Meteora Monastries Greece
 

We are planning to be in Athens early May 2014 and want to visit the Monastries in Meteora.
Any advice on getting there by bus or train would be appreciated and how long to spend there as I would like to see as many of the monastries as possible. We will arrive on a Monday and could have 1-2 nights before we fly from Athens. We are retired but walking is not a problem. I noticed the great Meteoron Monastery is closed on Monday. Is it possible to visit some of the others if we arrive around 1pm and see it on Tuesday. I also noticed there is a sunset tour that starts apx 3pm. Is it worth doing.
All advice wouldbe helpful.

Research Athens- Kalambaka trains here https://tickets.trainose.gr/dromologia/

According to official http://agiameteora.net/index.php/201...es-episkepseos St Stephens is closed on Monday, Grand Meteoroclosed Tuesday.

Unofficial site but useful http://www.kalampaka.com/en/meteora/monasteries.asp

Either train or bus (KTEL) will work. I would recommend at least one overnight. I took a taxi to visit the monasteries - I just took the first one in line in the middle of town.

We also hired a taxi to take us to the various monasteries.

Like other monuments, the opening hours are fluid in Greece. Don't rely only on any printed/online materials. Call the target monasteries directly or have your hotel get the info for you. I arrived at Megalo Meteoro only to find they just moved up the closing time recently.

A number of Monasteries in Greece, including some of the more spectacular, reportedly do not admit women.

If I were a woman, I would want to know that if going inside were important to me and I had to travel a long distance to get there.

Thank you all for your responses. I will do some more research and plan to spend at least 1 night there. From what I could see the bus to Kalambaka didnt seem to leave from the main station, and seemed to be a bit difficult to get to the departure station if you didnt know your way around. Thought I might look at doing the sunset tour the day we arrive and then try and see the other monastries before we leave the second day.

The monasteries at Meteora do admit women, but you have to wear a skirt. They provide tie-on skirts to wear over your trousers.

When we visited Meteora, we ended up staying in Kastraki (only because the hotel we hoped to stay at in Kalambaka was fully booked). We had taken the train to Kalambaka, but the very nice hotel owner there found us a room in Kastraki and that owner drove over to pick us up!

So we ended up at San Giorgio Villas and it worked out beautifully because we could walk from Kastraki to the monasteries. The walk was a bit challenging, but we loved being so close to the monasteries (they were literally outside our window). You will love Meteora -- it is one of the most special places we have ever visited. I would suggest 2 nights minimum to really experience this spectacular site.

BTW thursdayd is absolutely right -- I was able to visit all the monasteries. I just needed to either wear a skirt or tie on one of the "lovely" colorful skirts they provide for you.