A Monastic tour in Central Greece

Mar 15, 2023

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My travels through Europe involved visits to similar types of places many times; among them parks, museums, castles, and monasteries. The latter often presented some of the most incredible architecture and views and there was no better place for this than the incredible Meteora.

The first time that I recall being told to visit was while volunteering in Romania. At the time I didn’t know when or even if I would make it as far as Greece. But the closer I came the more it cropped up. Travellers I met in North Macedonia and Albania mentioned it as a highlight. Of course arrive to Ioannina, Greece it was highly recommended.

So it became an obvious destination and our second stop in Greece. The trip across from Ioannina was enjoyable with company of a fellow traveller who was on a journey to find distant family. (An exciting story with a fantastic ending that is certainly not mine to share).

From the moment the bus came into view of the grand rock formation of Meteora I was in awe. Seeing the town of Kalabaka nestled in the foothills of these great pillars of rock was an incredible sight. And it wasn’t long before even better views were obtained.

After exploring parts of the town we hopped on a bus to the top of the rock formations to see the monasteries and watch the sunset. What incredible views!

The next few days saw me hiking up and down Meteora exploring each of the six monasteries where monks and nuns still live. I had initially planned only planned to stay for 3 days before moving on to Athens but that first day convinced me to take more time and ensure that I could fully explore the area and the monasteries.

Each day I would hike up the rocks along one of the many trails to visit 1 or 2 of the monasteries then hike back down. Could I have taken a bus, sure but exploring the ricks from below was part of the adventure.

It cost €3 for each Monastery visit, I also had to pack a pair of pants to put on over my shorts before entering each one. Thankfully had a loose pair of track pants that I could just slip on. The Visit Meteora website had a great array of information about visiting all the monasteries, I didn’t take a tour while there as I had plenty of time to explore it more for myself.

Below I’ve added a few photos for each Monastery. I’ll add more to the website soon.