Visits to the museum are usually possible for 3 people and more on request at least 24 hours earlier. To arrange your visit, please send us an e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , PM us on FB or reach us by phone or SMS to +306946920923.

Entrance fee: €2,00

The Olive and Oil Museum is located approximately 15 km southwest of Chania, in the village of Vatolakkos. (read the text below the map for more info about how to get to Vatolakkos, what to do there and other places worth visiting in the area)

How to find us

By car: Exiting Chania at the intersection of Kladissos, make a left turn and take the road Southwest towards Alikianos and Omalos (If coming from the National Road, you will exit at the exit Chania-Omalos and make a left towards Omalos). Continue straight for approximately 12 km on the main road. You will come to an intersection with signs towards Alikianos and Vatolakkos. Turn right at the sign and go over a single lane bridge. Make another right into Alikianos, pass the center of Alikianos village and continue on towards Vatolakkos for approximately 2 km. Once at the village square (you will see a clock tower), you can park your car. Cross the wooden bridge on the left corner of the square (you will see a sign) and follow the path through the lemon orchard.

By KTEL's bus: The bus leaves you at the village square, almost next to the wooden bridge that leads to the Museum. Bus fare is €2,10 per person and ride time is about 30 minutes. The bus runs daily except for Sundays. In particular: From Chania to Vatolakkos, from Monday to Friday at 7:30, 9:00, 10:30, 12:00, 14:15, 17:00, 20:15 and on Saturdays at 8:00, 10:00, 12:00, 14:00. From Vatolakkos to Chania, from Monday to Friday at 7:00, 8:00. 9:30, 11:00, 12:30, 14:45, 17:30 and on Saturdays at 8:30, 10:30, 12:30, 14:30.

By taxi: From Chania, a taxi should cost approximately €25-30. It will be our pleasure to arrange a taxi pick-up for you, but in case you prefer to arrange it yourself, here are some useful phone numbers for taxis: Radio Taxi Hermes +30 28210 18300, Radio Taxi Kydon +30 28210 94300. 

Get to know Vatolakkos 

You can combine your visit to the Olive and Oil Museum with a tour in the hi-tech Manousakis Winery (circa 1 km from the village square) or some delicious plates at the really lovely Kapilio, often accompanied by live Cretan music (a few metres from the village square). Do not miss the opportunity to follow the old path of the village along Valsamiotis river, an extremely pleasant walk of around 1 km through dense vegetation that the residents of the village brought to surface with hard volunteer work. The path, connecting the square of the village to the newly built Valsamiotis Dam (see below), was inaugurated recently in a festive atmosphere. 

Allow yourself some time for a coffee or a fresh drink at one of the traditional cafés at the village square. In this way, you will have the opportunity to enjoy the atmosphere in one of the most beautiful and lively villages of Chania and get some glimpses of the daily life of the local people. Most of them are professional farmers and you will watch them coming often in and out of the village square with their cars filled with products from their orchards and gardens. Those less in a hurry will drop by one of the cafés to chat with a fellow villager and get some rest.

The elementary school of Vatolakkos is also located at the village square, a beautiful building dating back to the '30s. If not a school break, you may see its 20 pupils playing in the yard. The setting is dominated by the 22-metre clock tower that is a copy of the clock tower in Chania's Municipal Garden and was donated by Vaggelis Markoulakis, who was born in Vatolakkos but migrated to the US and spent most of his life there.  

The school and the clock tower effortlessly share the space of the square with the double Basilica dedicated to the Apostles Paul and Peter and Saint Fanourios. The older part of the church was built in the late 18th century. On the feast days of the Saints (the 28th of June for Apostles Paul and Peter and the 27th of August for Saint Fanourios), Vatolakkos' Cultural Club "Anagenisi" -mainly consisting of the young women and men of the village- organises festivities with food, music, dancing and fireworks. Especially on the 27th of August, the women of the village bake the so-called "fanouropites", delightful cakes made of olive oil (instead of butter), and offer everyone a piece. As their name also implies, "fanouropites" are meant by believers as requests for finding an object or a person they are looking for. These are ideal opportunities for visitors to Vatolakkos to experience the harmonious way in which Cretans combine the warmth and strong bonds of the community with the generosity towards everyone who wishes to celebrate with them. 

Get around Vatolakkos 

Vatolakkos and the neighbouring villages of Alikianos and Koufos are located in the fertile plain of the Keritis river. The namesake bridge in Alikianos partly collapsed due to heavy rainstorms in winter 2019. We really hope that it will be reconstructed the way it was. The Keritis bridge was made of stone in the early 20th century and had three impressive arches.

Just before the bridge, you can see a marble monument dedicated to the 118 people from that region who were executed by Nazis in 1941.

The byzantine Saint George church in Alikianos (13th century) with murals painted by Pavlos Provatas one century later is a must-stop-over for those who are interested in authentic examples of byzantine architecture and iconography. This is also the case with the even older Zoodochos Pigi church (11th century) that is located on the "meeting point" of the villages Alikianos, Vatolakkos and Koufos and features an anteroom and beautiful murals and mosaics. The people of the region call it "Agios Ioannis o Xenos". 

The newly built 190-metre Valsamiotis Dam in Vatolakkos will attract the admirers of advanced engineering but also those who want to explore the less visible part of the village.

On the way back to Chania, have a stop at the village of Agia for a "rakomelo" (hot Cretan "grappa" mixed with honey and spices) at the hospitable café "Limni", situated on the shore of the artificial lake of Agia. Covering a surface of 450 acres, the lake is one of the most important wetlands of Greece. Not far from the lake but well hidden by orange and olive trees, one can find the early Christian Panagia tis Episkopis church. A sign on the way to Omalos will lead you there. Most likely it will not be open, but it is interesting to see the building as well as the archeological site next to it — about which we promise to find out more.