European Gem: Meteora in Greece

Travel for me can never be far enough and long enough. Although I really love Europe, it always feels like the most amazing places are the further away. This spring I was on the lookout for my next destination. While I was at work I ran into this magical photograph of a landscape. I couldn’t believe it when this turned out to be Meteora in Greece. It was hard to believe that this gem was right around the corner! I called my friend and we booked our trip to the Meteora monasteries the same day.

What is Meteora?

Meteora is an incredible phenomenon. A landscape where the wonders of nature and man meet. Rock formations form this landscape and monasteries were build on top of them. The Meteora monasteries are like nothing you’ve ever seen before. Monks had to climb the rocks to reach them as there where no stairs then.

What to do in Meteora

The Sunset Tour

Although I’m usually a do it yourself kind of girl, we decided to take a tour. Why? The area is pretty big and you won’t be at all the spots on time if you walk (We didn’t have a car). We went with Meteora Thrones. Our guide Dimitri knew just where to take us to get a perfect shot at sunset. He was very talkative and absolutely hilarious. They also take you to see the caves where monks used to live. We probably would have never found that by ourselves. However if you’d like to return yourself, there’s a local bus that goes up to all the monasteries. This is what we did on our second day.

Explore the monasteries 

Once there where a whopping 24 monasteries sitting on top of these impressive rock formations. Only 6 of them are left standing, but they are well worth visiting. I would take 2 days to see them all instead of rushing to see everything in one. The entrance fee for every monastery is only 3 euro per person so there’s no reason not to go and see them all!

The Monastery of Great Meteoron

The Great Meteoron Monastery is the largest and oldest of the Meteora monasteries. It sits on top of the highest rock formation. Founded in the 14th century by Saint Athanasios, it served as a hub for spiritual learning. The panoramic views from the monastery are absolutely breathtaking.

Go hiking up the Rock of the Holy Spirit

Although most people only come to Meteora on a day tour, it’s worth staying longer, because you get to really explore the beautiful landscape. You can hike up to some of the monasteries, but the hike up the ‘Holy Spirit’ is more of a trail and an absolutely stunning one. At the hotel we where told it would take half an hour to hike up, but it took us a little bit longer than that. Most of the path is pretty easy, but steep. There is some rock scrambling in the end making it a moderately difficult hike.

The Hike starts in Kastraki’s main square. You can find it here. First you’ll reach a fountain and a stone path leading up. Continue the uphill path and follow the signs. At some point you’ll find a little grey iron door, revealing the Cloister of the Holy Spirit. Have look inside the modest cloister, before continuing your climb all the way to the top.

Hiking time: 1 hour out and back.

Difficulty: moderate

Where to Stay

There are two towns that are located at the base of Meteora. When booking it wasn’t completely clear which one was better, so I’ll explain the difference here. There is Kastraki and Kalampaka. Kalampaka is the bigger town (still small) and maybe a little bit livelier. In the end it doesn’t matter much in which town you stay, because a taxi will only cost a few euros. We stayed in Kastraki as it is right by the edge of Meteora. We could walk up to the monasteries from our hotel. Both towns are absolutely fine, but Kastraki is a tiny bit closer and Kalampaka has more going on.There’s a few other towns nearby, but we wanted to be able to walk to the monasteries. We stayed in Hotel Tsikeli, which I would recommend. The bus to the monasteries stops right outside, the staff is wonderful and the service is really good. Another affordable hotel is Guesthouse Vavitsas. If you’d like to have your own apartment during your stay right on the foot of Meteora, then Dream nest Meteora is the perfect place.

Our favorite restaurant in Kastraki is: ‘Taverna Gardenia’ was really nearby which was also a plus. If you’re looking for local greek dishes, this is the place. If you stay here for too long you will gain 10 pounds in a week. We always got more than we could eat and a free dessert! The whole trip was like always done on a student budget. If you’d like to know exactly what I spent during my 1 week in Greece, you can find my entire spendings for the week here.