GS Tours White Mountains Cooking Class: What to Know Before You Book
An evening at a family house in the hills above Chania, with hotel pickup, a cooking class, tastings and dinner. Here is what the price includes, how much of the cooking you do and how late the evening runs.
Tour details
- Rating: 4.9/5 from more than 700 reviews on GetYourGuide (checked 11 October 2026)
- Price: from $123 per person (checked 11 October 2026)
- Duration: 6 hours, including about 45 minutes’ drive each way
- Includes: hotel pickup and drop-off, the class, a wine and food tasting, dinner, recipes by email
- Cancellation: free up to 24 hours before
- Operator: GS Tours
GS Tours’ cooking class in the White Mountains is an evening at a family house in the hills above Chania, with a cooking class, a tasting and a long dinner built into it. A minivan collects you from your hotel and brings you back, the listing gives the whole thing six hours, and it started from $123 per person when we checked on 11 October 2026.
The calendar below shows the start time and the current price for your date. The listing currently offers free cancellation up to 24 hours before, and you can reserve without paying today.
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What to expect on the White Mountains cooking class
Most of Crete’s cooking classes take place in villages and family homes outside the towns, and most of them expect you to get there by car or taxi. This one handles the journey for you. The driver is also your guide and interpreter, and the class happens at a family property in the hills, about 45 minutes from Chania, with the mountains on one side and the sea on the other.
Over the evening you walk the garden, feed the family’s sheep, taste local cheese, wine and honey, prepare a few dishes with the family’s cook, and then sit down to dinner with everything that has been made. The White Mountains class is a cultural evening with a cooking class inside it, and that is how most reviewers describe it.
We haven’t taken this class. For this review we read the listing and recent traveller reports in English, German, Danish, Polish and French, paying particular attention to what people said about how much cooking they did, how late the evening runs and what ends up on the menu.
There are four things worth knowing before you book:
- You prepare the dishes, and the family finishes the cooking in their kitchen.
- It is an evening class, and dinner can come late.
- The dishes you make are vegetable-based. Recent reviews mention a meat dish cooked by the host alongside them.
- It is much cooler in the hills after dark than on the coast, and the listing asks you to bring a jacket.
Those points come from a small share of the reviews. GetYourGuide shows that 94% of English-speaking travellers gave the class a perfect score, and the guide is rated 5.0 out of 5.
If you go in expecting an evening with a Cretan family, a good dinner and some help in the kitchen, you are likely to enjoy it. If you want to learn technique at the stove, it may feel thin.
Do you actually cook on the White Mountains class?
You do some of it. How much depends on what you mean by cooking. Recent reviewers describe chopping, grating, mixing and stuffing at a shared table with the family’s cook, while the dishes go into the kitchen to be finished. One reviewer said the group were the sous chefs rather than the cooks. Reviewers mention tzatziki and stuffed vegetables, and the listing adds dakos to the menu.
GetYourGuide’s own summary of the past year’s reviews says some travellers find the cooking basic and would like more hands-on time. A couple of recent four-star reviewers loved the evening but said they wouldn’t call it a cooking class in the traditional sense.
Many others describe the cooking as easy to follow and fun. The recipes and photos of your evening are emailed to you afterwards.
White Mountains or Nerokourou?
The Nerokourou class is the other well-reviewed Chania option. It runs for four hours in a family home 10 to 15 minutes from the centre of Chania, it is rated 5.0 from 120 reviews, and its reviews describe a hands-on class in a family kitchen. Its listing covers a longer menu, from stuffed vegetables and kalitsounia to lamb from a wood-fired oven. Check how you will get there, because transport was not part of its listing on our last check. Our breakdown of the Nerokourou class →
The White Mountains class makes more sense if you don’t have a car and want the drive into the hills, the farm and the views as part of the evening. Nerokourou suits you better if you would rather spend a shorter evening closer to town with more of the menu in front of you.
Before you book the White Mountains class
- Tell the operator about any dietary needs when you book. The host cooks one dinner for the whole group, and older reviews show that people who expected meat or fish were sometimes surprised. If you don’t eat meat, or you’d like to be sure there is some, ask before the day.
- Check the pickup time the operator sends you. It depends on where you are staying, and the listing shows the start times only when you pick a date.
- Pack a jacket, even in summer. The house is in the hills, and a few reviewers say the evening gets cool once the sun goes down.
- Eat a snack before the minivan arrives. There are tastings of cheese, bread, olives, wine and honey through the evening, but the main meal comes at the end. One recent reviewer sat down to dinner after 10pm.
- Book your date early. The listing currently carries a “Likely to sell out” badge, and free cancellation up to 24 hours before leaves room to change the date if your plans move.
How a White Mountains evening is organised
The listing gives six hours and doesn’t publish an itinerary. Recent reviews describe an afternoon pickup, a drive of about 40 to 45 minutes into the hills, roughly four and a half hours at the house, and the same drive back after dinner. One recent reviewer was collected at 5:10pm and dropped back in Chania well after 11pm.
Recent reviewers describe groups of about 8 to 12 people, and one family booked as a party of 20.
Reviews on the listing run from February to December, with most of them from April to October. Availability can change, so check the calendar for your month. For the weather and the light at different times of year, see the best time for a cooking class in Crete.
The drive up from Chania
The guide drives the minivan, talks about Cretan history and village life on the way up, and translates for the family at the house. Alex is the guide named most often in reviews, and Kostas, Giannis and Nikos also appear in recent ones. Transport scores 4.9 out of 5 on the listing.
Garden, sheep and tastings at the house
The house belongs to a family that keeps sheep, and one reviewer says they also make their own wine, olive oil and honey. Feeding the sheep comes up in dozens of reviews. You also walk through the vegetable garden, and some reviewers mention a short walk among the olive trees.
Between the cooking rounds there is a tasting of local cheese and wine, and some reviewers mention honey and raki as well. Maria, who leads the cooking, is named in many reviews. The family speak limited English, so the guide translates most of what they say.
Dinner and the drive back
Dinner is eaten together at a long table, with the dishes your group prepared, others from the host and a dessert at the end. Wine is poured with the meal. A few reviewers describe eating as the sun goes down over the hills and the sea.
The drive back is the same 45 minutes in the dark. One recent reviewer said they were dropped at a point some way from their hotel late at night. If you are staying somewhere awkward to reach, ask your guide at pickup where the drop-off will be.
Other practical things to know
- Preparation is shared, so everyone’s work goes into the same dishes. A couple of reviewers would have liked gloves at the preparation table.
- A few families with teenagers rate the class highly. The listing doesn’t state an age limit, so ask the operator about younger children.
- Tips for the guide and the family aren’t included.
Is the White Mountains cooking class worth it?
Yes, if you want a relaxed evening in the hills with a Cretan family and a good dinner, with the transport arranged, and you are happy to help in the kitchen rather than run it. At the $123 price we saw, it includes the return transfer, the class, the tastings, dinner and wine. For comparison, one operator near Kritsa charges €20 (about $22) per person just for hotel pickup.
If learning to cook at the stove is the point, the Nerokourou class is closer to town and covers a longer menu. If you are staying near Heraklion or in the east, the 4x4 farm, pottery and cooking day also includes hotel pickup, although the cooking is a smaller part of an eight-hour day. Every class on the island compared →
Frequently asked questions
Is hotel pickup included on the White Mountains cooking class?
Yes. Pickup and drop-off by minivan are included in the price. The pickup time depends on where you are staying and is confirmed after you book.
How long does the White Mountains cooking class take?
The listing gives six hours, including a drive of about 45 minutes each way. It is an evening class, and recent reviewers describe getting back to Chania late, in one case after 11pm.
How hands-on is the class?
You prepare the dishes at a shared table, chopping, mixing and stuffing, and the family finishes the cooking in their kitchen. Some reviewers would have liked more hands-on time.
Is it suitable for vegetarians?
The dishes you prepare are vegetable-based, and recent reviews mention a meat dish cooked by the host as well. Tell the operator about your diet when you book.
What should I bring?
The listing suggests comfortable shoes, sunglasses and a jacket. The evening is cooler in the hills than on the coast.
Can children join?
A few families with teenagers rate it highly. The listing doesn’t state an age limit, so ask the operator about younger children before you book.
Can I cancel?
The listing currently offers free cancellation up to 24 hours before the class, and you can reserve without paying today.
How we put this together
Nobody on our team has taken this class. This page is based on the operator’s listing on GetYourGuide and on recent traveller reports, including the lower-rated ones, read in five languages. The price and rating were checked on 11 October 2026 and change with the season. We earn a commission if you book through the links on this page, at no extra cost to you.
Cook a Cretan Meal, Not a Greek One
Dakos, gemista, kalitsounia and lamb from a wood-fired oven — cooked by you, in a garden, with wine poured throughout. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
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