Northern Greece: Thessaloniki, Mount Olympus, Meteora and Zagori

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in Thessaloniki

   Thessaloniki airport (SKG) to your hotel in the centre, then an evening walk to Ladadika

   • Environ 30 min de route
   • Welcome dinner
   • Nuit : Thessaloniki
   Détail du jour 1

   Fly into Thessaloniki airport (SKG), about 17 km southeast of the centre, and plan to land by about 3 pm. A driver meets you in the arrivals hall for the half-hour drive to a central hotel. The afternoon is yours to settle in or walk the waterfront promenade towards the White Tower, the Ottoman-era tower that has become the city's emblem. At about 5 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the days ahead: what to pack for the mountains, how the monastery dress code works, and how the days are paced. Then we walk together through the lower town to a stretch of the old western walls and a small frescoed chapel nearby, and down into Ladadika, the old warehouse quarter by the port, for a welcome dinner of meze and grilled fish.

   Compris

   • Pick-up at Thessaloniki airport (SKG)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Evening walk through the lower town to the western walls and Ladadika
   • Welcome dinner in Ladadika

   Temps libre : Free until the 5 pm briefing

   Activité : If your flight lands later than about 3 pm, the driver still meets you and you join the group at dinner.

   

2. Jour 2 : Roman and Byzantine Thessaloniki, and a market lunch

   The Rotunda and the Arch of Galerius to Agios Dimitrios, the markets, then the Upper Town

   • Environ 15 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Thessaloniki
   Détail du jour 2

   We start at 9 am with a licensed local guide at the Rotunda, built around AD 300 for the Roman emperor Galerius and later a church and a mosque, then walk under his triumphal arch, the Kamara, its marble panels still crowded with battle scenes. From the Roman Forum we climb to Agios Dimitrios, the city's patron church, and go down into its crypt. These churches are part of the group listed by UNESCO in 1988 as the Paleochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessaloniki. Lunch is a slow tasting walk through the Kapani and Modiano markets: cheeses, olives, bougatsa pastry and a sit-down plate of meze. The hot afternoon is free. At about 6:30 pm the van takes us up to Ano Poli, the Upper Town, for the Vlatadon monastery terrace and the walls by the Heptapyrgion fortress, with the Thermaic Gulf below in the evening light, then we walk back down through the steep lanes of the old quarter towards the centre.

   Compris

   • Guided walk with a licensed local guide: the Rotunda, the Arch of Galerius, the Roman Forum and Agios Dimitrios with its crypt
   • Tasting lunch through the Kapani and Modiano markets
   • The Upper Town in the evening light: the Vlatadon monastery terrace, the Heptapyrgion and the Byzantine walls

   Activités en option

   • The Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki or the Museum of Byzantine Culture on your free afternoon (entry on you)

   Option plus facile : Stay with the van at the top of the Upper Town and ride back down instead of walking.

   Temps libre : Afternoon free in Thessaloniki

   Activité : About 3 hours on foot over the day, on city pavements and steep cobbled lanes in the Upper Town.

3. Jour 3 : Vergina and Pella: the Macedonian kings

   Thessaloniki to Vergina, lunch in Veria, then Pella and back to Thessaloniki

   • Environ 3 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Thessaloniki
   Détail du jour 3

   We leave at 8 am and drive about an hour west to Vergina, ancient Aigai, the first capital of the Macedonian kings and a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1996. Arriving soon after opening, ahead of the coach groups, we go into the Royal Tombs museum, built inside the great burial mound where Manolis Andronikos found the tombs in 1977. In the half-light you see the facade of the tomb attributed to Philip II, father of Alexander the Great, and the gold larnax and wreaths found inside. A local guide then takes us to the Polycentric Museum of Aigai and, where it is open, the restored palace on the hill. Lunch is a sit-down meal in nearby Veria. In the afternoon we cross the plain to Pella, the later royal capital and Alexander's birthplace in 356 BC, where floors of river pebbles set in mortar show a lion hunt, a stag hunt and Dionysos riding a panther. We are back in Thessaloniki by about 5 pm for a free evening.

   Compris

   • Vergina (Aigai) with a licensed local guide: the Royal Tombs museum and the Polycentric Museum of Aigai
   • Sit-down lunch in Veria
   • Pella: the archaeological site and the museum with its mosaics

   Temps libre : Evening free in Thessaloniki

   Activité : About 2.5 hours on foot, mostly on level paths and museum floors; the Royal Tombs museum is dim and cool inside.

4. Jour 4 : Dion, then to Litochoro below Olympus

   Thessaloniki to Dion on the A1, then Litochoro

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Litochoro
   Détail du jour 4

   An hour's drive south along the Thermaic Gulf brings us to Dion, the sacred city of the Macedonians at the foot of Mount Olympus, where tradition says Alexander made sacrifices to Zeus before leaving for Asia. We walk the site in the cool of the morning with a local guide: the Sanctuary of Isis, where spring water still floods the temple floor, the Roman baths, the city walls and the villa of Dionysus with its large floor mosaic. The museum in the village holds the statues found here and a Roman water organ. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Dion, then it is fifteen minutes to Litochoro, a stone-built mountain town about 5 km from the sea where we stay two nights. The rest of the afternoon is free. Walk up to the start of the Enipeas gorge path on the edge of town, or sit in the square and watch the cloud move on the summits of Olympus, the highest at about 2,918 m.

   Compris

   • Dion archaeological park with a licensed local guide: the Sanctuary of Isis, the Roman baths and the villa of Dionysus
   • The Dion museum
   • Sit-down lunch in Dion

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free in Litochoro

   Activité : About 2 hours on foot at Dion on level, sometimes muddy paths; boardwalks cross the wet ground by the Sanctuary of Isis.

5. Jour 5 : Walking in the Olympus foothills

   Litochoro up the mountain road to Prionia, on foot down the Enipeas gorge to Agios Dionysios, then back to Litochoro

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Litochoro
   Détail du jour 5

   At 8:30 am the van climbs the 18 km mountain road from Litochoro to Prionia, at about 1,100 m, where the road ends and the main path to the Olympus summits begins. Mount Olympus became Greece's first national park in 1938, and its forests of black pine, beech and fir are cool even in June. We walk a short way to the waterfall above Prionia, then follow the Enipeas gorge path down through the forest with our guide, crossing the river on small bridges, to the old monastery of Agios Dionysios, about 1.5 to 2 hours at an easy pace. Founded in the 16th century and burned by German troops in 1943, it has been partly rebuilt by the monks and you can walk into its courtyard. The van meets us at the monastery, and lunch is a sit-down meal at Prionia or back in Litochoro. The afternoon is free; on September departures the sea at the beach below town is usually warm enough for a swim.

   Compris

   • Guided walk from Prionia down the Enipeas gorge path to the old monastery of Agios Dionysios
   • The waterfall above Prionia
   • Sit-down lunch at Prionia or in Litochoro

   Option plus facile : Ride the van between Prionia and the monastery and walk only the short path to the waterfall; both places are on the road.

   Option plus active : Carry on from Agios Dionysios down the Enipeas gorge on the E4 path to Litochoro, about 3 more hours with a packed lunch, and meet the group in town.

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free in Litochoro

   Activité : A rocky forest path with roots, short climbs and river crossings on small bridges, about 1.5 to 2 hours. Shoes with grip are needed; walking poles help. We do not climb to the summits.

6. Jour 6 : Through the Vale of Tempe to Meteora

   Litochoro to the Vale of Tempe, Larissa and Trikala, then Kalambaka and a sunset viewpoint

   • Environ 3 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Kalambaka
   Détail du jour 6

   We leave after breakfast and drive south into the Vale of Tempe, the narrow gorge the Pineios river cuts between Olympus and Mount Ossa. From the old road a swaying footbridge crosses the river to the small chapel of Agia Paraskevi, built against the rock; the plane trees here are old and the water is green and quick. Then we cross the plain of Thessaly past Larissa to Trikala, a riverside town with a lively old quarter, for a sit-down lunch. From Trikala it is half an hour to Kalambaka, where the Meteora rocks rise straight out of the town: sandstone and conglomerate towers some 300 m high, with monasteries on their summits. We stay two nights below them. After a rest at the hotel we drive up the road around the rocks in the late afternoon, stopping at a viewpoint that looks across to the Roussanou nunnery on its pillar, and stay until the sun goes down. Dinner is your choice.

   Compris

   • The Vale of Tempe and the chapel of Agia Paraskevi across its footbridge
   • Sit-down lunch in Trikala
   • Sunset viewpoint over the Meteora rocks and the Roussanou nunnery

   Temps libre : Late afternoon rest and evening free in Kalambaka

   Activité : Short walks only today; the Tempe footbridge moves underfoot and has a handrail.

   

7. Jour 7 : Meteora on foot

   Kalambaka to Kastraki, on foot to the Great Meteoron and Varlaam, then St Stephen's after its midday break

   • Environ 45 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Kalambaka
   Détail du jour 7

   At 8 am a short drive takes us to Kastraki, the village tucked under the tallest rocks, and we walk up the old stone path that served the monasteries before the road: a steady uphill of roughly 45 to 60 minutes. We reach the Great Meteoron as its doors open at about 9 am. It is the largest of the six monasteries still lived in, with a frescoed church, the old kitchen and a museum of icons and manuscripts. Next door, Varlaam keeps the winch tower where supplies, and once visitors, were hauled up in a net. A local guide tells how hermits first lived in the caves here and how Meteora became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1988. Lunch is a sit-down meal back in Kastraki, then a rest at the hotel. St Stephen's nunnery, on the Kalambaka side of the rocks, closes from about 1:30 to 3:30 pm and stays open until about 5:30 pm in summer, so we reach it after it reopens, when the morning crowds have thinned.

   Compris

   • Guided walk on the old path from Kastraki to the monasteries
   • The Great Meteoron at opening with a licensed local guide
   • Varlaam monastery
   • Sit-down lunch in Kastraki
   • St Stephen's nunnery after it reopens at about 3:30 pm

   Option plus facile : Ride the van up to the monastery doors instead of walking; the monasteries themselves still have up to a few hundred steps.

   Option plus active : Walk back down to Kastraki after the morning visits on the same stone path.

   Temps libre : Early afternoon and evening free in Kalambaka

   Activité : Dress for the monasteries: skirts below the knee for women, long trousers for men, shoulders covered; wraps are usually lent at the door. Day 7 is never a Monday (St Stephen's closed), Tuesday (Great Meteoron closed) or Friday (Varlaam closed), and we confirm each monastery's hours before every departure.

8. Jour 8 : Over the Pindus by Metsovo to Ioannina

   Kalambaka by the mountain road to Metsovo, then the Egnatia Odos to Ioannina and the Kastro

   • Environ 2 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Ioannina
   Détail du jour 8

   We drive west after breakfast up the mountain road into the Pindus to Metsovo, a stone town at about 1,150 m and one of the main centres of the Aromanian, or Vlach, people of Greece. A local guide shows us the Tositsa mansion, now a folk art museum of carved wood, weavings and silver, and there is time for the Averoff art gallery or the shops selling smoked Metsovone cheese. Lunch is a sit-down meal in the village, with mountain pies and grilled meat. In the afternoon the Egnatia Odos carries us through tunnels and over viaducts to Ioannina, the capital of Epirus, on the shore of Lake Pamvotis, where we stay two nights. In the late afternoon we walk into the walled Kastro with our guide: the Its Kale citadel with the Fethiye mosque and the tomb of Ali Pasha, who ruled here around 1800, and the Aslan Pasha mosque above the water. Watch the sun go down over the lake, then dinner is your choice.

   Compris

   • Metsovo with a local guide and the Tositsa Folk Art Museum
   • Sit-down lunch in Metsovo
   • Ioannina Kastro with your guide: Its Kale, the Fethiye mosque and the Aslan Pasha mosque

   Activités en option

   • The Averoff art gallery in Metsovo (entry on you)

   Temps libre : Evening free in Ioannina

   Activité : Metsovo's lanes are steep and cobbled; the Kastro walk is about an hour on level stone.

   

9. Jour 9 : Zagori and the Vikos Gorge

   Ioannina to the Kipi bridges, Monodendri and the Oxya viewpoint, then the island in Lake Pamvotis

   • Environ 2.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Ioannina
   Détail du jour 9

   The Zagori villages sit high in the mountains north of Ioannina, stone-roofed and linked by old mule paths and arched bridges; UNESCO listed the Zagori cultural landscape in 2023. We drive up after breakfast, about an hour, and stop first at Kipi for the three-arched Plakida bridge and the single-arched Kokkoris bridge over dry riverbeds. At Monodendri a stone path leads in about 15 minutes to the monastery of Agia Paraskevi, built on the lip of the Vikos Gorge. Then the road runs on through the forest to the Oxya viewpoint, where the gorge drops away in front of you, with the Voidomatis river far below. Lunch is a sit-down meal in a Zagori village square. We are back in Ioannina by mid-afternoon for a rest. In the early evening a small boat takes us across the lake to the island, where we see the monastery in which Ali Pasha was killed in 1822, now a small museum, before a farewell dinner by the water.

   Compris

   • The Plakida and Kokkoris bridges at Kipi
   • Monodendri and the monastery of Agia Paraskevi on the edge of the Vikos Gorge
   • The Oxya viewpoint over the Vikos Gorge
   • Sit-down lunch in a Zagori village
   • Boat to the island in Lake Pamvotis and the Ali Pasha museum
   • Farewell dinner on the island

   Option plus facile : Stay with the van at Monodendri and meet the group at the Oxya viewpoint, which is a few steps from the road.

   Option plus active : Walk the old stone stairway of Vradeto, a zigzag mule path cut into the cliff, with your guide while the group drives round, about an hour.

   Temps libre : Mid-afternoon free in Ioannina

   Activité : About 2 hours on foot on stone paths with steps; the path to Agia Paraskevi has a drop on one side and a wall to hold.

10. Jour 10 : Back across the mountains to Thessaloniki

    Ioannina to Thessaloniki airport (SKG) on the Egnatia Odos

    • Environ 3.5 h de route
    • Petit-déjeuner
    Détail du jour 10

    After a last breakfast by the lake we leave at about 9 am and drive east on the Egnatia Odos, the motorway that crosses northern Greece from the Ionian coast, through the Pindus tunnels, past Metsovo again and down through the hills of western Macedonia by Grevena and Kozani. We stop for coffee halfway and reach Thessaloniki airport (SKG) at about 12:45 pm: about 280 km and 3.25 hours of driving, inside the 4-hour cap. Book a flight leaving after about 4 pm. If you would rather stay on in Thessaloniki, we drop you in the centre instead and can book extra nights for you. If you are flying home from Athens, we can drop you at Ioannina airport in the morning for a domestic flight, which you book yourself, or you can take the train from Thessaloniki to Athens. Your guide sees each of you off and checks your plans before saying goodbye.

    Compris

    • Drive from Ioannina to Thessaloniki with your guide
    • Drop-off at Thessaloniki airport (SKG) or central Thessaloniki, or at Ioannina airport (IOA) in the morning

    Activité : Book a flight from Thessaloniki leaving after about 4 pm.

Faune et météo : May and June bring green valleys, wildflowers in the Olympus foothills and Zagori, and snow still on the high peaks; September and October are warm and settled, with harvest in the villages and shorter days by late October, when rain is more likely in Epirus.

• Thessaloniki3 nuits
• Litochoro2 nuits
• Kalambaka2 nuits
• Ioannina2 nuits