food in Crete and Greece

Tzatziki Octopus
Magisritsa Saganaki
Spanokopita Koukouvagia
Psarosoupa Fasolada
Dolmades Taramosalata
Melizanosalata Choriatiki
Souvlaki Gyros
Briam Imam Baldi
Okra Papoutsakia
Xifias Souvlaki Spaghetti in Crete
Gemista Pastitio
Stifado Gigantes
Moussaka Giouvetsi
Kleftiko Yogurt with Honey
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