Meteora is home to the incredible “suspended” monasteries which attract hordes of tourists every year. The best time to visit the monasteries is, without a doubt, spring .
The nearest town is Kalampaka* and both trains and buses stop there. The tranquil city is located right under the imposing rocks. From here, you can either take a bus or embark on a long hike to get to the monasteries.
By train
There are direct trains between Athens and Kalampaka. All are InterCity, high-speed trains. There are several departures a day (earliest at 6:50 a.m. and latest at 11:59 p.m.). You can check the schedule on DB Bahn although you won’t be able to find out the prices. The OSE website (Greek railways) is, unfortunately, very hard to navigate if you don’t know the Greek alphabet.
The route is as follows: Athens –Lamia – Paleofarsalos – Karditsa – Trikala – Kalampaka. The journey takes 4 h 20 min. The price is €22 (InterCity) per person one way. **
By bus
Unfortunately, finding out the departures from Athens to Kalambaka is incredibly hard unless you speak Greek. The bus’s company (KTEL) website is in Greek only making it hard to travelers to decipher the details.
The buses to Kalampaka/Meteora depart from Terminal B (Liosson Street). There are departures daily starting from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. (here’s a schedule ; look for Trikala/Meteora) . The journey takes 4 h 30 min. The price is about €30 per person one way.**
By car
If you have a driver’s license and are comfortable driving on the rather hectic Greek roads, then renting a car is the probably the best way to get from Athens to Meteora.
The driving distance between Athens and Meteora is 357 km. Follow the road to Trikala and then to Meteora. The route is as follows: Athens – Lamia – Domokos – Karditsa – Trikala- Kalampaka. You should be able to get to Meteora in about 4 hours (of course it depends on the traffic).
Here’s a map to help with the directions:
Other information:
>>Getting from Athens to Thessaloniki
>>Getting from Athens to Piraeus
>> Getting from Athens to Santorini
>>Getting to Halkidiki
>>Getting from Athens to Istanbul
>>Getting from Athens to Corfu
>>Getting from Hydra to Santorini (and return)
>>Getting from Thessaloniki to Kavala
Notes:
*the correct name of the city is Kalampaka not Kalambaka, although you will find it spelled both ways.
**prices valid for end-of-2008
