Nature And Outdoors in Kalabaka

The Meteora rocks are a geological riddle that still has no final answer. The main version: sixty million years ago a great river had its mouth here, conglomerate of pebbles and sandstone compacted in the delta, and then water and wind carved separate pillars out of the monolith. From the road they look like scenery; their true size can only be understood standing at the foot, where a four-hundred-metre wall begins straight from the path.

The walking routes follow old monks' trails between the pillars — the same ones by which, for centuries before the roads, people climbed to the hermitages. The ascent through oak and plane woodland takes an hour or ninety minutes; along the way come hermit caves in the rock faces, wooden galleries at height, and views that never open from the asphalt. Better to walk in the morning: in summer the stone heats up, and the empty afternoon trails are empty for a reason.

Kalabaka and neighbouring Kastraki make a convenient base: both villages lie directly beneath the stones, and every trail starts from the last house. The private format adds flexibility to the hiking — a walking stretch can be combined with a drive up to the working monasteries, the pace set to suit you, and the day closed at a viewpoint as the sun drops behind the pillars and the conglomerate turns from grey to copper.