Traditional Food Tour in Kalamata

Discover the richness and inventiveness of Greek cuisine in Messenia!

Lock all the flavours of Greece deep in your heart through a one-of-a-kind 4-hour food tour experience in Kalamata. Learn how to prepare traditional local recipes just like a Greek mama and taste more than 20 delicious Messinian homemade products! We assure you won’t have to worry about lunch by the end of this tour.

In this tour, you will enjoy the historic centre of one of the most beautiful coastal cities of the Peloponnese: Kalamata while visiting local family-owned food and pastry shops, learning stories and feeling the authenticity of the locals. Kalamata, and Messenia in general, is known for its exquisite olive oil and its world-famous black Kalamata olives. However, the city has so much more to offer and this tour will help you uncover its hidden gems.

Maria, our passionate food lover, will be waiting for you at the beautiful central Vasileos Konstantinou Square, in front of the statues of the Messinian war heroes of 1821. You’ll set off on your gastronomic experience with a leisurely stroll around the streets of this magnificent coastal city.

Yummi Stops!

1: Visit to traditional Workshop and tasting of local home-made products: With a reputation that precedes it, not just in Greece, but also in delis abroad for its quality home-made Messinian products, this traditional workshop stays true to its authentic ancestral recipes, preparing two of the most iconic local dishes daily.

2: Tasting of Spoon Sweets, Corinthian Raisins and Healthy Local Delicacies: Upon entering the shop, the aroma of the exquisite herbs and spices wafting through the air will transport you to the top of Mt. Taygetos, the local mountain.

3: Greek Coffee Tasting at Local Coffee Grinding Shop: It’s time for your morning coffee! And what’s better than a hot traditional Greek coffee prepared by Giorgos, who’ll reveal the secrets to its proper preparation.

4: Tasting of Homemade Products from Mani: You’ll taste mouth-watering homemade cookies by a mama from Mani and all sorts of treats. The old stories you’ll hear will take you back to a bygone era, while chewing on an all-time classic Greek snack, pasteli, made of pure Greek honey and sesame seeds. 

5: Tasting of Local Appetizers at a Traditional Greek Coffee Shop-Cum-Ouzo Tavern: The ideal way to feel like a local is to visit a traditional Greek coffee shop and ouzo tavern. Revithokeftedes (chickpeas patties), kolokithokorfades (courgette flowers), oven-baked sardines, eggplant dip with fresh basil, kagianas (local omelette with tomato and cured meat) and so much more are waiting to take you through a mouth-watering journey filled with mama’s flavours!

6: Tasting of Local Cheeses and Other Products: You’ll taste two of the most famous and exquisite cheeses, made exclusively from sheep or goat milk and produced by small family-owned farms. Pair them with the ideal partners, which are none other than Kalamata olives and extra virgin olive oil. These three products make up the Messinian gastronomy trilogy.

7: Visit to an Olive Oil Shop & quick Olive oil tasting: Whether this is the first or umpteenth time visiting Messinia, olive-oil tasting is a must, given this is the birthplace of olives and olive oil.

8: Visit to a Shop with Local Wines and Traditional Spirits: Find out all the local varieties, including Fokiano, Assyrtiko, Mandilaria and Moschofilero, as well as how they are combined with foreign varieties to produce excellent white, rose and red wines.

9: Light Lunch with Messinian Dishes and Local Wines: A light yet filling lunch will conclude your gastronomic experience and spoil your senses, in one of the cosiest restaurants in the heart of the city. The menu is exclusively based on traditional and lesser-known recipes from Messinia and Mani, which are hard to find anywhere else.

Extra Gastronomic Experiences (upon request)

• Visit to the Municipal Open Air Farmers’ Market (2 hours): Visits to the Farmers’ Market take place on Wednesdays and Saturdays and can be combined with the Food Tour. 
• Visit to the Folklore Museum of Kalamata: This is the city where the Greek War of Independence commenced, on 23 March 1821, by the brave Greek heroes of the revolution, who became a perennial symbol of freedom for all. At this magnificent and imposing two-storey mansion in the historic centre of Kalamata, you will travel back in time, marvelling at the artefacts and rich archival material of that era. 
• Tasting of Kalamata Olives (1 hour): You may have already heard of, or even participated in, olive-oil tastings. But have you ever taken part in an olive tasting seminar? Did you know that there are over 90 Greek varieties of olives? Find out how to distinguish the authentic Kalamata olives, and their quality features, and gain useful knowledge about this blessed fruit of Mother Earth.
• Honey Tasting (1 hour): Have you ever wondered how many honey varieties are out there or what their main differences are? Can you distinguish quality honey or have you ever heard about its therapeutic effects on the human body?

How to book

This half-day private food tour is ideal for families with children of all ages and it operates throughout the year, from Monday to Saturday, excluding Sundays and official holidays. It cannot be booked independently, but as part of a multi-day tailormade trip in Kalamata, Pylos & the Gulf of Navarino and the wider region of Messenia.

Please contact your MAMAKITA family travel specialist to tailor your trip to your family needs, budget and age of kids by filling in this form. We strongly advise you to make your request at least one month before the starting date of your trip, and ideally 3 months in advance, if your travel dates include July and August, the peak months for family vacations in Greece.