How to stay away from the big crowds and off the beaten tourist paths while visiting Meteora

In the plain of Thessaly, the mythical battleground of Gods and Titans, in the most northwestern part of it, lay one of the most beautiful and diverse parts of mainland Greece. 

Agios Stefanos monastery and the plain of Thessaly below

Trikala and Karditsa prefectures are considered to be a truly hidden gem with amazing history, unparallel and unspoiled natural beauty, many wonderful top rated hotels and some of the most exquisite and delicious tastes one will ever find in Greece.

Meteora sunrise

Many people and tourists on the order of millions visit the area every year especially Meteora, one of the most popular and well known sites of Thessaly. But the truth is that only a tiny percentage of all those milions of visitors will ever discover or touch the true heart of this fascinating place. Most of them will pay a hasty visit to a couple of Meteora monasteries, take a few shots of the out of this world landscape with their cameras to show off at their friends and relatives where they have been, eat the leftovers of the previous week and then off they will go!  

Great Meteoron monastery

Is this what travelling is all about? Certainly not, at least not by any of my standards. Imagine millions of tourists coming and going every year in Meteora and most of them will never know that just few km away from Kalampaka and Meteora lays one of the most important prehistoric caves not only to Greece but to the entire world, with archeological findings dating back to 130,000 BC! Visit Theopetra prehistoric cave, just 5 km from Kalampaka on the way to Trikala and discover the most ancient man made structure on earth, a stone wall dated back to 26,000 BC.

The prehestoric cave of Theopetra

Have the chance to see on the caves’ floor the petrified footprints of a seven years old child that walked on the remaining ashes some 60,000 years ago. Think just about that: It’s like travelling back in time the moment the kid was running inside the cave leaving his footprints all over the ashes for us to see so many thousands of years later into the future.

The old hermitages

Later on the afternoon when all the masses of tourists are long gone have an amazing sunset tour organized by a local travel agency that will be your highlight of your entire Meteora visit. This particular tour will take you on a late afternoon tour to all the places around Meteora that only locals know about in order not only to enjoy amazing views but to learn as well about the real history and traditions of the place. You will see the 1,000 years old Bandovas hermitages inside caves high up on the rocks and learn the amazing history of one of the most ancient churches of Greece, the Dormition of Virgin Mary in kalampaka. Imagine a church so ancient and so old that even before becoming the church it is today it was an ancient temple dedicated to god Apollo!

The church of dormition of Virgin Mary, 4th century AC

And then filled with all the history and culture of the place the tour will take you to enjoy panoramic views on the most perfect spot of Meteora and capture one of the most beautiful sunsets you could ever imagine. And at that very moment, when then sun begins to slowly and tenderly touch the back of the distant mountains and all you hear is the silence and an awe feeling of this magnificent Meteora landscape, in that very moment one can truly understand why Meteora was chosen by the monks to build here all those monasteries. Simply by gazing at this landscape you unconsciously perform an act of meditation, meditating on the immense beauty and awe of all creation.

Meteora sunset

If you are staying at Kalampaka and start feeling hungry the best places for having excellent grilled plates is “Skaros Tavern” at the entrance of town coming from Trikala right next to Divani Hotel. Do not miss to taste their lamp kebabs, one of the best of whole Greece. For cooked dishes your best choice is Meteora restaurant opposite the Town hall square, the oldest and by far the best restaurant of kalambaka town. If you’re staying at Kastraki village then Plakias Tavern and Ziogas Tavern are both excellent choices for either lunch or dinner.

Another off the beaten tourist track attraction is the nearby Pindos mountain of Aspropotamos! Aspropotamos which literally means “the white river” is a beautiful mountainous place of truly unspoiled nature with many small traditional villages waiting to be discovered!

Rafting in Aspropotamos river

If you visit the area during spring or autumn, I would recommend you to try a rafting adventure on the river. You could also have a hike to discover the amazing 16^th century church of Holy Cross at Doliana village and don’t you dare miss having dinner or lunch at the Mantania hotel where you can taste and even take part on the making of the traditional “spanakopita”, one of my favorite traditional Greek pies.