Mystical monasteries of Meteora
Meteora in Greek means ‘suspended in the air’ and it has to rank among the world’s most surreal wonders! A typical tourist itinerary to Greece includes Athens for its history, and the Cyclades islands for its visually stunning towns and sadly passes up Meteora. However, we feel that is a big mistake. A UNESCO World Heritage site, Meteora is home to six stunning Greek Orthodox Monasteries juxtaposed on top of an otherworldly landscape filled with precipitous cliffs & gravity defying rock pillars. It all adds up to an illusory effect of the monasteries being literally suspended in the sky. Visiting this Elysian wonderland and catching a sunset or two will be a memory you will never be able to forget.
Meteora monasteries ‘suspended in air’
Off to a bad start:
Meteora was almost not going to happen for us. Having done all the research on Meteora, we ended up reserving the train tickets to start off one of our first adventures in Greece. As luck would have it, we landed straight into a three day strike in Athens. We set out to the train station to find out not a single train would run that day. Distraught, we reached out to our AirBnb host & friend – Jim for options. We were very fortunate to have stayed at his place at the Plaka in Athens. He saved the day by driving us across town, and helped make alternative bus arrangements.
Our AirBnB host & us
History:
At the end of the 15th century, the Byzantine empire was waning and the monastic community was increasingly coming under attack from Turkish raiders.
The early monasteries were built by hermit monks as a refuge from these raiders and to seek seclusion from society. The only way to scale these monasteries would be climbing up with rope and ladders. Any sign of a threat, and the monks would be able to pull up the rope and ladder and cut-off access to others. During the period of the Ottomon rule in Greece, the muslim rulers largely left the Greek Orthodox religion untouched. Upto 24 monasteries were built in Meteora, out of which only six survive today.
Meteora Monasteries at the golden hour
Inspiration for G.O.T:
A fun fact for fans of Game of Thrones – Meteora happens to be the real-life inspiration behind the Eyrie sky cells in George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones. If you recall from the books and the series, Eyrie was the ancestral seat of House Arryn, Lords of the Vale and Wardens of the East. It first shows up in Season 1 as the place where Tyrion Lannister is imprisoned by Lysa Arryn on Catelyn Stark’s request. Even though the scenes ended up being shot in Northern Island, the original inspiration for the castles straddling peak tops was in fact Meteora.
Varlaam monastery perched on the top & Kalmbaka below
The Monasteries
Old Rope Pulley system in use at the Varlaam monastery
The view from Varlaam monastery, looking down at Kalambaka
Each of the 6 monasteries are closed at least for one day of the week. Do look at the latest schedule published before making your plans. The schedule also differs for summer and winter. The monasteries also accept cash only for the entrance fee, so make sure you have cash at hand.
Dress Code:
Please do note that there is a very strict dress code enforced at the monasteries for women. Do dress conservatively. For men, pants to cover the knees. For women, that is not sufficient. They need to wear long skirts or a dress. Pants or trousers are not enough. Most monasteries offer a wrap skirt as well.
Meteora Monastery Tour
Summer Monastery Schedules:
| Monastery | Day the Monastery is closed | Summer Opening Hours |
| Great Meteoran | Tuesday | 09:00-17:00 |
| Varlaam | Friday | 09:00-16:00 |
| Roussanau | Wednesday | 09:00-18:00 |
| St. Nikolaus Anapafsas | Friday | 09:00-15:30 |
| St. Stephen | Monday | 09:00-13:30 & 15:30-17:30 |
| Holy Trinity | Thursday | 09:00-17:00 |
Winter Monastery Schedules:
| Monastery | Day the Monastery is closed | Winter Opening Hours |
| Great Meteoran | Tuesday & Wednesday | 09:00-16:00 |
| Varlaam | Thursday & Friday | 09:00-16:00 |
| Roussanau | Wednesday | 09:00-14:00 |
| St. Nikolaus Anapafsas | Friday | 09:00-14:00 |
| St. Stephen | Monday | 09:30-13:00 & 15:00-17:00 |
| Holy Trinity | Wednesday & Thursday | 10:00-16:00 |
How to get here?
You have two options to get to Meteora from Athens – either by train or by bus.
By Train
- The train journey from Athens to Kalambaka is close to 4-5 hours.
- You either can take a direct train from Athens to Kalambaka, or do a connection i.e. take a train from Athens to Palaeofarsalos, and then switch to a connecting train from Palaeofarsalos to Kalambaka. Same applies for the return journey.
- The trains book in advance, so do try to purchase tickets online, especially during holidays.
- Expect to pay anywhere from 40-80 euros per person round trip
- This is the website to reserve tickets online. Click on tickets, and once the new web page loads, choose english as the language.
- Select Athens as the departing station, Kalambaka as the destination station, set to round trip with your dates and follow the instructions to reserve online.
Also, the website does not seem to allow reservations way in advance. Tickets can also be purchased directly at the station.
We set out reserving tickets, and on the day of the journey, there was a huge strike, and the trains were all shut down. Our AirBnB host saved the day for us, and drove us across town to the bus station to make a last minute bus reservation.
By Bus
- Buses run almost every hour and a half to two hours from Athens to Kalambaka.
- There is no direct service from Athens to Kalambaka. The first leg of the journey, which is about 5 hours takes you from Athens to Trikala with a break for restroom and food. The second leg of the journey is just 15 minutes from Trikala to Kalambaka.
- Expect to pay up to 50 euros for a round trip.
- You can book your tickets online here.
- The bus station is located at Liosion Street – Athens Bus Station Tris Gefires (6 Rikaki str. & 260 Liosion str.)
The bus was air conditioned, and the journey went without a hitch. Do hang on to your tickets at all times. They do stop for 15 minutes mid-way during the first leg of the journey for food and restroom break. However, be warned, the food options are terrible at the stop, and the only choices you seem to have were unhealthy fast food or processed food.
Meteora Hiking tours
We added a hiking tour with Visit Meteora to our itinerary, and it ended up being our favorite thing in the entire trip. A 4 hour, approximately 7 km hike, the path winds through the forest & takes you though hidden trails connecting the monasteries that only the locals know about. The guide was very professional, spoke perfect english and was very knowledgeable about all things Meteora. It was a great introduction to all things Meteora – he covered the history, the culture, and the geology. We were a group of 10 with varying levels of fitness, and though it was a little challenging at places, the guide was very mindful of everyone’s pace & made sure everyone was able to keep up.
The views were breathtaking and the hike offers a completely different way to see Meteora. If it is your first time, I would highly recommend starting your Meteora trip with this hike and then come back and do this on your own.
Pics from the hiking tour
Meteora Sunsets
The unfolding spectacle of a Meteora sunset from one of its overlooks is a moment you will remember forever. It is a humbling experience & you cannot but help wonder what sheer will-power & fortitude would have been needed to drive the early monks to scale up these peaks with ropes and ladders and build the monasteries.
Tour companies in Kalambaka offer evening tours that include spending time at the sunset viewpoint. We also saw others rent cabs from Kalambaka to drive to the sunset view point. This option provides flexibility, and allows you to stay up as early or late as you wish.
From an overlook on a highway in Meteora, with Rousanou and St. Nicholas Anapausas monasteries in the background.
Couple at a sunset viewpoint at Meteora
Kalambaka/ Kalampaka
Eats:
Food options in Kalambaka were good, but here’s a caveat – even though the food is fresh and tasty, there’s not a whole lot of variety for vegetarians here, and in Greek food in general. We ended up eating the same thing for lunch and dinner on a few days. Our first tour guide said ‘Greeks consider meat to be the best vegetables’, and that was fair warning!
Stay:
Both Kastraki & Kalambaka are decent sized villages and provide options for stay. They are hardly 15 minutes from each other. We stayed at Also’s house & the location was incredible. Do book early as there are not a ton of options. If, however, everything is sold out in Kastraki & Kalambaka, you can try booking in nearby Trikala as well. It just adds 15 mins to the itinerary.
Beautiful Kalambaka village from our tour
Beautiful Kastraki village nestled in the foothills of the Meteora
St. George & the mandilas:
A short drive from Kalambaka, our guide drew our attention to this interesting ruin that had quite a few colorful headscarfs swaying in a line. Legend has it that during the rule of the Ottomon empire, a muslim man injured himself badly when out cutting wood in the forest. His wife called out to the villagers for help. However, when the villagers saw how bad the man was injured, they told the wife that she has no option but to turn to prayers to St. George for help.
Colorful headscarfs at St George the mandilas
The wife decided to take up her Christian neighbors’ advice, and offered up her headscarf (called Mandila) to St. George. Miraculously, the man survived and his injuries healed as well. Since then, every year, on April 23, after church service on the day of the Saint, young kids from the village do the daring 40 meter climb without safety gear and offer up headscarfs for good health as well.