It’s almost Summer time, and that means family vacation starts now. When you are travelling to a different country as a tourist, you want to see the best places. The best way to see these places, is hang out with the locals? Am I right?!

Greeking.Me started a wonderful tour company in Athens.  Learn how they started, and why they are one of the best tour companies to choose from in Athens, Greece. Please welcome Nikos Theodoris & Anna Mania founders of Greeking.Me.

Interview~ Greeking.Me~

Q& A

1. How did Greeking.Me come about? What was the general concept?

We believe that traveling is a lot more than just sightseeing. Traveling is about meeting local people, tasting new flavors & diving into the culture of your destination. We are a team of young people whose love about traveling & culture joined them under one purpose: to create unique, innovative experiences for travelers visiting Athens. Combining our own favorite aspects of city life we ended up creating some exciting services for everyone who wants to see & taste Athens like a local.

2. What inspired you to start Greeking.Me?

Our endless love for traveling and creation. We’ve always wanted to create something of our own, to get involved with entrepreneurship. When some friends visited from abroad we searched for high-quality, innovative and value for money activities and things to do in Athens. We then started to brainstorm on that idea and after a lot of work Greeking.me was created.

How cool, I love this concept! When I lived in Greece a few years back, I always thought that Athens could use a wonderful tour company like this.

3. What was your childhood like, and did that have any influence for your commonly start-up.

We were raised with excellent prospects and our parents tried a lot to provide us with many opportunities. This was the “golden era” of the Greek society. We must say, though, that the economic crisis motivated us to leave our comfort zone. It was an epiphany that made us realize that we had to adapt ourselves to new, challenging circumstances.

4. Who is your demographic audience and how did you get yourselves involved in tourism? (Agro tourism)

At the moment, we are based in Athens and all our services are taking part in the Greek capital. Although Athens is a top-choice destination for people from all over the world, we target people from USA, UK and Germany. The main language of our experiences is English but we also offer them in German, Spanish, French.

Wow that is great that you accommodate all different countries.

5. Do you offer any tours to olive farms? Are there any lavender farms in Greece? If you do offer farm tours, what’s your favorite?

At the moment we are not offering any tours to olive farms, but this is actually a great idea and something that we are already discussing for the near future. Attica is a region with many diversities and fertile land and it won’t be difficult to create an olive oil tour or a wine tour or more experiences based on agro tourism.

6. When did your company take off? What year?

Greeking.me is a brand new company, we launched our services on January 2016.

7. Is there a lot of competition in your field? If so, what makes you stand out from the rest.

Competition is something you cannot avoid, but if you are offering experiences that go beyond your clients’ expectations, then you have nothing to be afraid of. And this is something which applies in all industries, not only in tourism. At Greeking.me, we are offering high quality experiences in affordable prices, so anyone (from the millennial to a family or a business traveler) can enjoy Greece like a local. Our services combine the historic element of Greek culture with the exploration of the local side of Athens.

8. As this is a greek food blog, what are your top 5 restaurants you have toured?

We would say that Epirus inside the central market of Athens is one of the best places for traditional Greek food. We also love Kallipateira in Monastiraki and when we really adore a little Cretan restaurant after the name Rakolemono (which is raki & lemon). For a more classy choice, we enjoy Oroscopo near the Hilton hotel. Of course, a juicy Greek souvlaki is always appreciated!

9. Do you only offer tours in Athens, or do you branch out to various parts of Greece.

At the moment, we are based in Athens. Of course, our vision is to offer exciting and innovative services to various areas of Greece, in the mainland and the islands also. But no need to rush – scaling up a business is something that has to be based on a strategy.

10. How do people find you on social media? Find them on their social media below!! 

We are really active on social media, so you can start following us in these accounts. Follow us via SM. 🙂 

Facebook

Twitter

Google +
Linkedin

Pinterest

Youtube

Instagram

11. What are your top 5 favorite historical spots in Greece, besides the Acropolis and Parthenon.

Knossos in Crete, Vergina with the impressive royal burial cluster, Olympia, Delphi & Mycenae. The truth is there are so many monuments of great historical importance in Greece.

12. Where is the best gyro in Athens?

It depends on your personal taste! There are many good souvlaki shops, but they are not located in the “touristy” places.

13. ~Funny Trivia~

What’s your favorite pastry?

That’s a good question! We really love galaktoboureko. It  is a dessert of semolina custard in filo, layered on top and underneath.

I love love galaktoboureko, and for those who haven’t tried it, you should!

14. You told me you offer cooking classes? Can you give me a little bit more information on this?

“Greek Ambrosia” (https://www.greeking.me/our-services/greek-ambrosia) is a culinary experience that includes a tour in Athens Central Market but also a Greek Cooking Class in a private place inside a traditional restaurant, downtown. People really love taking part into “Greek Ambrosia” because it is a great way to come closer to the Greek Culture, through gastronomy. The recipes that people learn are easy yet traditional; we don’t want to serve them gourmet recipes but some “mom and pop” dishes, as we want them to be able to repeat them when they get back home. This is why we give them a souvenir scroll with all the recipes that they prepared themselves as a gift!

That is very cool! I love the souvenir scroll with recipes. What a great way to get connected with the cuisines of Greece.

Lately we added a new gastronomy experience, an Athens food tour (http://www.greeking.me/athens-food-tour) which is called “Athens for foodies”! It is an amazing 4-hour walk in non touristic neighborhoods of Athens, where you can have more than 15 different tastings of Greek Cuisine. From a pie to a soup to tzatziki to loukoumades! It isn’t a cooking lesson but foodies will love it, as it is a great way to eat your way through Athens!

This is great! Of course I love this, as I am a chef and I know that Greece is coming up with some amazing gastronomic restaurants. I have about 20 on my must see list. 🙂 Hey foodies, check this out!! 

15. I like to end guest interviews with a quote. What’s your favorite quote?

“The best way to predict your future is to create it.”

-Abraham Lincoln

Thank you very much to Greeking.Me for taking the time to do this great interview. It has been a blast, and I can’t wait to meet you guys!

For those who are going to Greece this Summer, please keep Greeking.Me in mind. I am sure team Greeking.Me will be able to accommodate you with many great places to visit in Athens. Please visit their official website for booking reservations at >> Greeking.Me

Photo credit: Greeking.Me

This post has been brought to you by Kouzounas Kitchen. All rights go to Kouzzounas Kitchen & Greeking.Me.