Trips & tickets
Pickup in Kalambaka or Kastraki, every monastery seen from the viewpoints, the inside of one of them, the hermit caves and sunset over the rocks.
All six monasteries seen and three visited inside, with a guide plus audio guides and pickup in Kalambaka or Kastraki.
A 9am departure from Athens with stops by the sea, a four-hour guided tour with three monasteries visited inside, the hermit caves and lunch.
The full GetYourGuide listing for Meteora — monastery tours, sunset trips, hikes and day trips from Athens and Thessaloniki, with live prices.
Meteora's monasteries sit on top of sandstone pillars above the town of Kalambaka. Each monastery runs its own entry, its own opening days and its own dress code, so a visit is mostly about which ones you can fit in and when.
You can drive or walk between them yourself, join a half-day or sunset minibus tour, hike the old paths with a guide, or come for the day by train from Athens or Thessaloniki. These pages compare the options.
Plan it properly
Getting to Meteora from Athens and Thessaloniki: the express train to Kalambaka (07:20 out, 17:15 back), connections at Palaiofarsalos, day trips by bus or train, the two-day tours, and whether to stay in Kalambaka or Kastraki.
The six Meteora monasteries' summer and winter hours and closing days, the €5 cash entrance fee, the dress code (and which monasteries lend wrap-skirts), photography, and how to plan a visit around which monasteries are open.
How to see Meteora at its best: the sunset and morning tours from Kalambaka and Kastraki, walking the trails between the rocks and the monasteries, the history of the ladders and nets, and why one night makes all the difference.
The rocks
Photographs licensed from Shutterstock.
Summer hours apply from 1 April to 31 October and winter hours from 1 November to 31 March, and each monastery closes on its own weekday — Great Meteoron (09:30–15:00 in summer) closes on Tuesdays, Varlaam (09:00–16:00) on Fridays. Check before you go.
Yes, but it's a long day: day trips from Athens by bus or train take about 14 hours. Staying overnight in Kalambaka makes the sunset and morning tours possible.
Both take about 4 hours with pickup in Kalambaka or Kastraki. The morning tour goes inside three monasteries; the sunset tour goes inside one and adds the hermit caves.