Meteora,
the Perch of God
Day breakdown
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Duration: 2-day excursion.
Set with a guide, and a vehicle with its driver.
Day 1 - the classic option. The itinerary includes:
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Departure from Athens in the early morning.
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A tour of the legendary Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi, and its museum.
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Lunch at a traditional taverna at the quaint village of Arachova, followed by a stroll around it.
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Arrival at Meteora by late afternoon. At sunset, we will make a quick drive to the breathtaking rock-formations for a unique photographic session.
or Day 1 - the G&I twist. The itinerary includes:
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Departure from Athens in the early morning.
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A visit to the little-known Church of Virgin Mary Scripou, at the village of Orchomenos, one of the oldest standing churches in the whole country.
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A tour of the Monastery of Osios Loukas, a 1,000-years-old masterpiece of Byzantine art and architecture, whose gold-filled mosaics have secured it a place in the UNESCO list of world heritage.
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A unique lunch experience at the idyllic grounds of the monastery, where we will set for you a table of homemade, traditional Greek foodstuff.
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Arrival at Meteora by late afternoon. At sunset, we will make a quick drive to the breathtaking rock-formations for a unique photographic session.
Day 2 - the itinerary includes:
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The 'main event' of the excursion: ascending to the amazing monasteries of Meteora, which are as unique as the beautiful rock-formations that host them - some feature extraordinary vistas, others beautifully decorated churches, and some are surrounded by lush nature. We will present you with the available options, for you to choose.
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For those that might not wish to spend the entire morning exploring the monasteries, we can organize alternative activities, such as the regionally-popular truffle and mushroom-hunting.
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A lunch at the village next to Meteora, at a locals-only tavern.
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The journey to return to Athens begins, with a break along the way in the charming, cobblestone-paved town of Livadeia, for a nice cup of coffee next to the river that runs through it.
In-depth
Greece is a land blessed with numerous sights that are unique in the world, at least from a historical perspective. Few, however, are as unique as Meteora, a place where a true miracle of nature was invested with the majesty of humanity’s willpower and faith – the result is of course legendary.
Meteora is a ‘forest’ of stone pillars, as old as time itself and large enough to look like petrified giants, clustered in a river valley in Thessaly (Central Greece). For millennia they stood untouched, precipitous and intimidating as they are, until a group of men regarded them as something more than rocks: in them, they saw a poetic metaphor of earth trying to reach heaven, and thus the perfect refuge for those that had devoted their entire life to that very endeavour. These were Christian monks who, almost a thousand years ago, began flocking to the area, satisfying their desire for isolation in small caves at the sides of the vertical megaliths.
By the 14th century, an organized community had taken shape and, as if to further prove to God the magnitude of their faith, the ascetics began little by little erecting entire monastic complexes on the plateaus of the tall pillars, some of which at a height of more than 500m (c. 1,600 ft). The magnificent end-result of this herculean feat - impressive churches, beautiful gardens, and more - is what travellers to Meteora have been enjoying for decades, and what this excursion aspires to help you explore.
What inhibits many travellers from visiting Meteora, however, is its distance from the Greek capital of Athens, a significant c. 4.5 hours of driving. Therefore, we have created this 2-day excursion, designed to be the perfect way to see Meteora, as you get to enjoy the natural wonder both during sunset - an otherworldly experience - and during the day, which is ideal for exploring the monasteries (see day breakdown above).
And for the 1st day of the trip, apart from the classic choice of visiting Delphi (for more on the sight, see Delphi), we have also created an alternative, unique, and off-the-beaten-path itinerary that approaches the excursion thematically, by focusing deeply on the intriguing subject of Byzantine Greece.