Meteora and Kalambáka

When we were determining which Greece itinerary to choose for our first trip to Greece, Meteora was the destination I was most interested in (with the assumption that any Greek itinerary we followed would include Athens).

I had wanted to Meteora since I saw the climactic ending to James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only featuring Meteora.

That movie scene was filmed at the Monastery of the Holy Trinity and was called Monastery of St. Cyril in the movie.

We visited two of the Meteora Monasteries and started with the Holy Monastery of Varlaam.

There is a rising path to the entrance with incredible views along the way.

The views of Roussanou Monastery from the path up to the entrance of Holy Monastery of Varlaam are very photogenic

After walking up the path to the entrance and being admitted, there is a pretty courtyard area.

There are some beautiful (albeit sometimes violent) frescoes in this monastery's Chapel of All Saints, but photographs are not allowed. However, here are some photographs of the enclosed area just outside the chapel.

After viewing and hearing about the chapel, we went higher in the building for even more grand views.

We were also able to enjoy the pretty variety of colors on this relatively clear late October day.

The views of the valley from the Varlaam Monastery are incredible!

There is a museum-like area with some interesting exhibits, artifacts, and paintings.

We stopped at a scenic overlook in Meteora.

Our next stop was St. Stephen’s Monastery, the "only convent in Meteora."

The view from here is also impressive.

Agios Stefanos has a pretty interior courtyard.

There were many beautiful (and again sometimes violent) frescoes in the chapels, but no photographs were allowed of these.

St. Stephen’s Monastery's terrace area is beautiful.

The terrace area of St. Stephen’s Monastery also has an incredible view featuring Thessaly (Kalambáka), the Pineiós River, and the Pindos mountains.

We stay one night in the town of Kalambaka at

This was the view from our room's patio.

We liked the small town of Kalambáka. It has one major street with some tourist-oriented stores, but was not overly busy in late October. We also enjoyed lunch at Meteora Restaurant.