This tour includes two of the most important sites, in mainland Greece. It presents a picture of ancient Greek civilization beginning with the Mycenaeans, the Greek Bronze Age, and continuing through Archaic, Classical, and, to a lesser extent, Hellenistic, and Roman Greece. It provides a glimpse of the spiritual splendor of Byzantine art and architecture.
It is a full itinerary, but the pace is manageable. Plenty of time is available on the sites, allowing time for adequate exposition by the tour guide and time for further exploration on your own.

* The traditional village of Arachova.
* The modern Village of Delphi.
* The sanctuary with the temple of Apollo and the Oracle of Delphi.
* The monument of Leonidas, the Spartan King, in Thermopylae.
* 2 monasteries are visited. One of them is the nunnery of St. Stephen.

* NB. The archaeological museum in Delphi is not visited on this tour.

ORACLE OF APOLLO in DELPHI-the centre of the universe

According to the myth, Zeus released two eagles. One flew east and the other one west. They met over Delphi, determining that the center of the world was there. A temple dedicated to the god Apollo was built there in the 7th c BC. The oracle of Apollo became a religious center where common people and kings alike, came to consult the priestess of the sanctuary.
The ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE consists of the temple of Apollo, the treasury houses, the theatre, and the stadium.

METEORA-THE ART OF NATURE

Beautiful rocks from another world embrace Kalambaka. The monuments are under the protection of UNESCO and are recorded as the second largest Monastic community after the Holy Mountain.
It’s a region of inaccessible sandstone peaks where the monks found protection and settled on these “columns of the sky” since the 10th c. AD. 24 monasteries were built, despite incredible difficulties at the time of the great revival of the monastic ideal in the 15th c. Their 16th c. frescoes mark a key stage in the development of the post-Byzantine painting.
The monasteries at Meteora grew out of the need to avoid Turkish persecution during the occupation in the 14th c. Monks lived in caves in the rocks of Meteora since the 11th c. but the inaccessible peaks provided safety for Greek Orthodox monks. Over time a large number of hermitages and monasteries were built on these rocks, making Meteora the second largest monastic complex in Greece after Mount Athos.
Seeing the beautiful stone structure, surrounded by mist, is enough to make you understand why the monks and nuns selected this area for unceasing prayer. Today, from the many monasteries that existed, only six are open to the public: The monasteries of St. Nicholas Anapafsas, Grand Meteoron, Varlaam, Roussanou, Holy Trinity, and St. Stephan. The Holy Meteora is the most visited religious monument in Greece.

“Here at these barren rocks thousands of orthodox monks learned wisdom, humility, and morals “

DAY 1: The bus starts the pick up at 07.30 am and, traffic allowing, it departs from the terminal in the center of Athens at 08.30 am.
Passing by THEBES (the town of mythical Oedipus), LEVADIA (short restroom stop), and the traditional village of ARACHOVA, you arrive in DELPHI at +/- 11.30 am.
Delphi was considered by the ancient Greeks to be “the center of the universe”. With the professional tour guide, you will explore the legendary site of the Oracle.

13.30 The group proceeds for lunch, and at +/- 14.45 departs via AMPHISSA, LAMIA, and TRIKALA for Kalambaka with a short photo stop at THERMOPYLAE, the site of the famous battle between the 300 Spartans against the huge Persian army in 480 B.C. took place. In antiquity Thermopylae (= hot gates,) was a narrow coastal passage. Its name comes from its hot sulfur springs. “Hot gates” is also “the place of hot springs and cavernous entrances to Hades. After a brief rest stop outside Lamia, we shall arrive at your hotel in Kalambaka at +/- 19:00. Overnight.

DAY 2: 08.15 You visit two of the monasteries that are open on that day.
12:30 Return to Kalambaka for lunch and at +/- 14:00 you start the return and arrive in Athens at 19:30.

Time Tour Plan & Services
8:30 Depart from the terminal at +/- 08:30
11:30 After a short break outside Levadia you arrive in Delphi
11:45 With the professional tour guide you visit the sanctuary
13:45 Proceed for lunch at a local restaurant (not included in the price).
15:00 Continue to Kalambaka via Thermopylae (photo stop) and Trikala.
19:15 Arrival in Kalambaka. Check-in at the hotel and (optional) dinner at 19.30
08:15 Depart from the parking of Hotel ORFEAS
09:00 Drive to Meteora and visit 2 monasteries (entrance fees included).
12:00 Have lunch at a local restaurant. (Not included in price)
14:00 Start the return and arrive in Athens at +/- 19:30. Hotel drop off by 20:00

4 STEPS TO BOOK a tour | PAY ONLINE

Meteora is one of the most beautiful areas of mainland Greece and the monasteries are one of the country’s most unique attractions. Join one of the following tours and visit Meteora.

QUESTION: How many hours do we stay at the ancient site in Delphi? ANSWER: You spend 1.30 hours in the ancient site of Delphi.
QUESTION: Is there any free time, or is it all guided? ANSWER: There is free time but I suggest you break from the group as early as possible. The tour doesn’t go to the top of the mountain to see the Delphi stadium.
AT METEORA: You spend about 1 hour in each monastery but there is no need to break early.
Appropriate clothing is required to visit the Monasteries and nunneries. Skirts below the knees for ladies and long trousers for gentlemen.
The monasteries/nunneries provide wrappings that the visitors can wear over their clothing before entering.
FREE TIME: After the guide takes you around, you have enough time to see whatever is left to see.
IN DELPHI the 2-day tour to Meteora meets the 3-day classical tour, and the tour company usually moves guests traveling to Meteora onto another bus and they proceed to Kalambaka and visit Meteora together.
For the 2-day tour to Delphi and Meteora clients: The restaurant in Delphi is 3 km after the modern Delphi village.

littlebluekingfisher, Bangalore, Re: Astoria Travel, Jan 14
My family and I are just back from a wonderful trip to Greece. I’d done some research and bookings before I ran into a brick wall trying to book train tickets to Meteora. Searching around I found a note by another traveller on Tripadvisor, who’d had exactly the same problem and stumbled on Astoria Travel. He’d had a great experience with them and recommended them highly. So I contacted Kosta at Astoria, and am blessing the stars that I did so!
If we had a good, sensibly planned trip in which we saw as much as we could without being run ragged, it was thanks to Kosta. Over the course of several emails, he helped refine my plans; even to the extent of arranging to hire a taxi from Delphi to Levadia railway station to catch the train from there to Kalampaka and not lose a day.
He also arranged our train and ferry tickets (to Santorini) — getting the latter at a cheaper rate than that quoted on the web! I wish we’d done our hotel bookings through him too, as according to people that we met in Greece, he got them good rooms at the hotel that we all stayed at lower than the rates that we were found through www.booking.com

I visited them at their office in Athens. It was impressive to see that Astoria Travel has been in business since 1958, and through experience has been able to attune its services and offerings to a very wide range of traveler needs. Their list of contacts is vast, which worked helpfully in our favor: Kosta just picked up the phone and got a taxi to pick us up at Kalampaka station (paying no more than the normal rates, despite being booked ahead).
Moreover, they are a family-run concern, so their levels of friendliness, personalization of services, and traveler support are several notches higher than what a more impersonal agency could provide.
I would highly recommend Astoria Travel not just for booking tickets, tours, and hotels, but for help and advice in planning your holiday as well. He graduated from a University in South Africa, his English is excellent and he is highly knowledgeable and courteous.
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From: https://travelbunny8.blogspot.com/2016/07/greece-4-days-classical-greece-tour.html
(Visit the excellent blog site, read the description and comments)

If you wish to see the major sights of mainland Ancient Greece including UNESCO-listed ancient sites of Mycenae, Epidaurus, Olympia, Delphi, and Meteora monasteries, then I recommend you to join a 4 Day Classical Greece Tour.
The tour departs from Athens and returns to Athens.

5 UNESCO World Heritage Site in 4 days. I have to warn you that 4 out of the 5 World Heritage sites are in ruins. The tour which I joined was organized by G.O. TOURS. Information about the tour can be found on their website at http://www.gotours.com.gr/en/

However, I did not book through their website. I booked it through ASTORIA TRAVEL http://www.astoria.gr/price-tours-classical-4day.html that can be contacted at athens@astoriatravel.gr. I e-mailed Mr. Kosta and since I booked the tour through him in 4-star hotels, I got a free arrival transfer offer to my hotel. Actually, Kosta himself came to the airport and took us to the hotel.

After browsing through the web, I found that Astoria Travel offers the cheapest tour packages in Athens. Initially, I was quite skeptical. How can this tour agent offer such a low price (20% cheaper) compared to the travel company’s price? Is this a scam? Well, believe it! I even book my first two nights in Athens at Hotel Arethusa (very near Syntagma Square) at a very cheap price through Astoria Travel.

I took the First-Class package as the price difference was not much compared to the Tourist Class package and the complimentary airport transfer sounded attractive. During the tour, some of my fellow travelers took the Tourist Class package. Frankly, I don’t think there was much of a difference compared to the First-Class hotels. In fact, the Tourist Class hotels were located nearer to the town center while the First-Class hotels were located at quieter locations outside the towns providing small luxuries (swimming pools, good dinners, breakfasts, etc.)

After checking into the hotel, you can actually explore the town of Kalampaka, and don’t miss the 9th-century church at Kalampaka. The church is about 15 minutes walk from the hotel.

The tour includes visits to two of the six monasteries of Meteora.

As the tour group was small, we got to know each other pretty quickly.
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Singh, Melbourne, posts 60, reviews 8. Re: Astoria Travel

Just came back from 2 days Delphi and Meteora tour arranged by Kosta. He gives such good service with fast replies and the issuing of vouchers. Kosta gives excellent value for money. He is highly knowledgeable, caring, and courteous. Very trustworthy. There were 6 of us going on the tour and on the morning of the tour, he personally came by and made sure we got on the tour! Great discount for the tour and we did save €’s by booking with him rather than directly with a tour company or Viator. On the bus, we met and became good friends with a couple that bought their tour from Viator and we could compare prices and services for the same tour in the same hotel. Kosta gives excellent value for money. He is highly knowledgeable, caring, and courteous. His English is excellent, he is very experienced, extremely helpful, and proud of Greek history and Greek culture.

Astoria Travel (est. 1958)
48 Stadiou street, Athens 10564, Greece.
Tel. +302103250380, +306932888585.
SEND your message to: bookings@astoriatravel.gr