Meteora in February?

There can be ice on the staircases in February but it has never prevented me from visiting…there are a number of monasteries with easy access so that it wouldn’t prevent me from visiting then.

You might consider picking up a car and driving to Delphi for the first night, then continuing on to Meteora the next day. Athens is nice to finish with because then you are close to the airport at the end (although going from the Epidavros area to the airport isn’t a bad drive either). It’s worth spending a night in Delphi if you can because it’s at its most charming once the day trippers are gone. If you can swing 3 nights between Delfi and Meteora I would. There’s also other things to see in that beautiful area other than the archaeological sites, including Osios Loukas Monastery, the WWII memorial at Distomo, and having a shorter drive time between Delphi and Meteora also gives you a chance to stop at the site of the battle of Thermopylae.

How much time you spend on the Peloponnese depends on your interests. You can swing down from Meteora to Napflio or similar, stay a few nights, and hit major archaeological sites, or stay a week and hit smaller more remote areas, maybe even coming down via Olympia which is a nice overnight stop. It’s a pretty drive over the bridge at Antirio, then boring to Olympia, and then you could either go to Napflio via the fast freeway or take the tiny backroads for a real adventure.

Thanks, Kim!

That's an interesting idea to stay a night in Delphi, ill have to look into that- we love tricks to avoid crowds!!

We had planned on either taking that giant bridge, or it looks like there is a short auto ferry that you can take instead. We have a night booked in Olympia, and planned on driving from Meteora to Olympia in 1 day. It's hard to judge the time it will take to travel that distance, but it looked doable. Any stops you can recommend along that route?

From Olympia, we'll spend 3 nights in Napflio and use it as a home base to explore as much as we can.

Kind of a tough call since mythology is much more prominent in Pelo than up north.

On the other hand, what kid wouldn't love Meteora?

I would go Airport - Delphi - Meteora - Preveza - Olympia - all the places in Peloponnese you want to go to - Athens - Airport.

The reason for this order is that the airport is far from Athens center. You want to spend your last night in Athens or near the airport, so it doesn't make sense to start there. Further, the rental cars are steps outside of the arrivals terminal. You land and are in a car in a jiffy and on your way to Delphi (time permitting you can stop in Arachova or Hosios Loukas).

On return, park the car in a cheap outdoor lot in Athens near your hotel for 10 Euros / night, and then drive to airport for your flight. Drop car, walk into terminal.

Yes, Meteora to Olympia is doable in a day! Take the bridge—way easier although expensive lol.

We always stop in Antirio (on the other side of the bridge) for food…there are som decent waterfront cafes right off of the bridge….but there are lots of good options en route! It’ll be a long driving day but worth it. Be at Olympia right when it opens, site first, then museum if you want it—you can usually get a good 20-30 min without the cruise ship crowds! Same for the arch site at Delphi—be there at opening or an hour before closing (or two)—I actually like the latter just because the light is so lovely.

Overall you have a solid itinerary. You’ll be tired by the end but it’s very doable. Incidentally, I teach middle school and plan trips for my students to Greece every few years and this is very close to the itinerary we run and the kids love it. There’s enough variation to keep teens and preteens interested, esp if they already like mythology and history!

Wow - Pickens County kids go to Greece?! :-) :-) Just kidding, it must be a fantastic experience for them!

jlcanfield80 - I agree, the proposed itinerary looks good. We went to Meteora first and then looped back through Delphi but we also visited Karpenissi. Good luck with the trip!

lol no but Atlanta kids do!