Saturday morning and the goats are bleating, their bells clanging as they stumble through the steep hillside shrubs while nibbling on wild thyme as they go.Under a cloudless sky, our chef Spyros whips up a breakfast of Greek delicacies, including spanakopita (spinach and feta pie), homemade Greek yogurt and sesame bread as we watch over the sparkling Aegean Sea and nearby coastal villages waking up.On an island famed for its life-prolonging diet, it seems only natural that a local Cretan is welcoming us the best way they know how – with their food.I’m in northern Crete, in the hills outside the capital Heraklion. With its forbidding mountain ranges and fruitful valleys, Crete is known as the garden island, offering an endless supply of thyme-scented honey, olive oil, cheeses, dates and avocados to its exceptionally healthy residents.And we’re taking full advantage of it.I am here with my mother, brother, his wife, and my two nephews, Luca, seven, and Albie, four. It’s the October half-term break and our base is Kompsos, a charming villa suspended high up in the hills and surrounded by olive groves, vineyards and wild roaming goats.It takes just two minutes after opening the doors to the house before my nephews are stripping off and jumping into the heated infinity pool, shrieking with delight.The five bedrooms are set over three floors, meaning my mother and I get lie-ins each morning while the boys make full use of the outdoor playground, various terraces and snooker room. There’s even a gym plus a hammam-style steam room, which I put to good use each afternoon. The Mail's Head of Travel, Harriet Sime, heads to northern Crete for a villa stay with her family, and samples the delights of the island's excellent food, great weather and resplendent scenery Harriet and co check into Kompsos Villa, set among olive groves and vineyards Harriet explains that the five bedrooms of the villa are set across three floors, meaning she and her mother are able to enjoy lie ins each morning, while the children splash around in the poolCrete is ancient even to the ancient Greeks, having been inhabited as far back as 130,000BC.Tourists began flocking to the island in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when the likes of music icons Joni Mitchell and Cat Stevens holidayed here.Much has changed since then as overtourism impacts our most beloved spots. But the island is still dotted with charming villages, archeological wonders and unspoilt landscapes.Drive ten minutes out of any of the major, sprawling coastal resorts and you will be in a landscape that hasn’t changed in 1,000 yearsWe do just this one afternoon when the clouds begin to cover the sky and the boys finally tire of jumping in the pool for what must be the 75th time. On Spyros’s recommendation, we head inland to the town of Archanes, which dates back 5,000 years to the Minoan times.We walk through the cobbled streets, past children playing hopscotch in squares, with stray cats and dogs snoozing under tables, before we take a seat under red peppercorn vines at Agora restaurant with not an English accent in earshot or a tourist in sight.It feels like the Greece of old as leathery skinned locals in padded jackets smoke while sipping on local beer and playing backgammon.We nibble on herby, baked feta, which we mop up with bread, and sip on homemade white wine that is so good we order a bottle to take back with us. Heading into local town Archanes one evening, Harriet and family enjoy local delicacies such as baked fetaOur heads fuzzy, we leave and pass by colourful homes with climbing bougainvillea while discussing how it feels such a privilege to find such obvious examples of authentic Cretan life in the highly developed northeast of the island.Our days go by in a blur of swimming, sunbathing, snoozing and delicious food at Kompsos Villa, followed by trips out to local towns and villages.On our last evening, Spyros returns and presents a bowl of salt-baked beetroot that he peels in front of us while fielding all our questions about his life growing up in Crete. This is followed by plates of chickpea and pomegranate salads, green beans with xinohondros (cracked wheat simmered with cultured sour milk) and roasted lamb served on a bed of vine leaves and sticks.The only thing not created in-house is a selection of salty cheese pies made by a co-operative of local women.On our trip back to Heraklion airport, a huge crowd of local farmers blocking the motorway in protest of the distribution of EU money almost causes us to miss our flight. Give those farmers what they need, I say. The produce in Crete should be protected at all costs. TRAVEL FACTS Seven nights at Kompsos Villa, with Oliver’s Travels, from £4,488, based on stays between November 1, 2026 and April 30,2027 (oliverstravels.com).