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Accessibility to Meteora monasteries

We are planning a trip to Meteora soon.
We are both reasonably fit in our early 70’s so not afraid of reasonable number of steps and heights.
BUT having fallen before need railings for a significant number.
DO THE STEPS OR STAIRCASES AT THE MONASTERIES HAVE RAILINGS?
Are there monesteries to avoid with a huge number of steps or a step ascent with no railings?

(We were recently at the Acropolis of Lindos on Rhodes where there are numerous uneven steps with no railings to hold onto and large rocks to scramble around. I felt it was at my limit. Much worse than the Acropolis in Athens)
Thanks for your input.

Posted by
420 posts

Your comments about Lindos are interesting.

I have a hip injury and find steps and slopes without rails extremely difficult, although I'm only in my mid sixties.

We've been to the Acropoli in both Athens and Lindos in the last three weeks and I found Lindos much easier to manage.

Posted by
2197 posts

I was there last year, but I don't remember which were the most or least accessible, or which had handrails.

But I found this website, which lists one as "easy," three as "medium," and two as "hard."

https://visitmeteora.travel/meteora-monasteries/

You can read further for more details.

Posted by
6106 posts

Are there monesteries to avoid with a huge number of steps or a step ascent with no railings?

My photos show many (many) stone steps up to Varlaam Monastery. Some sources mention 195 steps.

The FAQ on this page talks about accessibility at Varlaam:
https://www.meteora-tours.com/monastery-of-varlaam/

Is the monastery wheelchair accessible?
Unfortunately, the monastery (Varlaam) is not easily accessible for visitors with mobility challenges. Reaching it involves climbing many steps and navigating uneven stone paths.

The photos I found online show stone walls along the steps. Online photos and some comments mention there are handrails along some sections of the walls, but not all. I cannot recall.

Interestingly, Varlaam Monastery is listed as "Medium" accessibility in the link that Lane referenced above.

Posted by
809 posts

It's been a while since we visited Meteora, but my recollection is every monastery had steep steps, but there was a stone wall to use as a railing- You won't fall off the cliff.
At the Holy Monastery of he Great Meteoron, there were steep steps down, then a bridge across the chasm, then steep steps up to the entrance. It had stone side railings.
Varlaam had steps but stone sides.
The monastery of st. Nicholas, had a wide road but steep path to the base of the cliff, then stairs up the cliff side to the top. There were railings.

Posted by
74 posts

Well I can now report that at at least the monastery of Roussanou and Varlaam are quite easy it negotiate if you take your time. Handrails present and steps were clean (not rough) and not high or narrow.
I was pleasantly surprised and my wife had no issues as she did on the acropolis of Lindos.

Also, we did the Athens Acropolis in Athens today. They have provided bypass stairs with handrails around many of the ancient hazardous steps. My wife and I were able to easily manage the climb.

The Acropolis of Lindos accessibility was still the absolutely worst of our trip