Getting to Meteora from Athens
 

Hello,

I am going to Greece this summer and am thinking about going to Meteora for a day/overnight trip from Athens. Has anyone done a day-trip (is it possible if I am willing to get up very early)? Also, any advice on best ways to get to Meteora (perhaps by train)?

Any advice is much appreciated!


Thanks.

Hi...

That's a tough daytrip to make - in fact it's probably not possible/desirable to do it in a day without renting a car.

By train, Kalambaka has a station at the end of a branch line from Palaeopharsalos where there are connections to the "main" Athens-Thessaloniki line. Athens to here takes between 3 and 4 hours on the train and the connection to Kalambaka (at the foot of the Meteors) is another 50 minutes or so.

A quick look at the OSE timetable suggests:

Athens - Palaeopharsalos 0650 - 1007
Palaeopharsalos - Kalambaka 1012 - 1105

and the last return of the day at:

Kalambaka - Athens (direct) 1734 - 2205

This gives a fair few hours there (assuming that the tight connection at Palaeopharsalos is honoured) - but you'll still have to get transport up to Meterora.

It might, therefore, be preferable to rent a car and drive from Athens. Figure at least four hours to drive to Kalambaka from Athens Airport - longer if you start from the city centre. For the greater part this route is reasonable (for Greece) Dual Carriageway (or perhaps Duel Carriageway is more appropriate :D ) but has single carriageway sections around the Maliakos Gulf and from Larissa to Kalambaka. But it's not too bad :)

Hope this helps...


m.

Many thanks. That's very helpful!

I was also trying to check out the train schedule here (http://www.ose.gr/(8018507486581499)...no.asp&lang=2), but couldn't seem to find the early Athens-Palaeopharsalos train. Anyway, like you mentioned, perhaps driving is a better way to do this...

Would you say Meteora is worth all the time and effort to get to? I've heard great things about it and really wanted to see if I can fit it into my itinerary.

Wow... I hadn't realised OSE had actually added timetables to their site :eek: The trains returned by that search are the two direct trains each way per day. More reliable and detailed results can be obtained by consulting the German Federal Railways Deutsche Bahn website.

The OSE site does confirm the existence of that connection, though. I would, however, be a bit concerned about a connection of 5 minutes. You never know if trains will wait for each other if delayed (which they will be :( )

I guess that depends on how confident you would be with driving in Greece - in particular the Athenian end of your journey. Once out of the city you'll be out of most of the lunacy - just don't forget the golden rules in Greece: Expect the unexpected and however many lanes there are on a road, expect there to be one column of cars using it... :confused:

Oh yes :D I've been itching to get up there since meeting my wife (Greek) 12 years ago. We finally made it there last Easter. Well worth the journey - absolutely breathtaking scenery... Visit as many of the monasteries/convents as you can - each is uniquely different and opens up different vistas.

Hope this helps,



Mark.

I agree not to do this as a day trip. I am usually vehemently opposed to group tours, but, upon the recommendation of another traveler, we took an overnight tour by bus. The scenery was ok for the most part, but the best part of the bus ride was the guide's 3 hour lecture about Meteora. We stayed at a decent hotel in Kalambaka and had plent of time to walk around the night before going to Meteora. I think we paid around $75 for the both of us for everything, including dinner and breakfast. Please be aware that at Meteora, women need to be wearing long skirts/dresses (no knees showing) - no women's pants allowed. They will have long black skirts available if you don't bring one.

Thanks for the advice!

I just may have been trying too hard to pack everything into this trip. Here's how the itinerary looks like currently:

Day 1 - arrive in Athens around 5pm
Day 2 - Athens (daytrip to Delphi?)
Day 3 - Athens to Santorini late afternoon flight
Day 4 - Santorini
Day 5 - Santorini to Crete afternoon ferry
Day 6 - Crete
Day 7 - Crete
Day 8 - Crete to Athens, afternoon flight
Day 9 - leave Athens in the early am

Look liks it could be difficult to go to Meteora then. How about Delphi - would a day trip work (and would you recommend going)? Quite excited to go see the navel of the world. Any other places not to be missed (Knossis, Acropolis, Nat Archaeological Museum)?

Thanks again for all the help!

Wow... definitely packing things in :cool:

Delphi - Day trips there are certainly possible and there are plenty of tour operators that can be booked locally which will take you there. It's about 2.5 hours by coach, I guess. I've only been there in winter (and it's quite a sight in the snow) so I can't comment on whether its worth the trip bearing in mind how crowded the place will be.

Acropolis - you've got to really... Check the opening times, though, as you've not got a great deal of flexibility in your itinerary.

Nat. Arch. Museum - Depends on how interested you are. I found the museum rather staid and uninteresting - though it's hard not to be impressed with the quantity and quality of the artefacts. This is a collection that desperately needs a better home. (I've not visited since the pre-Olympic rennovations so it may well be better now...)

I also recommend visiting Lycabettus hill in the centre of Athens - from there the views of the city are fantastic (if that's your sort of thing). There's an underground funicular railway to the top but by the time you've walked up to the bottom station (and found it!) you might as well continue to the summit on foot.

Knossos - Not been to Crete so can't comment, sorry.

Santorini - ^ You may need to add to your itinerary: Day -1, arrange new mortgage to pay for cocktails on Santorini ;)

HTH,


m.

How long ago was this? I was looking at tour prices online, and an overnight trip to Meteora is going for 145 Euros per person.

I believe it was October 1997. It was booked through my travel agent. I will see if I can dig up the old documents to see which outfit did the tour & get back to you.

Be sure to book your Santorini - Crete ferry early!!! We are planning to spend two weeks in Greece leaving next Friday, I went to book the ferry today, and it is totally sold out three weeks in advance (Jul 10th)!! :eek: so now we either have to cut our stay in Santorini short (its already too late to cancel/change our hotel), sacrifice a day in Crete, or fly via Athens (300 Euro!!) :(

Ouch! Good advice, going to book our tickets now.

By the way, I noticed that even direct Aegean flights (such as Athens-Santorini) aren't very cheap, at ~E 80 each way, PLUS E 13 in fuel surcharge.

That sounds about right, it will cost us each 146EUR for flights JTR-ATH-HER. Definitely not mileage run material..

Meteora tour overnight from Athens
 

I am in the process of deciding to go to the Internet Governance Forum meeting in Athens end October and am thinking about adding Meteora to the end, November 3 and 4.

The only tour I found online was three days two nights, via Delphi and ...

Have you a link to the two day tour?

Otherwise, I'm thinking of the 8:50 AM express train to Kalambaka, 4.5 hours, and staying one night, departing noon the next day, so I would have an afternoon and a morning.

There's a bus from the train to Meteora, but I'm thinking since my time is so short to use a taxi.

There's also a long distance bus from Athens to Kalambaka that some seem to prefer. Time is comparable. I don't yet know where I'm staying in Athens or where my meetings actually are, so I don't know about the logistics of whether train or bus station would be preferable.

I've been to Greece once before, and the island cruise, might want to see the Sound and Light show at the Acropolis again and if I have an extra day might go back to Cape Sunion.

Sylvia

purchase train ticket to Kalambaka at ATH airport?
 

May I purchase the train ticket to Kalambaka - Meteora when I land at the Athens airport? It would be 8 days in advance. My meeting and hotel are in Vouliagmeni - is there a way to reserve the train and then buy the ticket at departure? Or use a suburban travel agent in Greece? Or I guess a US travel agent or website now?

Sylvia

Well, there's a ticket office, but I would hold up much hopes for managing to arrange a ticket that:

1. is in advance
2. doesn't start at the airport station.
3. requires something more than minimal effort on the part of the clerk to issue.

3) is probably the most critical of these ;)

Tickets can certainly be bought at the main station (Larissis) and from OSE's city centre office - which was in Sina St. but I believe has moved elsewhere.

Best bet is to try at the airport and if they're not very helpful to take the Proastiakos train into the city centre which will deliver you to Larissis station where you will be able to buy your ticket and reservation in advance.

HTH,


m.