Strategies for visiting Meteora?

My strategy is to arrive just before sunset. ( or arrive and get your hotel and drive up to the Monastaries just before sunset). There will be few people up there. Drive around and see all of the Monasteries ( if you don't have a car then take a taxi) This will be your opportunity to see everything and take photos from the road without crowds.

Next morning get up to the Monasteries early before the tour buses arrive. You will probably have enough time to visit a couple of the monasteries before the crowds.
Go to the village of Kastraki for lunch. Take a brake and head back up just before the monasteries close.
Here are some images using that strategy
Delphi and Meteora https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157698930270992

Thank you Stanbr!

Should we aim to see all rhe moneasteries?

We were just there and saw all but one. We could have seen the final one but decided we really had no desire. We had a long drive back to Athens and decided we were ready to leave.

On Sunday, all the monasteries are open so you certainly can. We ran into two women at Meteora who had stayed in the same hotel as us in Delphi who were finishing their visit to the last monastery. So obviously people do see all of them.

Hi - we were just there also (and @BethFL and @Stanbr I wonder if we were there when you were - side note thanks to both you and STANBR For your tips and pictures for inspo on our trip planning !)
We did see al the monasteries - we hiked up to the top and worked our way down hiking between all of them -
IMHO you don’t need to see them all inside , but the views from each one and between them gives you different perspective on the area
Rousseanou, St Stephens were probably our favorites
Stop by Taverna Gardenia for lunch in Kastraki … they are the kindest hosts!

Rouseanou was the one we missed!

We liked Varlaam, the Great Meteoran, and St. Nikolaos best. But really the only one we were not impressed by was Holy Trinity. It had to us more the feel of a modern retreat center than a monastery.

We were there June 4-6. We took two tours by Visit Meteora-the cave and hiking tour. They were both fabulous but with having to get our covid tests and all we kind ran out of energy before we saw the last monastery. It didn't help that it was high 90s the day we hiked and we elected to go back to our hotel at the end rather than continue to hike to more monasteries.

agree with @bethfl that VisitMeteora tours are wonderful... we did the sunset tour with them and it was great - very nice and knowledgeable folks

Hello all and thanks for these tips! I am also doing Meteora planning!

Do we need a hired guide to see the monasteries? It doesn’t sound like it but just checking :-)

Hotel recommendation near Meteora?

Do a tour with Visit Meteora (https://visitmeteora.travel/). They have several to choose from. We thought they were among the best local tour providers we've been on in Europe.

Once you've seen two monasteries, the rest start to look the same. They are not even all open on the same day, so its hard and unnecessary to see all.

Lunch takes a lot of time away from touring as there is nowhere to eat in the monasteries. You have to go back down to Kastraki or Kalambaka (or pack one to go with you and picnic with a great view of the stone pillars).

Hotel recommendation: Doupiani House in Kastraki (https://www.doupianihouse.gr/). Closest one to the monasteries, great view of the pillars, and just a very nice hotel.

You do not need a tour to see the monasteries but your visit will be enriched by a tour by Visit Meteora.

We ate lunch from a vender in front of a monastery. I would do that or pack a lunch. It is pretty inefficient to go back into town unless you are ready for a long break and intend to wait to visit until later in the afternoon.

Quick report back.

Doupiani House was a lovely place with plenty of parking, gorgeous terrace overlooking garden and Meteora formations. One thing to note is our room was on the bottom floor and somewhat dark, very basic compared to common areas, and the beds themselves were rock hard. I'd still go back for sure, but was a little surprised at the difference between the rooms and overall place. Would definitely recommend staying in kastraki over kalambaka.

We saw 5 monasteries and loved the smaller ones the most. We skipped the biggest one.

For lunch we actually stayed up amongst the monasteries and ate at a cool place with a stunning view called the eagles nest. Otherwise I would have packed some bread/cheese/olives/cukes/tomatoes and had a picnic, there's no shortage of stunning view spots!

One of the best dinners of our entire trip, recommended by our hotel: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/greece/kastraki/restaurants/taverna-bakaliarakia/a/poi-eat/1622057/1316629

Last tip on Meteora: do not rush it. Spend at least 2 nights. Personally I wished we had 3 or 4 nights. The entire area is magical and it takes a bit of time to let it soak into your bones.

mm,
Thanks for the great tips! We are in Greece and will be in Meteora next week. A couple of questions…. Did you do a tour? Did you hike to all the monasteries or drive? Still trying to decide on these questions ourselves.

If you have a car you don't need a tour - this is what our hotel told us and they were right. It's also not really a place you want to be with a large group - we enjoyed having autonomy and doing things at our own pace. Pulling over wherever we wanted to see something better, or for a photo etc. Also, the monasteries are kind of a place you want to tread quietly and be inconspicuous and respectful. Many are still active places of worship and seclusion not tourist sites. Just my personal view on this...

Bring a pareo/wear long pants and covered shoulders. Start early in the morning.

Don't miss st Stephen's (the small, closest one) and the convent St Barbara. The James Bond one was cool - hardest to climb but spectatular - but not as quietly mystical.

Bring a few coins to respectfully leave a candle if you like. Also - if you want to buy any handicrafts or souvenirs made by the nuns/monks, buy them in the shops when you see them and don't assume all places have similar offerings! Better than the vendors outside the bigger ones.

If you stay at Doupiani, say hello to the adorable sweets kittens Romeo and Juleit that play on the garden terrace :)

I wish we had spent longer there! Have a wonderful time.

PS you can't really hike to see all the monasteries, you need transport between them.

Thanks for reporting back, mm! I do hope to be back again next May or June. :) I know where I will stay but I made a note of the restaurant. :)