Oil Painting Retreat in Crete w/ Liane Whittum✨NEW!
Tickets
Oil Painting Retreat in Crete w/ Liane Whittum✨NEW!
Tour Program
📅 September 10-17, 2025 🌏Rethymnon, Crete, Greece 🎨Oil Painting
Immerse yourself in the inspiring beauty of Crete on this plein air painting retreat led by artist Liane Whittum.
Capture the magic of Greece’s largest island as each day unveils new scenery to paint—from tranquil gardens and charming coastal towns to ancient monasteries and sun-drenched Mediterranean vistas.
With Liane by your side, enjoy personalized guidance and expert techniques to help you bring your oil paintings to life under the Greek sun. Discover new ways to express your creativity as you sketch and paint en plein air, feeling connected to the land and its history.
Enhance your experience by savoring authentic Cretan and Greek flavors at local gourmet restaurants each day, indulging in the region’s rich culinary heritage.
Open to all skill levels, this retreat invites you to join a close-knit group of 12 artists, building a community as you embark on a transformative journey that combines artistic growth, local culture, and unforgettable memories to bring home."
Arrive at Heraklio Airport and board the 12:00 PM private bus transfer to your retreat venue. Settle into your comfortable room, enjoy a buffet lunch at the hotel restaurant and take some time to relax after your trip. Explore the hotel amenities with a refreshing pool area pool and the inviting terraces with all day snack bar. Gather at 7:00PM with your lovely Art instructor, your fellow artists and your Tour guides for an Orientation Meeting. Get excited for the week ahead with the presentation of your program and plein air painting spots curated for your art workshop. Celebrate your arrival with a delightful buffet of Greek and Cretan specialties accompanied by a glass of local Greek wine.
Start your day with a delicious breakfast at the hotel, enjoy a free morning relaxing by the pools, walking along the beach nearby or going to the spa facility for a wellness treatment & massage.
Join felow artists and instructor for a traditional lunch featuring Cretan dishes prepared by the chef of a well known restaurant in the historic town of Rethymnon.
Start your first class with Liane Whittum during an afternoon art session in a beautiful square with palm trees and neoclassical buildings. Around the square, you'll experience people watching at local cafes and taverns. While you'll be observing your surroundings through an artistic lens, the non-painting group will stroll along the picturesque streets of the old town accompanied by their expert tour guide. A walk through time looking at houses of traditional design, and many classic architectural elements from the Venetian and Turkish periods.
Start your morning with a scrumptious breakfast, then get ready to depart for a beautiful village with Byzantine churches and Venetian mansions. With a long tradition in pottery dating back to the Ottoman domination, Margarites is the most important pottery center of western Crete.
Hidden in the village, you will find a mesmerizing monastery with a manucured garden. Installed in this peaceful environment, you will find the inspiration in every corner, from the tiny white washed chapel to the majestic stairway covered with climbing vines. During the art workshop, the non-painting partners are exploring the narrow streets of the village and its numerous pottery workshops.
At the local taverna, in the shade of the mulberrytrees, you will admire the stunning views from the terrace where you'll taste the most authentic flavours of a traditional meal with wine. After lunch, walk up the street to enter the numerous pottery workshops and learn traditional painting techniques with a live demonstration.
Prepare for the day with a delicious breakfast, then grab your art material for a journey to the Eastern Orthodox Monastery of Arkadi, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Learn colour mixing with watercolor washes inspired by the colourful rose garden under the shade of growing vines. Enjoy the hospitality of the monks living on site always curious of the art created among this unique painting site. Explore the Art gallery and the rich collection of religious artefacts preserved in the Museum.
A delightful lunch at a nearby taverna will allow you to renergize after a great morning of plein air painting.
Take a day relaxing by the pools or bathing in the Rethymnon sandy beach at a 5 minute walking distance from your hotel. Take some time for yourself booking a massage at the hotel spa. Enjoy the numerous shops and restaurants on the seaside walk or in the historic town.
After a generous breakfast, your private tour bus will head to the mountains in the village of Thronos for an exceptional cooking class experience. Learn how to make the most delicious Cretan specialities in a idillyc location. A delightful lunch resulting of your newly acquired skills will follow, accompanied by the best wine made by the owner's family.
Gather now on the panoramic terrace for an afternoon painting session recreating the stunning picture before your eyes. Take reference photos as the light changes for pinkish hues of the mountain slopes at golden hours. The non-painting group will be exploring the Amary Valley lead by the knowledgeable guide who will tell stories of this breathtaking countryside.
Your final painting destination is the iconic Venetian harbour of Chania with its famous seaside promenade with countless cafes and restaurants. Here, you will set up your painting gear for a seascape plein air workshop. With the gentle sounds of the waves lapping the harbor and the centuries old building surrounding, you will use your toolset of techniques acquired this week to paint the well-preserved Ottoman Mosque across. Meanwhile, the non-painting partners will go on an excursion into the colourful and picturesque streets of the old city. With their guide, they will learn the great importance of the city during the Venetian era of Crete.
A delightful lunch on the harbour's promenade with freshly caught seafood will enhance your exquisite experience by the Cretan sea. Take some time for exploring on your own the numerous shops for your last shopping of this week-long art tour.
End the day with a farewell dinner party. Toast to the friendships made and to the amazing journey you experienced!
Enjoy a tasty breakfast before taking your 8:00AM bus transfer to Heraklion airport. Time to say goodbye to your new friends hoping to meet them on their next painting tour destination!
*Program & itinerary subject to change due to scheduling considerations & weather conditions.
Check-in at the Theartemis Palace starts at 2:00 PM on September 10, 2025, and check-out is after breakfast on September 17, 2025, by 10:00 AM.
The accommodation for the painting tour with Liane Whittum is located in Rethymnon in the northern coast of the Greek island of Crete. In the old town, the picturesques streets are filled with well decorated terraces of restaurants. The Venetian Harbour with fishing boats offers an incredible setting for afternoon drinks at the tavernas facing the Rethymno Lighthouse. The city is also known for its 16th century hilltop Fortezza in the West with an incredible view on the city. Rethymno is surrounded by beautiful beaches, archaeological sites, Byzantine churches and quaint villages.
Heraklio International Airport ( Nikos Kazantzakis) is reachable within a 75-minute drive (your group pick-up/drop-off location).
How to get from Heraklio Airport to Theartemis Palace in Rethymno?
Group transfers at prearranged times to and from Heraklio Airport (HER) are included. The transfer journey to the hotel takes approximately 75 minutes.
- Arrival transfer: September 10, 2025 — 12:00 PM (leaving from Heraklio Airport (HER), arriving at the hotel around 1:30 PM)
- Departure transfer: September 17, 2025 — 08:00 AM (leaving from the hotel, arriving at Heraklio Airport (HER) around 9:30 AM)
🔎Please hold off on booking flights until the retreat becomes confirmed. (A notification email will be sent to you)
If your travel arrangements don't work with our group transfer times, we can reserve a taxi to the Theartemis Palace (address: Mark. Portaliou 26, Rethymno 741 33, Greece) approximately 120 EUR per way from Heraklio Airport. Please note that taxi fares may change.Booking information
Painter Pack: €3,590/pers. (Single room extra fee: +€380) - Non-Painter Pack: €3,390/pers.
- A €1,000 deposit per person is required upon booking to secure your spot
- Remaining balance is due by June 10, 2025
- 100% Refund if cancelled before June 10, 2025 (minus admin. fee). TERMS & CONDITIONS
The painting tour will also include Artist Jeanne Salucci and her students.
Please note that the tour includes some daily walking (couple of hours/day) and carrying your own painting supplies. Participant must be able to walk comfortably.
What's included
✅ Instructed painting workshops: Oil Painting classes in Plein-air at different location each day, demonstrations with artist Liane Whittum & individual tuition
✅7 nights of accommodation at 4 star hotel Theartemis Palace in Rethymno with access to swimming pools, gym corner, spa, all day snack bar, restaurant)
✅ Expert Tour Guides all week leading the Painting Group and guiding the Non-painting Partners during workhop times.
✅Outdoor Painting workshop equipment provided with small tables, foldable chairs, paper towels and disposable bags
✅All group meals including 7 buffet breakfasts with a large selection of European pastries, cured meat, local cheeses and fresh fruits ; 5 lunches at local restaurants with a special selection of Cretan dishes ; 7 buffet dinners tasting Greek and international cuisine
✅Local wine during lunch & dinner service
✅Coffee & Tea available in your room
✅Daily trips to various painting locations with guided visits, walking tours, time for shopping
✅Special program for non-painting partners during painting sessions led by a local Tour guide
✅Private Tour bus with AC for all planned activities
✅ Cretan Cooking Class
✅ Round-trip group transfers from/to Heraklio (HER) Airport
✅ All local tourist taxes and fees
Not included
❌ Airfare - Recommended Group Flight information (New York (JFK) to Heraklio (HER) & booking details with our partners will be communicated upon booking
❌ Travel insurance - available with our partners
❌ Art materials - a list of art supplies recommended by artist Liane Whittum will be provided three months before the tour.
❌ Tips for staff
❌ Other expenses guests might incur on their own
Instructor
Liane Whittum is a traditionally trained oil painter with an affinity for realism. Her inspiration comes from the wild beauty of the New England landscape. She is especially fond of the effects of light reflecting off of water and exploring the exciting world of painting sunsets and nocturnes. She divides her time between still life painting, studio landscape painting and painting en plein air.
Liane loves to share that passion for plein air painting with her students through a fun, nurturing and noncompetitive environment with a focus on traditional academic methods.
Liane has been in many national juried shows and has work in private collections nationwide. She has won numerous awards including Best Landscape from The National Oil and Acrylic Painters’ Society and a Staff Award in 2023 from the Art Renewal Center Salon for her still life painting “Copper and Bubbles”. In addition to being honored at Sotheby’s in NYC for receiving this award, Liane and all of the award winners from the 16th Annual ARC Salon had their winning pieces digitized and included in a time capsule on the Griffin Lunar Lander launched to the moon in February of 2024, where the collection will be kept perpetually. Check out her website: www.lianewhittum.com
Join us on this amazing journey!
Reserve your spot before it's too late!