Meteora is one of the most interesting places in Greece. Located near Kalambaka and Kastraki in northwestern Thessaly it consists of a number of rock pinnacles topped with a total of 24 monasteries.

Reasons to go there

First of all: the landscape is breathtaking. The scenery changes every hour, depeding on the location of the sun.

The main reason for visiting Meteora is to experience the unique landscape and to visit the Byzantine monasteries that house priceless artifacts and wall paintings.

All of the monasteries are perched on high cliffs and accessible by staircases cut into the rock formations. They were created to serve monks and nuns.

The monasteries which are accessible for tourist are:

• Agiou Nikolaou monastery (St. Nickolas Anapausas, Agios Nikolaos)
• Agias Varvaras Rousanou monastery (St. Barbara, Roussanou)
• Varlaam monastery
• Megalou Meteorou monastery (Great Meteoron)
• Agias Triados monastery (Holy Trinity, Agia Triada)
• Agiou Stefanou monastery (St. Stephen, the only monastery for women, Agios Stephanos)

Meteora is also a great destination for outdoor activities. Many visitors choose to combine their visit to the monasteries with hiking.

The steep rock formations of Meteora are an irresistible destination for rock climbers who travel from around the world for the experience. Mountaineers will find about fifty massive rocks and even more peaks worth climbing. The highest wall facing Kalampaka rises to the greatest height - well over 300 meters.

Helpful Tips

View sunset and sunrise on top of a rock. You will never forget this experience!

An entrance fee is expected by some monasteries which might be about € 2.

Women are required to wear skirts covering the knees and have the shoulders covered, too. Men are required to wear trousers covering the knees.

I recommend to compare hotel prices very well in Kalambaka. Different booking sites have totally different prices for the same hotel. Maybe this site helps you. Once you picked a hotel, this site compares more than 30 bookings sites at once.

How to get there

From Athens you can take the train servicing the northern part of Greece at the Larissa station. You can get the schedule from OSC website. You can hire a taxi right at the train station to take you to all the monasteries.

There are buses up to Varlaam from Kalambaka. The buses leave early about 8.20am from Kalambaka. Also, there are agencies in town who do daily tours for about 50 Euros.

Additional Infos

The formation of Meteora is lost in geological time and over millions of years earth has used an array of forces to sculpt a unique and dramatic landscape that became a spiritual place for humans in recent history.

The name “Meteora” means “suspended in mid-air”, and the name was coined by monk Athanasios in the 14th century CE. Athanasios came from Mt. Athos and founded the first monastery on a rock he named the Megalo Meteoron (Great Meteoron).

Links

Photos of meteora nature and monasteries
Compare Hotel prices of different booking sites