Ioannina Greece
 

Can anyone tell me if Ioannina, Greece, is a place worth staying more than a day or two? I've been invited to a wedding there in February and am trying to figure out if I should tack on extra days. From what I can tell there are mountains nearby that would be nice for hiking in summer, but obviously not in February. I've found websites listing a couple of museums in Ioannina but other than that I can't get a feel for the place ... any information greatly appreciated.

I stopped a night there years ago. It's on a large lake. There's an island in the lake which has several restaurants open in summer, but I don't know what's there in winter. It's an island that is never mentioned in guides to the Greek islands. The mountains will be covered in snow in February. I got a bus over the mountains to Larissa which went through Metsovo, a major Greek skiing resort.

I've never visited Ioannina, but it does have a castle, museums, etc. It is very close to Meteora, which is definitely worth seeing. You could also spend time in Thessaloniki or Athens if you are flying out of one of those cities.

I'd also suggest visiting Kastoria if you're in that area. See my TR - http://wilhelmswords.com/eur2006/index.html - and don't miss the oracle site of Dodomi.

Ioannina is definitely worth a stay of two days or more if you do day trips. I stayed in a hotel in the Kastro. There are some lovely restaurants on the lake, several museums, and some interesting shops. For a day trip, I took the bus to Metsovo. I flew to Corfu, visited Parga, took the bus to Ioannina and after my visit took a bus back to Igouminista to take the ferry back to Corfu, so you could combine an island visit with the mainland. Some other interesting places in the area are the Zagoria Villages, Preveza, Arta and Kastoria. The northeastern area of Greece is very green and lush and is quite a change from other areas I had visited.