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Meteora Small Group Hiking tour with Transfer and Monastery Visit

Operator: Visit Meteora · listed in Tours that go inside the Great Meteoron, Meteora hiking tours

Meteora Small Group Hiking tour with Transfer and Monastery Visit
Our takeAnastasia Antonova, editor · choice 1 of 6 in Great Meteoron

Great Meteoron gets 60 minutes on this walk through the rocks. The route also visits Ypapanti with a local mountain guide. Hotel pickup in Kalabaka or Kastraki is included for groups of up to 12.

Choose this if you want a guided walk with time inside Great Meteoron. The route allows 60 minutes there. Ypapanti adds a 30-minute monastery stop. Great Meteoron is the only one of the six active monasteries you enter.

The walk follows trails among the rock pillars with an English-speaking mountain guide. You pass Varlaam and St Nicholas without entering. Minivan transfers and bottled water are included. The entrance fee costs extra.

Allow 4 hours for the outing. Great Meteoron closes on Tuesdays. Check its Wednesday and Thursday opening for visits from November to March.

Before you book

  • Hotel and Airbnb pickup covers Kalabaka and Kastraki. Departure is at 08:30.
  • Children can join from age six.
  • You need moderate fitness. Give this a miss during pregnancy or with back or heart problems.
  • Wear proper hiking shoes.
  • Bring €5 in cash for Great Meteoron's entrance fee.
  • Cover your shoulders. Women need a skirt below the knee. Men need long trousers.
  • Service animals allowed
  • Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
  • Please bring comfortable and appropriate hiking shoes
  • This tour requires customers to be physically fit
  • The monasteries have a strict dress code: men must wear trousers and long sleeves, women must wear a long skirt. If you do turn up in shorts, trousers and skirts will be provided.
  • Give this one a miss if you're pregnant, or if you have a back or spine injury or a heart condition.

Itinerary, stop by stop

  1. Pass through Meteora.
  2. Walk among the rock pillars for about 2 hours.
  3. Spend about 60 minutes inside Great Meteoron.
  4. Visit Ypapanti for about 30 minutes.
  5. Pass Varlaam without entering.
  6. Pass St Nicholas without entering.
  1. Meteorapass by
  2. Meteora120 minentry not included
  3. Great Meteoron Monastery60 minentry not included
  4. Short stop30 min
  5. Varlaam Monasterypass by
  6. Agios Nikolaos Anapaphsaspass by
What the operator writes about each stop
  1. Meteora

    Meteora is an area that covers few square kilometers, where an ancient monastic community and a rare geological phenomenon of huge rock pillars coexist in absolute harmony. Located at the northwest tip of the plain of Thessaly, Meteora today has become one of the most popular destinations of mainland Greece. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site, an archeological site and an officially declared holy place! At the foothills of the rocks, there are 2 settlements, the town of Kalabaka and the village of Kastraki.

  2. Meteora

    Hike through the majestic 'rock forest' of Meteora, see the best monasteries and experience the most captivating views on this morning tour. The Meteora Hiking Tour is one of the best ways to enjoy this unique geological phenomenon and to learn the history of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. By joining this morning hike you will walk through hidden trails that only locals know. Let us take you on a journey back in time following the footsteps of the first monks who arrived here more than 15 centuries ago. Join this amazing guided hiking tour and walk among the gigantic rock pillars of Meteora to enjoy truly breathtaking views.

  3. Great Meteoron Monastery

    The Great Meteoron Monastery is the biggest and oldest one of all. It was called the monastery that was “suspended in the air” (meteoro), because of the formation of the gigantic rock on top of which it was built. The Great Meteoro Monastery was founded by Saint Athanasios the Meteorite who was the first founder of the monastery and the organizer of the systematic koenovion. For this reason, the foundation of this monastery is considered to be a turning point, or even better, the beginning of the organized monastisicm in Holy Meteora. Hosios Athanasios was born around 1302 in the medieval town of New Patras, today’s Hypati and his lay name was Andronikos.

  4. Short stop

    Fully constructed inside a large cavity of a rock, this monastery is very indicative of its kind, compared to the ones that are usually seen on the peaks of rocks. A monk under the name of Nilos, in the year 1367 AD, along with another monk named Cyprianus became the founders and the owners of the monastery. It was destroyed in 1809, when the local rebel and hero Papathymios Vlahavas was arrested here by the Turkish army of Ali Pasha. The pathway to this monastery is a very simple and pleasant one.

  5. Varlaam Monastery

    he Holy Monastery of Varlaam is the second biggest monastery. It is located opposite of the Great Meteoro Monastery and it was founded in the mid 14th century by the exercitant Hosios Varlaam. The elegant monastery Catholicon was built in the honour of Agioi Pantes in 1541-42, by two brothers from Ioannina, the priest-monks Hosioi Theophanes and Nectarios the Apsarades. The main church was decorated in 1548. Based on stylistic criteria, this magnificent wall-painting is attributed to the famous hagiographer from Thebes, Frago Catelano.

  6. Agios Nikolaos Anapaphsas

    The Holy Monastery of Saint Nicholas of Anapafsas is the first Monastery that we encounter on our way to the Holy Meteora and was founded at the end of the 14th century. For the name Anapafsas there are numerous interpretations two of which are the most popular. The first one is that the name Anapafsas was attributed by one of the monastery’s benefactors, while the second explanation has to do with the monastery’s position being the first to be encountered on the way up and probably served to the pilgrims and other visitors as a resting place before continuing on.

Included

  • Local English speaking mountain guide
  • Bottled water
  • Transport by air-conditioned minivan
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off to/from Kalambaka or Kastraki
  • Visit the hidden monastery of Ypapanti

Paid separately

  • Entrance fees 5.00€ per person
  • Gratuities

Meeting point, pickup and return

Hotel pickup included, departure at 08:30. Pickup 5 minutes before departure. 36 pickup points listed.

We offer pick up and drop off from all the hotels and AirBNBs that are located at Kalambaka and Kastraki village.

Schedule and cancellation

Usual timetable: daily, at 08:30. Check your date when you book.

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

  • 100% refund when cancelled 1 day or more before departure
  • 0% refund when cancelled less than 1 day before departure

Ratings by source

Averages and review counts, as shown on Viator on 3 November 2026
SourceAverageReviews
Viator5.050
Tripadvisor4.9453

We use the Viator figures to select tours and never quote reviews.

From the operator

In Visit Meteora's own words, from the listing.

Explore Meteora on a gentle-paced hike, and discover the little-known trails that many day-trippers to the UNESCO World Heritage site don’t get to see. On a round-trip route from the Doupiani rock to the heady heights of Grand Meteora Monastery, pass some of the smaller rock monasteries such as Ypapanti and learn about Meteora’s intriguing rock formations and history. 

• You will go to secret local spots that the vast majority of other travelers will never experience.

• Visit the Great Meteoro Monastery and the hidden monastery of Ypapanti and avoid the crowds.

• You will learn about the culture and history of the place on a deeper level and from a local’s perspective.

• You will learn about etiquette and behavior (especially important at religious sites).

• Daily departures depart any day you want, 365 days a year

• You get to meet people from around the world

• Small size groups up to 12 pax.

Other tours in Tours that go inside the Great Meteoron

The rest of the selection, in the order of the comparison.

All 6 compared side by side → · All Meteora tour selections

Anastasia Antonova, editor

I write and edit everything on this site. Every figure on this page comes from the operator's own listing, read on 3 November 2026; the argument for or against the tour is mine.

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