This is a complete guide on visiting Meteora in Greece, why you should visit this special place, how to reach Meteora from Athens, best things to do in Meteora. So dive in!
Meteora literally translates to ‘suspended’. And if you visit the surreal landscape of this area, you can understand why. This was the most enchanting mountainous landscape that featured on our Greece Itinerary.
191 monoliths.
And when there is fog, these rocky columns look suspended in the sky!
On top of these monoliths, with immense difficulty, monks with the help of local population built about 24 monasteries and hermitages in the 14th and 15th century. There were priests living in most of them, a couple were built for nuns.
6 of these monasteries are active today. Others have been destroyed or abandoned.
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Why visit Meteora in Greece
I would strongly recommend you to put Meteora on your Greece mainland itinerary. For its fantastic landscape. The monoliths looming over the towns in the area look surreal. You can get a closer look. And see miles beyond in all directions.
Meteora also gives a chance to go back in time and see how monasteries were built on top of the monoliths and functioned. Meteora monasteries are amongst famous landmarks of Greece. Of the 6 active monasteries, the Great Meteoron is the largest one. The others are Varlaam, St Nicholas Anapausas, St. Stephens, Holy Trinity, and Rousanou. You can drive to these moansteries, do check the timimgs and the day of the week when each is closed. A better way is to hike to any of these moansteries.
Meteora is also a haven for adventure lovers. You can find hiking trails all over this landscape for all difficulties. Plus there is rock climbing for both beginners and pros, and cycling. We arrived just a day before the Hellenic bike race was to happen here. And other adventure activities like via ferrata and cordetta. Easier fun options include ATVs and e-bikes.
There are 2 towns in Meteora and you can base yourself in either. Kalabaka or Kalambaka is the larger town and has more options of restaurants, cafes, and to rent bikes, ATVs, etc. Kastraki is the smaller town and feels even more quaint.
How to reach Meteora
We had rented a car in Athens to drive to Meteora. This short trip followed our 4 days Athens Itinerary. We drove first to visit Delphi archaeological site and then took a scenic route from Delphi to reach Meteora. The yellow wildflowers blooming on the hillside throughout the drive made the route lovely. But there is a superb highway from Athens to Meteora, the distance is about 350 km and can be covered in under 4 hours. We took this to drive back to Athens after spending 2 nights at Meteora.
It is also easy to take a train from Athens to Meteora, if you don’t wish to drive. Trains leave from Athens city center about 4 times a day, and take about 3 hours to reach. The cheapest option is to take a bus, the drive is about 4 hour 30 minutes.
Visit Monasteries of Meteora Greece
6 Active Monasteries
As I mentioned earlier, there are 6 active monasteries in Meteora and you can visit any or all of them.
The Holy Monastery of Great Meteoron: This is the largest and the oldest one. But there are 300 steps to reach even if you drive to the entrance on the road. The main church of the monastery was made in the mid 16th century and is decorated with beautiful 16th-century frescoes.
The Holy Monastery of Varlaam: This is the second biggest monastery in Meteora. There are about 140 steps to reach this monastery from the road. It has opened a new museum, where visitors can see the religious painted icons and precious holy vestments of the priests from the Byzantine period.
The Monastery of Holy Trinity (Agia Triada): This is the most difficult ones to reach in terms of its access, but a delight to photograph from afar. Those who walk up the steep but short trail and the stairs enjoy panoramic views of the surrounding cliffs and the town of Kalabaka below.
St. Stephen Monastery: This is the most accessible monastery, where instead of steps you simply cross a small bridge to reach the entrance. This is ideal for people with mobility issues.
The Monastery of Roussanou: The monastery is one single building occupying the entire surface of the cliff. It creates the impression that the building was carved out from the cliff as the extension of the rock itself!
St. Nikolaos The Monastery: This is the first active Monastery of Meteora and was founded at the end of the 14th century.
How to visit the monasteries
Do note that most monasteries close by 4 pm or before. So, on Day 1 of your Meteora itinerary, if you reach after this time, you can just settle in, roam around the Kalambaka or Kastraki town and view the giant monoliths staring at you.
The next morning can be spent visiting one or all of the 6 active monasteries. It is best if you limit visiting the interiors to about 2 to 3 monasteries in a day. If you are keen on visiting only 1, choose either the largest, Great Meteoron or the other favourite one is Varlaam monastery (right opposite Great Meteoron).
Do note that entry tickets for the monasteries can only be paid in cash, do carry some. It was EUR 3 to visit the Great Meteoron (kids upto 12 enter for free). Sleeveless clothing and shorts over the knee for men are prohibited. And women need to be appropriately dressed, in skirts upto knees and shoulders and upper arms covered. So remember that while figuring what to pack for Greece. We had hiked to reach Great Meteoron, and upon entering, they gave a shawl to me and my daughter to wrap around our trekking pants.
Parking is difficult at the entrance of monasteries, so you can take a guided tour to visit the monasteries. There are also hiking tour available both ini the morning and evening to see more of the landscape and visit the interiors of one monastery. Check out these options:
Other Things to Do in Meteora
View the sunset
While visiting Meteora, don’t miss the sunset here. Sunset Rock is a famous location to watch the sunset. Do note that this spot is popular, so come 15-20 minutes early to find a parking spot, in case you are driving. It is easier to take an evening tour that ends with sunset viewing.
But more than the view of the sun going down (I encountered more majestic sunsets on Greek islands), there was something grand to watch the sunset over these monoliths and the golden light hitting upon age-old rocks. And when the sun went down, a sort of calm descended upon the entire area. Bliss!
Some visitors opt for a day trip to Meteora from Athens and in my opinion, this is too rushed and does not let you appreciate the beauty of this landscape.
Hiking
Meteora offers fantastic hikes in Greece. This is the most popular activity in Meteora and there are trails here for all age levels and difficulty. We did a easy hiking tour on our full day in Meteora with Visit Meteora. This is the oldest tour company in the area and offers many other activities to be experienced.
Our 5-hour morning hike took us through a forested easy trail all the way to Great Meteoron, the largest monastery here. Greece weather in late May when we visited Meteora was perfect for the hike. The morning start amidst all the towering rocks felt incredible. We got fantastic views of a plateau and the monoliths, we visited an abandoned monastery in between and learnt the basics of climbing with a rope. We did see several couples on their own hiking the different trails on our way.
After the visit to Great Meteoron, we took an old trail to climb down (this was used in earlier times by the local population to bring up all the supplies). This is a family-friendly hike, but Visit Meteora does have more challenging trails including one that ends with a beautiful sunset.
Biking
On the first evening we arrived in Kalambaka, I could see some cyclists zipping through the main road of this town. There are plenty of bike shops where you can rent one for the day or more. The terrain on the roads around Meteora monoliths is challenging with lots of uphills and downhills, so you need to be able to manage a bike well on a busy road.
I opted for the easier option by taking an e-bike tour for 3 hours. It was fabulous to zip through all the curvy roads leading to the 6 monasteries, without breaking into a sweat! It was a reoeat for me, but it was nice to hear the history of the area and the monasteries all over again. I got to view the Monastery of Holy Trinity and St. Stephens from outside (and all the other 4 monasteries). The tour ended at sunset rock with the sun going down and calm descending upon the area.
Fun on an ATV
My daughter was not confident of managing an e-bike on open roads where traffic is present, so my husband rented an ATV for the evening (the minimum time to rent an ATV is 24 hours). They had great fun going past our e-bike group, and this way, we were together for the sunset view.
Tough adventures for the fit
Meteora offers rock climbing opportunities for the both beginners, intermediate and pros. Check out this Hiking and Scramble Tour of the Great Saint, you get challenging rock formations that will require scrambling and balancing skills.
For those who want to climb to the highest part of Meteora, there is a Via Cordata Tour available. The ascent to the cliff of Agia is done using equipment along the ancient path that has been carved on the rocky edge of the rocks.
Food and Stay recommendations
We stayed at Hotel Theatro for 2 nights, which was nice with a decent breakfast. This was in Kalambaka town.
On our first night in Meteora, we walked the central road to view all the shops, restaurants in the town. We wanted burgers and fries, and enjoyed them at The Diner. The next day’s lunch was at a local taverna To Paramitha, excellent local food. Meteora restaurant also was highly recommended to us.
Planning a trip to Greece? Check out –
Itinerary Suggestions: 2 weeks in Greece, Greece mainland itinerary, Greece with kids: A 10-day Itinerary
City Breaks and other posts: 3 days in Athens, Day trips from Athens, Best hikes in Greece, Best souvenirs from Greece
Greek Islands: Crete Greece Itinerary, 3 days in Santorini, 1 Day Itinerary for Mykonos, Beautiful Greek islands for a family holiday, Crete vs Santorini
And finally, the Famous Greek Landmarks and a packing list for Greece
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