Tour was good, but the hotel and train schedules were not convenient. The hotel was far away from downtown so we used taxi for dinner. Train schedules were too early and late. I found out the first day train starting around 9 am was enough and if second day return ticket was 13 pm, we would not be wandering until 18 pm.

It was a wonderful journey in general. We spent 4 hours to Kalambaka and 4 and a half hour back to Athens by train. On the 1st day, though it was cloudy with occasional rain and we missed the sunset, we were still able to fully enjoy our day. We went in to a monastery and Meteora amid the clouds and mist was beautiful. The guide was professional, gentle, and humorous. He tried to make the best out of our trip and took a lot of brilliant photos for each one of us. The group was small, around 10 people. On the next day, we were set to join a larger group of people led by a different guide, who was also professional and energetic. We visited two more monasteries. The best part was that because it was clear and sunny, it has become a totally different atmosphere. We were taken to the best sunset viewpoint, where the beautiful scenery lied ahead. Last but not least, we stayed in Hotel Kaikis, which was comfortable. It would be nicer if we had options, such as 3-star hotel or 4-star hotel.

We operate a very large scale fishing and scuba company in the United States so we know great customer service when we see it. From start to finish, the two day tour was fantastic. You get picked up immediately off of the train taken to your hotel (our’s was a beautiful boutique hotel named Dellas with great view) by professional drivers and beautiful passenger vans. The guide on the sunset tour Jim is probably one of the best guides we’ve ever had throughout our travels all over the world, you can tell he loves his job, and loves to interact with people. The hike tour was a great change of pace with a little bit of cardio, great guides and beautiful monasteries to be seen the tour guides and the company went above and beyond to ensure everything was top-notch.