We start our tour early in the morning from Athens till Meteora. Our driver will pick you up from your hotel/ apartment or the airport/ port. The travel time is about 4,5 hours.

Kalabaka est une ville et le siège de la municipalité des Météores, dans la région de Trikala, en Thessalie, en Grèce. Au recensement de 2011, sa population était de 12 000 habitants, dont 8 330 dans la ville même. Les monastères des Météores sont situés à proximité de la ville.

We arrive at Meteora and visit up to three Monasteries. Breathtaking at first site, the Monasteries are of great cultural and natural importance. Split from earthquakes, weathered from the wind and the water over millions of millions of years, these immense rocks are an authentic masterpiece of mother nature. The Meteora is a rock formation in central Greece hosting one of the largest and most precipitously built complexes of Eastern Orthodox Monasteries. The six (of an original 24) monasteries are built on immense natural pillars and hill-like rounded boulders that dominate the local area. Meteora is included on the UNESCO World Heritage List and the name means "lofty", "elevated", and is etymologically related to meteor. Please be modestly dressed. Women are suggested to wear long skirts & long sleeves. If you do not have, you will be given a skirt on your way in.

Free time for lunch at a traditional Greek tavern with your friends and family or shopping at Kastraki, a picturesque village near Meteora.

Thermopylae is a place in Greece where a narrow coastal passage existed in antiquity. It derives its name from its hot sulphur springs. In Greek mythology the Hot Gates is one of the entrances to Hades. Thermopylae is the site of a battle between the Greek forces and the invading Persian forces, commemorated by Simonides of Ceos in the famous epitaph, "Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, That here obedient to their laws we lie." Thermopylae is the only land route large enough to bear any significant traffic between Lokris and Thessaly. To go from north to south along the east coast of the Balkan peninsula requires use of the pass, and so Thermopylae has been the site of several battles.

As we leave the magnificent Meteora behind us, let us not overlook the Battle of Thermopylae of 480 BCE, which has long been the topic of cultural motivation, as it is perhaps the most famous military last stand of all time. The monument of the Great Leonidas, King of Sparta, in Thermopylae, will grace our path on our way back to Athens in the late afternoon. Thermopylae is world-famous for the battle that took place there between the Greek forces (notably the Spartans, Lakedemonians, Thebans and Thespians) and the invading Persian forces, commemorated by Simonides in the famous epitaph, "Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, That here obedient to their laws we lie."

Léonidas était roi de la cité grecque de Sparte et le 17e de la lignée des Agiades, une dynastie qui se réclamait du demi-dieu mythologique Héraclès et de Cadmos. Fils du roi Anaxandridas II, il succéda à son demi-frère, le roi Cléomène Ier, sur le trône vers 489 av. J.-C. Léonidas joua un rôle notable dans la Seconde Guerre médique, où il mena les forces grecques alliées jusqu'à la bataille des Thermopyles (480 av. J.-C.), où il tenta de défendre le col contre l'armée perse. Il mourut au cours de la bataille et entra dans la légende comme chef des 300 Spartiates. Bien que les Grecs perdirent cette bataille, ils réussirent à chasser les envahisseurs perses l'année suivante.

We start our way back to Athens late in the afternoon. The drive is about 4,5 hours.