After we finished our RS Greece Tour, we spent 2 nights in Meteora and 2 nights on the Pelion Peninsula. We rented a car from Athens Car Rental and were happy with the company.
April 29 - We left our hotel at 9 in order to be at the cafe at the Koropi Metro stop to meet our car rental agent at 10:00. That would have worked if we hadn't headed the wrong way on the Metro. Whoops! After a few stops we figured it out, exited and got going the right way, We still might have made it on time, but not all of the metro trains that leave Syntagma Square go to the airport which is one stop past Koropi. So somewhere between Syntagma and Koropi we had to get off and wait 15 minutes for the next airport metro train. About 9:55 ACR called to see if we were going to be on time and I let him know that we were going to be 20 minutes late. He said that would be no problem, but he was glad to know our new time. We got to Koropi and went up the stairs, but we were on the wrong side of the road, so we had to descend the stairs, go under the road and go up the correct set of stairs. ACR was waiting for us and we spent about 10 minutes filling out paperwork and walking around the car and then we were off. The roads were great! I think we had to pay about 5 tolls for about 15 euros altogether. Each time we had the choice to pay a person or put in coins. We chose to use our credit card, so stopped at the booth with a person each time. There was rarely more than 1 car in front of us. We arrived in Kastraki about 16:00 and stayed at the Doupiani House with a mountain view room - highly recommended. After settling in we went to dinner at Taverna Bakaliarakia, also highly recommended. After dinner we walked back to the hotel and decided to drive around the monasteries. Even though they were all closed, we had some great views and the roads were not crowded.
April 30 - We had signed up for the 8:30 hiking tour with Visit Meteora. They arrived about 8:40 and the 13 of us on the tour started hiking right from our hotel. There were 6 of us staying at the Doupiani and 7 had been picked up along the way. Our guide Chris said that normally we would have been broken up into 2 groups, but they were short a guide that day. it was a wonderful tour with lots of hiking and explanations about the area and the monasteries. He gave us an hour to explore Grand Meteora monastery and eat a snack or lunch that we brought or bought from the vendors in the parking lot. We then hiked back to the hotel and were back about 1:40. We went about 5 miles and 68 floors according to my health app. We rested up and then were picked up 4:10 for our Sunset Tour with Visit Meteora. It was a cloudy day, so we knew from the start we would not be seeing a sunset, but it was still a great tour. They drove us to many view points and gave us 45 minutes to explore St. Stephens monastery. We also saw and got explanations about an ancient church in Kalambaka. After we got back, about 8, we went to dinner.
May 1 - After sleeping in, we had a great breakfast at the hotel, did a little rock scrambling, packed up and left at 11:00. I would have been happy to have stayed another night to explore some more monasteries, but we had reservations on the Pelion Peninsula, so off we went.
Posted by
2497 posts
We are going to Greece in a couple weeks and are going to Meteora and even staying at Doupiani House. And we are doing a hiking tour with Visit Meteora! We are also doing a cave tour with them.
We will have to check out Taverna Bakaliarakia.
Thanks for sharing.
Posted by
OP
83 posts
Beth - the cave tour sounds fun! When we were checking out of the Doupiani House, she asked if we wanted to pay in cash for a discount. It was the end of our trip, so we had very little cash, so didn't do it. Thought I would give you a heads up. I don't know what the discount would have been.