Have you ever heard of a stunningly beautiful place on Earth called Meteora, located in Central Northern Greece? This was one of the stops on our road trip through Mainland Greece, and one of the most stunning places I have ever seen in the world.

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I had no idea that such interesting rock formations existed in Greece; I’m always fascinated when natural Earth wonders are integrated with man-made architectural phenomenons.

In this post you’ll find a comprehensive guide on everything you need to know about visiting Meteora, including:

1. How much time you should spend visiting Meteora
2. The definition of Meteora
3. How much it costs to visit the Monasteries
4. How to dress when visiting the Monasteries
5. Regional cuisine of inland mainland Greece and where to eat
6. Where to hike
7. How to get to the Grand Meteoran (the most famous of all the Monasteries)

How Much Time Should you Spend in Meteora?

We spent two nights in Meteora and used the first day to visit three of the Monasteries and take photos at the lookouts, and the second day for hiking.

Two nights and three days was a bit short, but that’s because we love to hike and there were a plethora of hikes to explore around the area. If your sole goal is to visit the Monasteries, then two days is fine. If you’re a climber or hiker, then I would recommend 3 – 5 days.

What Does “Meteora” Mean?

Meteora literally means “suspended in the air” or “high in the heavens” (what an appropriate name!) The area is made up of monolithic rock formations and boulders that dot the sky with a presence of great magnitude. The rocks are made up of sandstone and conglomerate, including mud streams that flowed into a delta at the edge of a lake over millions of years. A series of earth movements pushed the seabed upwards, creating the plateaus, fissures and fault lines that we see today.

As early as the 11^th century, the caves in the rocks were occupied by Monks , but the Monasteries atop the cliffs were not built until the 14^th century when Monks sought a hiding place to protect them from Turkish attacks. At that time, the only way to get up and down into the Monasteries was by rope ladders and pulleys. Now there are modern staircases and ramps to allow tourism access to each Monastery.

This particular photo was a bit eerie because at first glance, it looked like tourists in brightly-colored clothing. However, with my camera’s zoom lens, I realized that it was laundry drying outside, which leads me to believe that somebody perhaps lives inside of this cave, even though there appears to be no way to access it… *shudders*

How Much Does it Cost to Visit the Meteora Monasteries? 

Meteora is located in the area of Kalambaka. Most of the tourists were from France and Russia. There were originally 25 Monasteries, but after natural disasters and deterioration over time, only six now remain; four are Monasteries (men only), and two are nunneries (women only). Each Monastery costs €3 per person, so if you want to see all six, you will pay €18 total per person. Because the Monasteries are high up on the cliffs, it requires a bit of physical capability to walk up and down all the stone steps. It’s a great workout and completely worth the efforts!

(Click on each photo to enlarge it)

A bit dodgy for those with vertigo!

I love the little sunflower poking out of the window with a dot of color!

Dogs here have no sense of mortality. Dog will lay in the middle of the street, wherever he damn well pleases (don’t worry, no dogs were harmed in the making of this photo)

How Do You Dress To Visit the Monasteries?

Men and women must cover their shoulders (no tank tops). Men must wear long pants (shorts will not suffice) and women must wear long skirts that cover the knees (pants will not suffice). There are no requirements to cover the head as in many churches. Because these are active Monasteries, the dress code is strict. However, not to worry as each Monastery provides pants for men and wrap around skirts for women.

I love this photo so much because it shows Sasha’s childlike wonder (as he ducks his head through the low doorway)

Where to Eat in Meteora

In Meteora there are several bakeries serving baklava and halva, a local dessert with butter, toasted almonds and sugar. It had a mochi-like gelatinous consistency and the top part tasted like flan. It was delicious and so fattening!

I love that depending on the region of Greece in which you are visiting, the local fare differs. For example, food on Crete Island was very different from inland mainland Greece, where you’ll find very little seafood, and because of the higher altitudes and cooler climates, olives aren’t as prolific as they are in the coastal regions. Some popular food dishes here include briam (a mixture of fresh vegetables in the oven, cooked in tomato sauce), grilled cheese with balsamic vinaigrette, lots of fresh meats (usually lamb, pork and chicken), Greek meatballs in tomato sauce, and stuffed zucchini with minced meat, onions, rice dill & oregano. And of course, you can always count on a Greek salad tasting the same pretty much anywhere you go. I think by this point in our trip, we have eaten around 30 Greek salads.

Sometimes the translations from Greek to English make me giggle 🙂

Our second day in Meteora consisted of exploring some of the hiking trails, which were phenomenal.

Hiking in Meteora

You can easily hike on your own, though there are several guided hiking tours, including scrambling guides as well! (Excellent for climbers, not for the faint of heart, because, well, yeah….the photos below say it all.)

We discovered a great trail that wandered through the lowlands with views looking up at the rock formations, which was spectacular. This is one of the thousands of reasons I love travel; because it makes you realize what a small place you occupy in this great world and humbles you. We simply parked our car and took off. (PS: I think there may be more cats in Greece than humans. You’ll see this scene a lot):

Watch out for extraordinarily dangerous, large, beastly and aggressive wildlife, such as this menacing guy! 😉

We were afraid someone was going to step on him, so Sasha picked him up and moved him to the other side to safety.

Beautiful Photos That Will Make you Want To Visit Meteora!

The trail comes out to a plateau where you can view a Monastery only accessible by foot (there is no road where you can just drive and walk up to it.)

How To Get To The Grand Meteoron

After the plateau, the trail goes directly through the road to The Grand Meteoron, the largest and most visited Monastery of all six. After passing through the main road, the trail continues inconspicuously down a cobblestone path and back into the forest. These are the trails that were used hundreds of years ago to remain unnoticed by potential enemies. After a few hundred yards, you will reach a cave!! Thank goodness there are no mosquitoes, but there are bats!

As we returned to the small town of Kalambaka to check out of our hotel, I saw two bicycles with heaps of gear on the back and a tanned guy in a helmet. I asked him where he was headed to on the bike, thinking he might say a neighboring country such as Bulgaria or Albania. To my shock, he said “Thailand”. My jaw dropped. “I’m sorry, did you just say you are biking from here to Thailand?!” thinking perhaps I needed to clean out my ears from all the sea water. He confirmed that I had heard correctly. By his accent and name (Stefan), I guessed that he was from Germany. I was correct. 

I asked him how long he thinks it will take, and he said about one year and a half. The guy on the left of me (Andy) is originally from Nebraska but hasn’t lived in the states for over ten years, so his accent is all kinds of crazy. He spent four years living in Medellin, Colombia (where we visited at the start of our journey) and traveled all over South America and Europe. He ditched his backpack in Madrid, bought a bike, and hasn’t looked back. They started out as solo adventurers but met each other on the road and decided to bike together since they both miraculously happened to have the same destination. What an incredible journey! I just had to take a photo with them (they smelled pretty “Earthy”) but these guys are my heroes.

So that, my friends, is how do visit Meteora in three days to fit in food, views, Monasteries, hiking, culture and dessert!

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