DAY 1: Oia, Santorini
Hotel: Canaves Oia Epitome
Wow. I almost don’t know where to start at how amazing this hotel is both for food allergies as well as the actual hotel, rooms, pool, etc. One of the best overall hotel experiences we have had. They are incredibly aware and educated on cross-contamination and, dare I say, more conservative than we would even ask anyone to be— down to warning labels, preparation and, just honestly, we dropped our jaws how attentive they were. Before we arrived, I had emailed them to ask if they could accommodate our allergies knowing that breakfast was included and they replied not only could they absolutely accommodate but also asked if they could remove nuts from our mini bar. I’m certain that is the first hotel that ever considered the mini bar!
Dinner: Dimitris Ammoudi Taverna
This was a fun little area along the bay and a great spot to watch the sunset and the sky light up with colors. There are several restaurants in this area and we safely ate here and came on a recommendation, but if we went back to the area, we would likely try a different restaurant because the food was fine but not amazing. We did safely have several dips including eggplant, fava, spicy feta, grilled octopus, tomato fritters, and french fries!
Treat: Cool Cave
This tiny and clean spot is located in Amouddi Bay right near Oia and near several casual spots to watch the sunset. It was our first place ordering ice cream in Greece and we were pretty shocked as we ordered and shared my daughter’s nut allergies. They were all over it as if it was a common request and cleaned that scooper—I don’t know why we were so pleasantly surprised, but we were. My daughter was able to safely order mint chocolate chip and coffee ice cream in a cone! So fun!
DAY 2
Breakfast: Canaves Oia Epitome
We ate breakfast every day at the poolside restaurant. They bring a bread basket that has a range of breads including muffins, cookies, and more. Some do contain nuts but they made a separate one for our daughter. I’m mainly gluten-free and they also had a gluten-free basket that had gluten-free toast, a brownie, and cookies!
Lunch: Canaves Oia Epitome
We ordered room service for lunch and had a Greek salad, Greek spreads with pita bread, fries, and falafel.
Dinner: Sunset Oia Sailing Cruises Santorini
I could not recommend this experience more! First, from an allergy perspective, I definitely had some concerns being on a boat at sea with food being served (thinking of the worst case scenario), but very much wanted our family to experience what sounded like a spectacular opportunity. We knew they would be serving food, as it says there is a barbecue on board during sunset. I had reached out ahead of time to ask if any nuts would be served and they confirmed that there would be no nuts, so we felt much better knowing that ahead of time. Once on the boat, they asked if anyone had any allergies, we were not alone and several people had allergies including shrimp and dairy and someone said they were allergic to gluten (but not celiac because I, of, course had to ask). There was also someone with a life-threatening rice allergy. Right away they told us there would be no nuts but that they would be putting out sandwiches for appetizers and she should avoid the bread, as it had a “may contain peanuts” warning. Overall, we found the staff to be very knowledgeable and conservative, and we felt quite comfortable right after that. For the BBQ, they offered chicken or pork and has pitas, dips, salads— note: I asked for a vegetarian and had amazing grilled eggplant and zucchini. For dessert they passed out apple slices in honey. They had lots of drinks too. Unfortunately, my daughter dove into the water and her eardrums were punctured and she was definitely not feeling well, but the crew jumped to her immediately and they said they could call a speedboat to come get her in minutes if needed. This had nothing to do with food allergies, of course, but the way they were so attentive and ready to get her medical care, I truly appreciated it! This was definitely a highlight of our trip to Santorini!
DAY 3
Breakfast: Canaves Oia Epitome
They have a Greek yogurt cart that has lots of toppings and while one topping had nuts, each topping had its own utensil and she had yogurt and honey.
Lunch: Armeni Restaurant
We LOVED this hidden gem that is only accessible by boat. It’s very casual and right on the water. It felt like a place that only the locals would know about. The servers were incredibly educated about nut allergies. When we mentioned that our daughter has nut allergies, they pointed out 3 items that contained nuts that she would need to avoid. All of them had nuts listed, so none were hidden. They mentioned that they give a complimentary dessert, but that it had nuts and they would bring her something safe for her without us even asking. When we asked what kind of oil the french fries were made in, they said olive oil and told us before we could even ask that they were also the only food made in the fryer and that nothing else went in the fryer. We had a lot of food including a pita bread, lots of dips: eggplant, tzatziki, fava bean, Greek salad, grilled halloumi cheese, grilled octopus, and french fries. Strongly recommend for the safety, food, service and the scene! Note: the complimentary dessert is a frozen Nutella and biscuit dish. My daughter is not allergic to hazelnuts but still passed on it as they brought her vanilla ice cream to be on the safe side! LOVED!
Dinner: Petrosia
It was our server’s first day so she was so nice but a little new to the menu. She was willing to check on everything we asked her about, which we appreciated. We ate here because it’s one of the few restaurants in Oia with a view of the sunset, which was stunning, but the food was nothing to write home about. Our daughter had a caprese salad, veal meatballs, and spaghetti. We had some bread with tomato paste, olives, and a feta dip. All safe!
Treat: Kayak Pure Magic
My daughter got ice cream here with my husband, I was shopping down the road, but the minute she mentioned her allergies they grabbed a clean scoop. She safely had Banoffee and chocolate chip, which they call Stracciatela. Super modern and cute spot and when I went to chance, I noticed very few flavors with nuts but they do have some including pistachio (which she is very allergic to), but they were very helpful and confident they could safely serve her! It’s located right in Oia near all the shops and a great spot to go after watching the sunset!
DAY 4:
Morning: Oia, Santorini + Afternoon: Elounda, Crete
Breakfast: Canaves Oia Epitome
Our daughter safely had drinks including smoothies, juice, and ice coffee. She ate french toast, crepes, an egg dish with bacon, fries, and Greek yogurt.
Lunch: Canaves Oia Epitome
We also had one day that she ate lunch at the pool and she had a caesar salad.
Treat: Apollon Cafe
We sat at this cafe while waiting for our hydrofoil. My daughter had a strawberry, peach, and mango smoothie and asked about nuts. They were enthusiastically emphatic there were no nuts!
Dinner: Yacht Club at Elounda
This restaurant is located at the Elounda Mare Resort. We ate here twice, the first time was for dinner when we first arrived and the second time for lunch. The restaurant overlooks the water and is open and at our dinner, there was an amazing view and breeze. We didn’t love the dinner menu, it seems super meat heavy and we asked for the kids menu. My daughter had a pasta that she liked, but was very rich—it was a local pasta with black truffles and steak tartar. We all had a Greek salad that was amazing.
DAY 5
Hotel: Elounda Mare Hotel, Relais & Chateaux
This hotel is located right on the water in Crete. It has a very old European feel and the crowd is definitely older too. Food allergy safety-wise, it has been very nice so far. The staff speaks English and when we have brought up my daughter’s allergies, they have seemed experienced and confident. There are several restaurants on the property, which we didn’t realize, including traditional Greek as well as sushi, Italian, and more. Breakfast was included and set up as a buffet.
Breakfast: Elounda Mare Hotel, Relais & Chateaux
We were pleasantly surprised to see cards set up, mainly by the baked goods, with allergy icons. To me, it appeared that in some cases, they included allergens that would not necessarily be in the food, but were more of a warning.
Lunch: Elounda Mare Hotel, Relais & Chateaux
We spent one day on their beach and we ordered water and they brought us a side of chips that were safe. We also ordered lunch by the water and my daughter had a tuna sandwich on brioche and a piña colada without alcohol.
Dinner: Ferryman Taverna
This was SUCH a good restaurant right along the water. The owner was so nice and warm. He said he promised her food would not have nuts “a million times” and we saw very limited nuts on the food menu. We shared a bunch of appetizers including their homemade bread and pita, smoked eggplant dip, fried zucchini, and grilled halloumi. All of them were out of this world! Our daughter had a pasta with lamb for her main dish and she ate some french fries that we had on the table. The zucchini came with walnuts on the side but it was clearly labeled on the menu. Very picturesque and outstanding food—highly recommend!
DAY 6
Breakfast: Elounda Mare Hotel, Relais & Chateaux
My daughter had smoked salmon, a cheese pastry, bread, cereal, pineapple juice, and an ice coffee—she tried a bunch of items. Normally we would stay away from baked goods but felt comfortable with the labeling.
Lunch: Yacht Club at Elounda
We went back for lunch and loved the menu! We ordered a lot of appetizers including the Greek salad, eggplant spread, tomato croquettes, and fried zucchini. My daughter ordered a penne pasta with pesto (which had pine nuts, which she is not allergic to). She also safely had bread. They had a bread called carob rusk that they said was gluten-free and I tried to Google to figure out if it was true. We saw it at other places and they said it was gluten-free. I’m not 100% sure, and not celiac, but if it’s true it was amazing. We loved our lunch here. The food was fantastic and so was the view and service!
Dinner: Migomis Piano Restaurant
Stunning restaurant in Crete that has an unbelievable view and sits above a square of restaurants and stores that surround a lake. Hard to describe but it’s so picturesque! It’s definitely on the fancy side as far as the menu goes— it felt very special. My daughter had bread for start and then a burrata appetizer that came with almond skin but we asked for it without— I don’t know why since my daughter isn’t allergic to almonds haha. We also got tagliatelle with a beef ragu and had crème brûlée for dessert. Highly recommend!
DAY 7:
Morning: Elounda, Crete + Afternoon: Chania, Crete
Breakfast: Elounda Mare Hotel, Relais & Chateaux
We safely enjoyed the breakfast buffet this day as well.
Pharmacy: Pylorof
This is a pharmacy that we went to because my daughter had an ear issue, so not allergy related but the gentleman working there was so helpful! He spoke English and there was no wait. There isn’t much in the way of food there but we did but some gummy bears called Jelly Land that had English labeling and I doubled checked with him that there were no nuts. This pharmacy was super close to our hotel and right in the center of town. So grateful it was easy!
Lunch: Sea Salt and Rosemary Restaurant
We stumbled into this restaurant while driving from Elounda to Chania. We were hungry for lunch and wanted something by the water. We were very pleasantly surprised to see allergy icons on the menu and they listed that the kinds of oil that they fried in, olive and sunflower. Our daughter safely had spaghetti bolognese. They said some of the bread in the bread basket had nuts and we asked which ones and they pointed to one with corn and seeds. Not sure it had nuts but they brought her plain white bread. She also had a few bites of my daughter’s potatoes, my husband grilled tomatoes and some fried zucchini. Great view and the seats are all big cushy couches. Very hip vibe and it’s actually at a resort which we had no idea we just googled restaurants near us. So glad it was so safe!
Dinner: The Five Restaurant
Highly recommend this restaurant! It’s located right near the Nea Chora beach and we sat outside and the view was spectacular! It’s more sleek and modern versus a traditional taverna, the food was incredible and the style is to order a bunch of items and share. We ordered a lot including bread with dips (it was an olive tapenade), grilled shrimp, grilled sardines, fava dip, fried potatoes, and a Cretan salad. My daughter safely tried all and drank a cherry soda. They were very nice and seemed very knowledgeable about the menu and willing to find answers to any questions we had. At the end of the meal they brought a tiny bottle of alcohol and shot glasses and a bowl of bars—at first my heart sank because I assumed they were filled with nuts, but when asked they were pretzels, biscuits, white chocolate, and rice pops (like Rice Krispies). We felt comfortable letting our daughter have it and it was amazing! Overall, I highly recommend for the food, view, and I would say the service was very good—although would note they were very busy, but wiling to get answers for anything we needed!
DAY 8
Hotel: Serenissima Boutique Hotel
We stayed at this boutique hotel in Chania that was precious and in a great location. Like most hotels in Greece, breakfast is included.
Breakfast: Serenissima Boutique Hotel
When we mentioned her allergy, they brought out a piece of cake that they said was nut-free, we thought the gesture was so nice. The first morning, our daughter ordered the scrambled eggs with grated tomato and feta cheese based on the recommendation of our server and it also came with toast and a salad.
Dinner: Salis
⚠️ This is a positive review however, my daughter did have an allergic reaction to the chimichurri that contained pistachios— she tasted the sauce off my other daughter’s dinner and, while we asked about nuts on all of our appetizers and her meal, we had not also asked about our other daughter’s meal. This was a big lesson for us all and while we normally do ask about all of the items since we know she likes to try other people’s meal, she had wanted to eat vegetarian that night and our other daughter order steak. I felt it was our fault, not the restaurant’s.
Just to give some additional color, our daughter right away said “I think I’m having a reaction”, so we asked what she ate, she said the chimichurri, something at home she eats regularly and we have not known it to contain nuts. We rushed to ask if it contained any nuts and the manager ran to ask and quickly and came back to say pistachio— one of her worst allergies. She gave herself the auvi-q. The restaurant was very caring running to get water, standing by to see if she was okay, the server was quite upset and I heard the manager talking to the server and he explained that he knew she had a nut allergy but didn’t know she would be eating from that meal. I do always appreciate when a restaurant knows that we have a nut allergy to let us know if anything we have ordered also has nuts, but I do believe that is our responsibility to ask. It was quite stressful and especially being in a foreign country although our daughter said that the recent conversation she had with our allergist was top of mind—he had told her allergic reactions are like fire and easier to put out right when they start compared to when they get larger and it’s far harder to control—which is why she reacted so quickly. We were so proud of her.
Prior to her reaction she was safely able to eat bread and our appetizers, including a deconstructed pastitsio (which was like a mac + cheese with black truffles), eggplant with fermented fava, thyme honey (outstanding!), black nightshades—which was a green vegetable with a brittle that has sesame (we didn’t like this dish by the way), and a side of Greek fries (very good!) Her meal was peinrli with zucchini flower, buffalo mozzarella with pine nuts that they suggested no pine nuts even though she isn’t allergic to them— this was like an oval shaped pizza and was delicious! The location is perfect, right on the marina and we went on a Saturday night and the whole area was so fun and hopping! I have a very mixed feeling here, as the restaurant was very helpful in making sure what she had was safe, the food was amazing, and I didn’t think it was their fault in any way—that said, I don’t think my family, given the situation, would go back to the “scene of the crime” given the circumstances. The meal that my other daughter ordered that was not safe was the Black Angus Inside Skirt (skirt steak) and it was the Cretan Chimichurri sauce.
DAY 9
Breakfast: Serenissima Boutique Hotel
The second day, she had fried eggs and cured meat (bacon).
Lunch + Sightseeing: Loutraki Beach
This is a small family beach that is nice and clean and *organized* which means you can rent chairs and umbrellas. They have a small place to buy lunch including gyros, sandwiches, Greek salad, drinks, and ice cream bars. We used our Equal Eats card to communicate which, at first, they seemed overwhelmed by, but read it and said no nuts anywhere. My daughter safely had a pork gyro with French fries and a lemonade. Very grateful to have the card! You could very easily bring your own food and eat it at the beach too!
Dinner: Thalassino Ageri
This restaurant is located literally on the edge of the water and we watched the most beautiful sunset. It was recommended by several local people and I think it is known for fish. We had a great meal and they were very allergy-friendly. When we mentioned our daughter’s nut allergy, we thought they said nothing had nuts but let us know the complimentary dessert has nuts—it did have coconuts. We did use our Equal Eats card just to be on the safe side. Our favorite dish was rusk with tomato and soft cheese which was so good. Rusk is traditional bread. We also had fried calamari, french fries, and fava bean dip. Our kids aren’t huge fish eaters and the fish is served for the whole family, so we didn’t order fish. My youngest daughter did order an appetizer of fried cod and loved it but by allergic daughter didn’t try it. At the end of the meal, they served us the cake that did have coconut but no other nuts and it was safe and good! Highly recommend for anyone who loves to watch the sunset!
DAY 10:
Morning: Chaina, Crete + Afternoon: Athens, Greece
Breakfast: Serenissima Boutique Hotel
The third day, she had Traditional Cretan kalitsounia and they brought a pastry that they put pistachios on top normally, but made nut free for our whole table. All good and we ate in their pink and light filled courtyard. Beautiful and safe!
Shopping: Karpos
We stopped here to buy Cretan olive oil and honey to take home. There was a father and son that could not have been nicer and the son spoke very good English and offered us samples and made sure there were no nuts. After we made our purchase they poured us some Raki that was lemon and melon flavored. Raki is served everywhere after meals and is like moonshine but this was delicious and it was the morning and we honestly couldn’t stop laughing! Such a fun experience!
Airport + Lunch: Chania International Airport Ioannis Daskalogiannis
We flew out of the Chania airport to get to Athens and after missing our flight, spent a good amount of time here and ate lunch, had coffee and snacks here safely. We had lunch at a restaurant called Everest and my daughter had a ham and cheese sandwich and chips. I ordered a spinach pie and knew she would want a bite and they confirmed no nuts. They also sold Nestle Crunch bars including a white chocolate version that did NOT have a nut warning!!! We should have bought more! We also grabbed coffee and croissant from Labyrinth Flavors once we got past security and we used the Equal Eats card to manage that order because we weren’t as confident when ordering. Thankfully all went well!
Dinner: Electra Palace Athens
We safely ate room service as we had a delayed flight, and ordered by phone and I was very impressed with how they handled it. The person taking the order answered but then got another person on the phone, I think only because their English was a bit better—so more for us than that the answer was different. I could hear lots of the staff jumping in to answer! Our daughter had pasta with tomato sauce and basil.
DAY 11
Hotel: Electra Palace Athens
We stayed in this hotel in Athens based on a couple of recommendations for the location right near the Plaka and the view of the Acropolis which you can see from many spots including breakfast and the pool!
Breakfast: Electra Palace Athens
The hotel also includes breakfast (with a stunning view) and of all of our breakfasts, this was one with the most obvious nuts out. It’s buffet style and our daughter had fruit, toast, cereal and then we went back to ask about nuts and she used her Equal Eats card which was so helpful! One of the chefs came out of the kitchen and walked the entire room with us and pointed out all she could have and what to stay away from. There were a lot of pastries there and my daughter felt comfortable trying a couple, like a cherry croissant. This was one of those moments when I would have preferred to pass but she was feeling like she really wanted to try something and with the impressive care of the chef, she decided to try a little. The chef did note that sometimes their donuts are made with peanut oil which we were so grateful she told us, because it otherwise looked like a simple cinnamon donut. Not my favorite as far as we felt that we needed to dodge the allergies like an open bowl of pistachios, but the staff went above and beyond!
Lunch: MINIBAR
We ate lunch here based on the recommendation of our tour guide who was amazing! It’s a small eclectic casual spot and we had a very fun meal here but it wouldn’t be on my list of “you have to go there”. If you are nearby, then it’s a good option although we used our Equal Eats card and I was glad to have it! We safely had eggplant dip—which was so good, a Greek salad, zucchini balls, spinach rolls, fries, and bread. We all shared and my daughter had a lemonade too. The server took our card back to the kitchen to be on the safe side. ⚠️ The only thing that wasn’t great was at the end of the meal, they asked if we wanted the complimentary cookie which we didn’t want but we did ask if it has any nuts and it had walnuts in it.
Dinner: GB Roof Garden
This restaurant was spectacular! It was recommended to us by someone who said it was expensive and worth it and we felt the same. We ate here on the last night of our trip and it was so special. The view is absolutely STUNNING and we had what felt like the best table in the whole restaurant outside. We watched the sunset and the Acropolis light up at night. They were fantastic with food allergies and baked bread for my daughter to be on the safe side. The regular bread had seeds and, in general, when you mention nut allergies, we felt a lot of restaurants lump seeds in too—just fyi. ⚠️ They brought two spreads that both has green powder on top, which immediately I thought could be pistachios and the pinkish one that was cream cheese DID have pistachios in it, thankfully we asked and they removed it immediately. We shared 2 appetizers including eggplant and a burrata salad and my daughter had lamb with potatoes.
AIRLINES
Airline: British Airways
WOW, pretty blown away at British Airways! I asked if they would be serving nuts on our flight to London, I’m usually relatively calm about flights but I do feel different when we are crossing the pond. They were serving nuts in the section in front of us, which was about 20 feet away so I wasn’t too concerned. They offered to ask to not serve nuts which pleasantly surprised me, but then said they didn’t think there would be an issue so we assume they were going to still serve nuts. Then they came back and asked if they could make an announcement asking everyone to not eat nuts, which we so appreciated and they did it twice! They also made an announcement if anyone had a food allergy to notify them and to ask about the food being served. Note: We were unable to check in about meals ahead of time and they were clear that they couldn’t guarantee that there wasn’t cross-contamination of nuts on her meal, but they were serving pasta with marinara and we felt comfortable letting our daughter eat it. She also had salad and a roll. There was a piece of crumb cake which my daughter passed on to be on the safe side. The snack was pretzels which my daughter had and in the morning they served a croissant that was wrapped, so it didn’t look like a *bakery* type of croissant but more manufactured so we let her have it and a yogurt. Overall, their care was top notch. Definitely would recommend and fly again. They were all so nice— perhaps it was the British accents!
Airport: Heathrow Airport
We connected through Heathrow from Chicago on the way to Greece and it was spectacular! There are several shops to find safe snacks including so many of the safe UK chocolates like curly wurlys!
