We think we can easily consider Meteora a natural wonder that became even more impressive because of the monasteries built there by people. We chose to visit this place during our stay in Thessaloniki so before jumping into details we really want to share with you some details about the road. So if you are traveling to Meteora from Thessaloniki you might find interesting the next paragraphs.
Putting aside the great highways you can drive on in Greece that you probably already noticed if you are there, you can find some impressive views also.
Tempi Valley
This valley, placed on the river Pineios will offer you a great view for both a walk or just a drive on that road. The road is surrounded by hills, with or without trees, the river is next to the road in a valley and all these elements combined offer you a great visual experience. There are also places where you can stop your car so you can take a little break in this area and just enjoy the nature.
Meteora
Here we go, arriving at the amazing Meteora. You can see it from afar, from the road. Huge, impressive rocks rising from the ground, just in front of you. Once we arrived we were a bit disappointed to see the place surrounded by an entire town. We expected something wilder, but no problem, we cheered back up in no time.
To some of the monasteries you can reach by the car, you have roads that take you very close to them. The parking is free and there are lots of places where you could park your car, so you will have no problem to visit these places with a personal car.
We visited the Grand Meteora monastery. You should know that a rule of the place is that women should have their feet covered with something. If not, they will give you at the entrance some skirts. Inside the monastery you will find lots of interesting things, like prayer rooms, souvenirs, rooms for different activities and the garden. From the garden you can have an overview of all Meteora, and it’s simply breathtaking. The other monasteries built on rocks, the roads beneath you, amazing. From here you can also admire the Agios Nikolaos monastery built on a rock near you. You will also find inside Grand Meteora a closed room, with a small hole in the door which you can use to watch inside. Inside this room there are skulls of the monks that lived here.
Because of the late hour we did not managed to visit other monasteries, but we had the time to explore different sights near these monasteries, each sight with it’s own amazing view. But for some of them you should be careful to not fall.
After spending all the time we had exploring the views of Meteora, we’ve went back down, to the town. Here we had a nice Greek meal, at around 15 Euro each person and that is unfortunately all we’ve managed to do, because we had to go.
Even if we spent only a couple of hours here, this place will be a memory that we will probably never forget and we encourage you to take one or two days to enjoy Meteora at least once in your life.