From Thessaloniki: Excursion to Meteora by Bus

We depart to Meteora with the bus of Ammon Express along with our friendly trip attendant-archaeologist,

at 08:00 from Aristotelous Square & Egnatia Street (at the statue of Venizelos),

The distance is 230km and lasts approximately 3 hours. During our way, there is a 30’ stop for rest and coffee.

We reach Meteora at around 12:30p.m; this fascinating complex of huge steep rocks of pennant, arising close to the first elevations of the longest sierra in Greece, Pindos (the “spine” of Greece). We visit two of the six operating Holy Monasteries depending on the schedule of each one*:

• the women’s monastery of Saint Stefanos with the impressive wood-carved iconostasis and the magnificent view of the city of Kalampaka, the river Lithaios and the plain,
• the monastery of the Holy Trinity at the steepest rock of Meteora, through stairs cut through the stone,
• the women’s monastery of Rousanou with the extraordinary wall paintings of the small church, and the verdant path leading to it,
• the Varlaam monastery with the valuable surviving frescoes of the painter of icons Frangos Katelanos and, among others, the thirteen-ton wooden barrel,
• the monastery of the Transfiguration (Metamorphosis) of Christ, which is the largest monastery of Meteora,
• the monastery of Saint Nicholas Anapafsas, with the frescoes of the famous painter of icons Theophanes the Cretan, which has a balcony that is a stone’s throw away from the huge rocks.

*Every Monday we visit the monasteries of Varlaam and Rousanou, every Wednesday and Sunday the monasteries of Saint Stefanos and Varlaam and every Friday the monasteries of Rousanou and Saint Stefanos.

The monasteries are built οn the peak of the huge rocks, and form the second most important complex of monasteries after Mt. Athos. In the past, there were twenty four monasteries but today only the six of them operate properly. In 1988, Meteora joined the list of the World Heritage sites of UNESCO.

For your convenience, the bus stops in front of the entrance of the Holy Monasteries.

During our visits to the monasteries we make a short stop to admire the stunning panoramic view of the Holy Monasteries from up high and capture the mystique of the landscape. The wild unapproachable area with the sandstones of more than 65 millions years old is majestic and at the same time unearthly and divine as until today their origin cannot be explained.

Next, we enjoy our greek traditional lunch break in Kastraki, at Kalampaka area, against the view of the astonishing Meteora.

We depart to Thessaloniki at around 15:30p.m and we have a last stop for 20΄ for coffee and rest. We are back at about 19:00p.m, making the same stops where we started from.