Meteora worth the drive?

YES! We were probably more impressed with Meteora than with the Acropolis. Meteora is beautiful and intriguing.

After returning home from a new country we have visited, I select one photo taken in that country to hang on our wall. A photo of Meteora made the wall for Greece--not the Acropolis!

Meteora is wonderful. We loved it. We also drove from Delphi to Meteora.

Are you going only to Olympia in the Peloponnese Peninsula?

Absolutely worth it to me, especially since you have 2 nights! I love Plakias Boutique Holy Spirit Guesthouse in Kastraki and their adjacent restaurant.

Honestly, I would just drive straight there. The first part of the drive from Delphi is not for the faint of heart (or for those in a hurry).

Ioannina has a cute lake front, if you take that route from Meteora to Olympia. And Perama Cave north of the lake.

If it works with the remainder of your trip I would tell you to go to Delphi instead of Olympia. 5-1/2 hours on Google Maps is one thing but that route goes through mountains and in December might take even longer. It's only about 2 hours to Delphia and then another two to Athens and there are a bunch of great things to do around Delphi beyond the ancient site.

Hmmm, I totally missed December. Delphi and Meteora are both in the mountains. You might need to watch weather and remain flexible.

YES to Meteora!

I recommend staying in Kastraki, a village between the larger town of Kalambaka, and the monasteries. Not as walkable, but since you'll have a car. Recommended hotel, Doupiani House (https://www.doupianihouse.gr/en/kalambaka/).

Recommended tour company: Visit Meteora (https://visitmeteora.travel/).

Note what was said about Meteora being in the mountains. It really is. Even in late May we could see snow on the distant mountaintops. Check the climate graphs. I suspect there is unlikely to be snow in Kalambaka or at the monasteries, but it is possible.

It would depend on the overall itinerary--where else are you stopping, how many days overall, etc?

First of all, thanks to all of your for taking the time to reply. Open to all feedback and recommendations. If I go Athens-Meteora-Delphi-Olympia, it only saves me 30 minutes, and we're retracing ground. However, I have no idea what the road differences are on E951/5 (Meteora to Olympia) and E65 (backtracking route via Delphi). Here's what I'm thinking:

Dec 25th (1)- Athens (getting in late)
2- Athens
3-Athens
4-Athens
5- Delphi
6- Meteora
7-Meteora (New Year's)
8-Olympia (long drive time!)
9- Kardamyli
10-Kardamyli
11-Monemvasia
12-Monemvasia
13-Nafplio
14-Nafplio
15-Athens
16-Depart early am

Regarding the points 7 - 8 - 9 (Meteora→Olympia→Kardamyli), this will be difficult to achieve.

As you have noticed you will have approximately 7 hours drive from Meteora, but did you know that the Olympia archaeological site (and all Greek archaeological sites) closes at 3 p.m. in winter?

You probably won't be able to arrive early enough to visit Olympia.

The next day, the section of road between Kalamata and Kardamyli is very mountainous and winding (and uphill in that direction). Don't plan to drive there faster than 35 miles/hour

Regarding points 11 and 12, you say "Montevasia", I assume it'is Monemvasia. So don't look for "Montevasia" on the GPS

2- Athens
3-Athens
4-Athens
5- Delphi
6- Meteora
7-Meteora
8-Olympia (long drive time!)
9- Kardamyli
10-Kardamyli
11-Montevasia
12-Montevasia (New Year's)
13-Nafplio
14-Nafplio
15-Athens
16-Depart early am

Why not just switch Meteora and Delphi? Eliminates a long drive and you should be able to get to Olympia in time.

I second valadelphia’s recommendation. But definitely consider what JoLui brought up about daylight hours when you are considering how much you can see and drive in one day.

I know that we always tend to want to see as much as possible in the shortest possible time.

But wanting to go from one so-called "major site" to another without taking into account what you can see and do in between is not visiting a country, and is in my opinion a mistake, especially in the Peloponnese where you could stop every 30 minutes to look at the landscape, stroll through a village, have a drink in a tavern in a small fishing port, etc.

The real pleasures and the most beautiful memories and emotions are often in these "in-betweens".

You will miss a lot if you stick to your schedule

I appreciate the feedback and will make adjustments. If you were going to “cut” something out to slow down the pace, what would it be?

I totally get where JoLui is coming from because I travel that way and don't really like long road trips, but your plan did not look so bad to me, other than it is winter (so the kinds of stops I did for hiking or beaches would be moot). You could drop Olympia and see the excellent small Nemea site near Nafplio if sports was of particular interest, since Olympia is such an outlier geography-wise. Somewhat similar, although of nowhere near the scale of Meteora, the monastery at Stemnitsa in the Peloponnese was a beautiful hike, with the monastery an evocative setting. It is in an area that is popular for Athenians going on weekend getaways (so a really appealing place to be in winter)
Or, you could really pare down and choose either Northern Greece OR the Peloponnese (that is what I did--plan to return for the north), but you'll have to weigh your likelihood of return. Once you start looking, you will find no end to the places to see, so it all comes down to personal preference on pace of travel. The Bradt Guides to both regions are really helpful.

I can't tell you what you should do but I can tell you what I would absolutely avoid:

It's spending two days in Monemvasia, especially on New Year's Eve.

Monemvasia (the old town on the peninsula) is a site dedicated solely to tourism with a few hotels and restaurants and practically no permanent inhabitants.
You can possibly stay 2 or 3 hours taking pictures but I don't see the point of spending more time there.
For New Year's Eve I'm afraid you'll be bored to death.

So, unless you're looking for a form of solitude and isolation or want to come back from Greece depressed, Nafplio would in my opinion be more appropriate to spend New Year's, it's touristy but at least it will be more lively than Monemvasia.

I think I would have to write it all down (I am visual) and look at my wishlist and at drive times compared to dark. Because you definitely don’t want to be driving after dark. I don’t really think you are rushing too much - it just may come down to what is worth it to you personally based on the time of year you are going.