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Join a modern Odyssey experience and adventure for children with Odysseia Stables! This program is only for children from eight to twelve years old. Children can also help with brushing and feeding the horses. Let your children experience the horse riding holiday of their dreams, and only then shall your heart beat in rhythms long forgotten!
You will be accommodated at Odysseia Stables' equestrian hotel, Country Hotel Velani. The moment you arrive on the hillside, you will experience the serene quietness and the tremendous panoramic view. Under the hotel, stretches the Langada Valley with the Apposelemis River crossing through.
Above Country Hotel Velani, rises the red-colored peaks of the Dikti mountains. Birds of prey, like the griffon vulture, glide along these peaks. The estate is surrounded by protected kermes oak forest and olive groves stretching down to the valley.
On the estate, many protected trees and flowers can be found, such as a different type of beautiful orchids. The hotel suits its surrounding as it is built with real natural stones collected from the land it stands on, giving it a robust and natural look. The hotel has a neo-classic style creating a romantic atmosphere for long summer nights.
The main building houses the reception and a café with a large balcony on which you can drink your Greek coffee or rakí. In the main building, you can also find Restaurant Veláni with its large terrace overlooking the riding place and the valley.
Next to the main building lays the naturally formed large swimming pool that is 100 square meters in size (130 to 160 meters deep) with a separate and lower situated children’s pool of 11 square meters (40 centimeters deep).
Every day, there is a room cleaning service and towel change at the Country Hotel Velani. Once a week, the sheets are changed, as well. You can also enjoy a free use of sunbeds. The reception, café, and restaurant have opening hours.
The 12 hotel rooms are grouped into two bungalows, each housing six rooms. The bungalows lay quietly separate from the main activities. The rooms are large and comfortable and all have a tremendous view over the valley. Each room has a large bathroom with bathtub.
The rooms have central heating and air conditioning (both included in the price), a fridge, a flat screen TV with international channels, a hairdryer, a large glass door of two meters, and a private balcony or terrace. Most rooms are equipped with a wood stove (the wood is not included in the price). There are three types of rooms, including Grand Comfort, Panorama VIP, and Family Luxury.
The Grand Comfort room is a two-person room that sleeps one to three persons. The total room surface is 23 square meters. The room has a terrace with private garden and a bathroom with toilet and bathtub.
The Panorama VIP room is a three-person room that sleeps two to four persons. The total room surface is 29 square meters with a balcony. The bathroom has a bathtub and a separate shower cabin. The toilet is housed in a separate room.
The Family Luxury room is a four-person room that sleeps two to five persons. This room actually comprises two Grand Comfort rooms that are connected through a door.
Odysseia Stables is a small friendly stable home to 18 horses. Due to the small character of Odysseia, with a maximum of 10 horse riders a week, they are able to maintain a close and personal contact with the guests. The stables are designed in a way to be as close as possible to the physical needs of the horses. The facilities include:
Odysseia Stables has high standards for their horses, facilities, and equipment. They use English saddles. Space, outside air, and contact with other horses are what give the horses joy, health, and peace. That is why the horses not only enjoy a large stable with an open turnout paddock, but they also have the possibility for social contact.
Most of the horses are stabled in pairs in one large stable of 6.2 x 3.2 meters, and the separations in between the stables are half open. The roof all around is openly giving the horses a constant flow of fresh air. Also, the top of the roof has an open construction, leaving hot air to travel out.
This program is only for children from eight to 12 years old. Children can join the riding program itself without being accompanied by their parents. However, since Odysseia Stables are not a pony camp, children have to be accompanied by a parent at the hotel, for the whole duration.
The program includes six riding days. Each day has a half-hour private lesson on the lunge or an hour in a group. Whether the child joins a group lesson or a lunging lesson, that depends on the experience and ability of the child. The lessons are given in such a way so that they are fun and safe for the young children. Children can also help with brushing and feeding the horses.
The riding program runs in the cool early morning hours. There is no minimum of children per week. Children older than 12 years old can book the normal riding programs.
You will ride on Arabic, Thoroughbreds, and Warmblood horses. These breeds have long breaths and never tire on a long distance riding. They are beautiful and well-trained holiday horses that are always eager to go out and have a very relaxed mind. The horses are also sure-footed in the mountains and human-oriented. Especially for novice riders, they will use reliable and easy horses to give them the trust and safety they need.
For the children, Odysseia Stables has a Welsh B pony - a real children’s pony. It is very sweet, safe, and fast. All the horses are friendly, well-cared, well-fed, and regularly trained, and they all have an excellent condition for long distance riding. The horses are ridden in an English riding style, but are easily handled with long rains.
This riding holiday will take place at the Odysseia Stables in Greece, in the middle of the island of Crete. The stable location is 40 kilometers east of the city of Heraklion. The stable is situated on a rural road, two kilometers outside of the village of Avdou, in the municipality of Hersonissos. There is an 18-hole golf course located seven kilometers away.
The traditional Greek village of Avdou lies one kilometer from the hotel and has 250 inhabitants. Here, time stands still. The wide sandy beach of Anissaras lies 15 kilometers away, while Heraklion International Airport (HER) is 40 kilometers from the hotel.
Crete, a Greek island in the sun, surrounded by a clear blue sea, with mountains rising to 2.5 kilometers (8,000 feet) and a coastline 1000 kilometers (650 miles) in length, makes a rough and wild landscape. The island is blessed with a warm Mediterranean climate, gorges, and fertile plains. Here, there is still unlimited space to ride a horse in the peace and quiet of nature.
You can ride among a land dotted with olive groves and ancient sites holding timeless myths, take amazing paths way up into the rough mountains enjoying breathtaking views, swim in the clear blue waters, and dry at an abandoned beach.
The visitor should be prepared for numerous nice surprises and a strong sense of daily life, as well as honest and warm hospitality. These characteristics need to be discovered not in the urban centers, but mainly in the remote seaside and mountain villages.
Situated in between three continents (Europe, Africa, and Asia) and conquered by many invaders, Crete has become an island rich in history. In Heraklion, there is the ancient site of Knossos and the Minoan culture, the cradle of the European continent. Together with the pleasant Cretans and the Greek "filotimo" (hospitality), it is an island worth visiting.
Please note that the hotel, restaurant, pool, and stables are reunited under the same location.
The stay is on a full board basis at Restaurant Velani, starting with dinner on the first day until breakfast on the last day. Breakfast and lunch are served in between standard hours. Dinner includes a free choice from the menu and comprises a starter, main dish, and salad. Please note that drinks and desserts are not included.
Restaurant Velani welcomes everybody who wants to experience the local healthy Cretan diet or Greek cuisine. The Cretan diet is famous for being healthy, and the use of olive oil is based on the olive grove of the estate.
The restaurant serves all fresh home cooking with organically grown vegetables and fruit from their own gardens and makes use of local products from nearby farmers. You can enjoy a refreshing drink or Greek dinner after the ride on the terrace with a view of the riding arena.
Every Sunday afternoon, chef Manolis heats up the outdoor oven by burning wood from the restaurant's olive trees. When the oven reaches the right temperature, the wood is removed and the food trays are placed inside, then the door is closed with a paste of ash and water. The food is slowly cooked for hours, making it soft and juicy. For vegetarians, the Cretan kitchen offers a wide range of possibilities.
The restaurant is open all year round, from spring to autumn, and on a daily basis when they have guests staying at the hotel. In winter, the restaurant opens on Saturdays and Sundays. If you follow a special diet, please inform Odysseia Stables when you make a reservation, so Restaurant Velani can cater for you. Moreover, for groups, it is possible to make arrangements outside normal opening hours.
Heraklion International Airport
25 km
Transfer available for additional US$61 per person
Please book your flight to arrive at Heraklion International Airport (HER). Transfer from and to this airport is available upon request.
The transfer is not included in the price and costs 50 EUR per trip (one way) with a maximum of four guests. If possible, you will share the transfer (and the costs) with other guests.
In case more guests can share a transfer, Odysseia Stables will inform you and you will share the price. Odysseia Stables' driver will be waiting in the arrival hall, near the exit door, opposite desk 28, and holding a paper with your name written on it. In case of any delays or flight changes, please inform Odysseia Stables.
Avdou is not easily reachable by bus, so if you want to arrive by public bus to Avdou, you need to be aware that bus routes are available only twice a week (Monday and Friday), between Heraklion and Lassithi Plateau. Departure from Heraklion is at 2:15 p.m., while departure from Lasithi Plateau is at 5:45 p.m. Your bus stop is in Avdou. Here, you can make a phone call from the village and Odysseia Stables will pick you up from the bus stop for free.
There is also a regular bus service in between Heraklion and Hersonissos. In summertime, it is available every half hour. Odysseia Stables can organize a transfer from Hersonissos (the bus station at SPAR Supermarket) for 25 EUR per way. Also, for traveling by bus from Agios Nikolaos to Hersonissos (regular bus service), Odysseia Stables can meet you at the bus station at the SPAR supermarket.
Transfer from the port in Heraklion can be arranged. The transfer is not included in the price and costs 50 EUR per trip (per way) with a maximum of four guests. If possible, you will share the transfer (and the costs) with other guests. In case more guests can share a transfer, Odysseia Stables will inform you and you will share the price.
If you organize your own transfer, you have to be aware of the fact that most taxi drivers don’t want to drive the last two kilometers on unpaved road to the hotel or they will charge extra money for this. However, please make sure that the driver is willing to drive the last two kilometers on the rural dirt road and they do not charge you an extra 10 EUR for the last two kilometers from Avdou to the hotel.
For this organizer you can guarantee your booking through BookHorseRidingHolidays.com. All major credit cards supported.
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