Our trip consisted of 14 nights in Greece, then we flew from Athens to Rome, and continued our journey to the Southern Italy for another 16 nights.

We had visited Athens and the Peloponnese Region in 2019, the focus of this trip was to visit Meteora and Crete Island. We did not rent a car, our journey was heavily dependent on public transportation and day tours from the respective cities. We planned our itinerary as below:

1 night - Athens

1 night - Mateora - two days trip to visit Meteora from Athens

2 nights - Athens - a day trip to visit Mycenae, Epidaurus & Nafplio

4 nights - Chania - a day trip to Imbros Gorge and Sfakia; and a day trip to Elafonissi Pink sand beach and Elos village

4 nights - Agios Nikolaos - a day trip cruise to Spinolonga

2 nights - Chania - planned a trip to Samaria Gorge, but was cancelled 😞 due to park closures

We arrived Athens in the morning, after immigration, we took the metro to the Syntagma square where our hotel was situated. It was too early to check in our hotel but we were able to leave our luggage for storage until check in time. We strolled to the parliament area to see the changing of the guards. It took place at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, located in front of the Hellenic Parliament.

Sorry for the missed spelling of Meteora!!!

Corrected Meteora typo

Thanks!🙏

Looking forward to it!

We were very tired at this point, went back to the hotel and had our much needed sleep. We stayed at the Amazon hotel which is a short walk from Syntagma square. After 2 hours of sleep, we were up and ready for our walk along the street of Mitropoleos towards Mitropoleos Square.


The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Annunciation

The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Annunciation

The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Annunciation



Ancient Agora



The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Annunciation is situated in front of the Square. Walking a bit further down the road was Monastiraki Square. We walked towards the ancient Agora, and then slowly walked up to the Aeropagus Hill.

The Aeropagus Hill is a beautiful hill with a magnificent view of the Acropolis and Athens. Climbing the hill was quite challenging because the rocks were very smooth in places, making it a bit slippery.





After the Aeropagus Hill, we walked back to the hotel. The evening sun reflected a golden hue color on the Acropolis and the surrounding area. It was a very beautiful walk back to the hotel before the sunset.




Rooftop restaurant view

Rooftop restaurant view

Acropolis view from the rooftop restaurant

We had dinner at the rooftop restaurant of the Electra Metropolis hotel. It has a beautiful view of the Acropolis and the city. We enjoyed our dinner with a beautiful sunset view on the roof top restaurant.

We had booked a two day, one night trip to visit Meteora the next day. We planned to store our luggage with the hotel as we would come back to stay for another two nights before we left Athens for Crete. We just packed light for an overnight stay in Meteora.

I just returned home from a trip to Greece, so I'm looking forward to your trip report and seeing how our experiences overlap!

shelemm
and
memejs

Thanks for tagging along.

Day 2- Early morning bus trip to Meteora. We took the Metro 2 from Syntagma Square to Larissa Station for our tour bus to Kalabaka. It took 4.5 hours to reach Kalabaka. Upon arrival, we were dropped off at our respective hotels. We checked in our hotel and was told to have our own free time until 4:00pm, and then we would be picked up for our guided sunset tour of the day.

It was a small van tour for our group as promised. We went for lunch at a restaurant recommended by the hotel and it was indeed a good local food restaurant.

We explored the town on foot a bit but decided to go back to the hotel to rest as we will have a busy evening for the guided sunset tour which included a visit to a monastery.

We were picked up on time at 4pm. It was quite a beautiful day with clouds peeping every now and then. The tour took us to the breathtaking region of Meteora, and also visited a clifftop monastery and the Byzantine Church of the Virgin Mary.


First view of Mateora

View from hotel room balcony

Meteora monoliths

Monastery monolith


Entrance to monastery with a gorge view

The monastery courtyard


Inside the monastery Kalampaka


The town of Kalambaka


Bell ringing at 6pm

Entrance to Byzantine Church

Hermit caves

Hermit caves

Beautiful view of Kalambaka town


Sunset

Sunset

Not so glorious sunset

The sunset was not as glorious as we expected, but the Mateora was still stunning and unique to explore.

Day 3- Meteora Scenic hiking

We were given the choice of either exploring Meteora on foot or by van for the next morning guided tour. We prefer to hike than sitting in the van.The only drawback was the weather forecast of rain was rolling into the area.

We woke up happy as it was dry outside. After breakfast from the hotel, the tour guide picked us up around 8:30am, then we were on our way to the Varlaam Monastery. It was a beautiful day with a lot of clouds in the sky. The scenery along the way was bright and cheerful.

We stopped at the Varlaam Monastery, and wow was the word to describe its beauty and its location on the big rock. The stunning surrounding landscape was definitely worth the 140 steps climb to the monastery. The guide told us that it was best to visit the monastery when it opened at 9:00am to avoid the big tour groups. We were there when it was first opened in the morning and with no crowds.

We were given an hour to see the monastery which was sufficient to cover the grounds of the monastery.


No rain in the morning!

Peaceful and quiet


Varlaam Monastery

Varlaam Monastery



View from the monastery





a large 16th-century oak barrel that served as a water storage solution for centuries

The way to haul goods up to the monastery

View from the monastery looking down

Steps to the Monastery


No guide is allowed in the monastery for the tour group, so we just wandered around on our own.

We started our hike on foot with the guide after visited the monastery. It was a very pleasant morning hike through the forest and wild flowers were everywhere. Very little elevation gain, and was around 2.5 miles total for the journey.

We had a panoramic view of the valley and also saw some hermit caves along the way. It was quite an interesting and beautiful hike. The hike was done around 1:30pm. We were then picked up by the van and sent back to town for our lunch. We were told to wait until 5pm for the bus back to Athens. The rain did come in and was quite heavy at times. We were fortunate to stay dry during the hike but after that it was a washout to do anything.

I failed to upload the trail pictures as some of the pictures files are bigger than 10mb. I will just upload some pictures that have smaller files.


Varlaam monastery

Monastery of the Great Meteoron

Monastery of the Great Meteoron





Hidden monastery


Monoliths

Huge lone monolith

How did that rectangular block got up there?

There was a rock climber on the rock surface

We didn't make it up to Meteora when we visited Greece in 2023 so your report and photos are very much appreciated. Great that your tour gave you the option of hiking versus no hiking.

Very interesting, Meteora has been on our bucket list!
Btw cherthor, we finally made it to Norway, TR to follow soon.

Not planning a Greece trip, but as our son is newly dating a Greek girl, thought I’d better get familiar with names so I can nod knowingly when we are eventually introduced

Hi tripplanner,

Thanks for checking out the report.

We also visited Greece in 2019 right before COVID, covering some of the Peloponnese Region, Thessaloniki, Athens, and Santorini, but missed the Meteora. We are glad that we finally filling in the missing patch.

The tour was great but not enough to cover a lot more of the monasteries in my opinion. The rain also hampered another possible trail on our own after the second day guided tour.

Adelaidean,

Great to see you here! I really appreciate your recent report of your family history. It was sad to hear about all these past histories that shaped the world today. I myself was an immigrant born in the 1958. A lot of hardships for my parents as well.

I really cherish what I have now compared to what my parents had gone through.

Looking forward for your Italy’s journey.

All the best for you!

ANUJ,

I am eagerly waiting for your Norway report. I am very fond of Norway. If I am ten years younger, I would have done a camper van touring of northern Norway.

Meteora is unique and beautiful, but I miss Norway!

I am including a map of the Meteora region, hopefully it will help others to plan their trips.



We did not do the footpath because of the rain during our free time.

”The best pedestrian route to the Holy Trinity Monastery (Agia Trias) is the scenic, centuries-old hiking trail originating from the town of Kalambaka. The 1.1-km path takes about 40–50 minutes, culminating in a dramatic ascent up 145 steep, carved stone steps.”

The trail begins just behind our hotel.

The hiking guide told us a number of stories related to the monasteries. He also said that the tourism has provided a lot job opportunities for the locals and the monasteries also help the locals build schools and others communities services using the entrance fees collected. I have to said the entrance fee is so low compared to other areas we had visited in Greece- 5 euros per entry!

Day 4 Mycenae, Epicurus & Nafplio full day tour.

After the Meteora tour, we were back to Athens, staying at the Amazon hotel for two nights. We had planned the next day's tour to Mycenae, Epidaurus & Nafplio, with a short stop at the Corinth canal.

The pickup point was at Melina Mercouri Monument near our hotel at 7:50am. It started with a rainy morning with no sun. After a few more pickup points after ours, we were on the way to our first stop, the Corinth Canal.

When we reached the isthmus of Corinth, it was still raining. The viewing area was flooded with water. We had to wade through pools of water to the bridge’s viewing platform to get a glimpse of the canal.

We continued on to the Archaeological site of Mycenae and the rain had eventually stopped when we arrived. We explored the main archaeological citadel (the Lion Gate and Palace), visited the on-site museum, and walked a short distance to the Treasury of Atreus (tomb of Agamemnon).


Lion Gate

Having some difficulties in loading my pictures.

Archaeological site of Mycenae










View from the hill of Mycenae fortress


Treasury of Atreus (tomb of Agamemnon)

Entrance to the tomb

Conical roof of the tomb

Inside the tomb

Our next stop was Nafplio. We were advised to have lunch here, wander around the town, and wouldn’t have enough time to climb the 999 steps to the Palamidi Fortress for panoramic views of the area.


Palamidi Fortress On the hill




Lemons and oranges on the same tree!!!


Our last stop would be Epidaurus. We walked through the ancient amphitheater which features its flawless acoustics that allows a whisper on stage to be heard perfectly in the highest of its 14,000 seats.




I did climb all the way up to the top

To take this picture

The healing center of the ancient world, Asclepius and the Archaeological museum are also inside Epidaurus.

We left at 4:30pm and arrived at Athens around 6:30pm.