• Get In
• See
• Do
• Eat
• Sleep
• Respect

View of Meteora with Agias Varvaras Rousanou monastery in the foreground

Meteora (Greek: Meteorák) is one of the gems of Greece. Located near the towns of Kalampaka and Kastraki in northwestern Thessaly it consists of a number of rock pinnacles topped with a total of 24 monasteries.

[edit] Get In

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 for about 30-40 euros(in 2005). But if you prefer to experience this on foot (like the monks did a few hundred years ago), in the summer, be prepare for a long challenging hike, it takes a whole day, blisters and a few liters of water.

Meteora view from the Town of Kalambaka

[edit] See

The following monasteries can be visited and are located nearby the road circuiting Meteora. Clockwise you'll find:

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

An entrance fee is expected by some monasteries which might be about € 2. Inexpensive, mass produced icons may be purchased in the monasteries for as little as € 1. They do not have the variety of the factories, however.

The monasteries were not originally built for tourism. Tourism, essential to the monasteries survival, has also destroyed their character. They are no longer contemplative.

Town of Kalambaka view from top of Meteora

[edit] Do

• Walk along the paths leading to the rocks and monasteries.
• Climb the rocks.

[edit] Eat

[edit] Sleep

The nearby towns of Kalampaka and Kastraki both offer different kinds of accommodation. Choose Kastraki if you want to stay close to the rocks

• Hotel Odysseon, in Kalampaka, tel:00302432022320, (fax: 00302432075307, email:info@hotelodysseon.gr), [1]. Just on the foothills of Meteora with panoramic view to the rocks, you can find this charming and cheap hotel on the way from the center of the town towards Meteora and Kastraki Village just before you exit the town. checkin: 12PM checkout:12PM price from 50.00 euro for a double room breakfast included

• Archontiko Mesohori, in Kastraki, Tel: +30 24320 77125, Fax: +30 24320 77164, Mobile: +30 6936786418, (email: info@archontikomesohori.gr), [2]. In the old habitation of one of the most impressive picturesque villages of Greece, this old mansion of the 19th century has been renovated to become a most attractive luxury small hotel. price from 110.00 euro per suite!

[edit] Respect

Pants for hire

• Women are required to wear skirts covering the knees and have the shoulders covered, too. Men are required to wear trousers covering the knees. You can hire the clothing required at the entrance but that clothing isn't washed after every user so it may cause a bad feeling to you wearing these skirts. One size fits all for man!