Central Greece and  Northern Greece are not visited by tourists as much as Attica and the Peloponnese.  This really is a shame though.  There are many historically important and beautiful sites throughout Northern Greece.  Though I did not visit as many of these places as I would have liked, I still was able to go to a few places.

(2,426 inhab.)  There were really three places during my entire trip that I found I could relax and enjoy.  Nauplio was the first and Delphi is the second.  From Athens it takes a bus ride of a few hours to get there, though it is a nice trip through Thebes and on towards the mountains north of the Corinthian gulf.  You will first arrive at the archaeological site where there will undoubtedly be buses parked along side the road as far as you can see.  The large numbers of visitors at the site often arrive thirty minutes to an hour after they open.  I would recommend going well before the gates open so that you can be the first visitors into the site.  The modern town is around the hill past the archaeological site.  It is close enough to walk to, so do not worry about taking a ride back to the site.  The modern town of Delphi once was located directly above the archaeological site, but when the French first began excavations, they paid to have the entire village moved about a mile to the west.  The town is relatively small and the steepness of Mt. Parnassos allows almost every hotel with a balcony to have a marvelous view.  You can see all the way down to the port town of Itea where cruise ships sometimes dock to allow day trips up to the site.  Do not pass this terrific web site up, it has panoramic views of Delphi (in German) that require a Quicktime plug-in, but it should not be missed!

Where to stay: The town is absolutely dependent upon the tourist trade, which makes it perfect for packaged tour groups, but a hassle for those people who really come to learn about the sanctuary and site itself.   I searched a while for a room and finally decided upon the Hotel Olympia, which was nice, clean, and cheap.  It had such a great view that I decided to stay an extra night! The Pension Odysseus is located on the lowest street and will let rooms out for 4000 drx. per night for one person and a double for 7000 drx. per night.  The Hotel Athina is located on the middle street.  If you are with someone it will cost 2500 drx.  per night per person (in a double) and if you are alone it will be about 4000 drx.  The Hotel Pan is similar.  It is a little nicer and a little more expensive though.  If you are looking for a nicer place, the Hotel Apollo has singles from 10-16,000 drx. per night with TV's, A/C, and nice private baths.  A double goes for 15-23,000 drx. per night.  One last place I will mention is the Hotel Sibylla.  It has singles for 3-4,000 drx. per night and doubles for 4-6,000 drx. per night.  I did not stay there, but it has a great location and private baths with 24 hour hot water. Eating out:  Higher up the hill and on the western edge of town there was a good restaurant (Vakxos) with, once again, a stunning view (though on my most recent trip they had built a permanent roof over the balcony instead of the retractable awning that allowed you to appreciate the view even more).  I would also recommend a great pizza at Taverna Omfalos (on the upper street).  I also had pizza at a restaurant called Vesuvio, and it was not too bad either, and relatively cheap.  The Taverna To Castro is also not too highly priced and has decent food (it is located on the western end of town).  On my last day there, I ate at Lekaria and have a wonderful meal for about seven dollars.  My friend Craig swore this was the best meal he had in all of Greece.

The Archaeological site at Delphi , (or for a more 'touristy' version, click here: Archaeological Site .  Or try here for a wonderful comprehensive site plan from Perseus and the people at Tufts University) and the Archaeological Museum of Delphi rank up in the top five "do not miss" destinations of the country.  It has also been designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO (1987).  Though I was treated very badly by the ticket taker (see the 'classic's pass' information on the Preparing page), I was glad I finally was able to see the museum, although there were hundreds of school children there.  This was true both times I visited the museum.  There were children everywhere!  There is plenty to see at the site and I would be wasting my time if I tried to name all of the monuments and buildings there (the Bouleterion there has a web site here, and you can also read Pausanias' description 10.5.3 ).  But do not forget to take a lot of pictures while looking out over the site to the beautiful view southward.  Also you should take the five minute walk up past the site (and the wonderful theater ) to the stadium, and if you still have time you should walk on past the site to the east, back towards the Temple of Athena Pronaea.  The sanctuary is so large that it can seem quite confusing, but the guidebooks are helpful.  The books give a good historical and mythological account of the area and they have many artistic renderings of the buildings and treasuries as they should have looked.  For more pictures of Delphi, try here at Delphi Photos .  There is also supposedly a Late Roman Tour of Delphi online, but I have been unable to find it.  The absolute best site for pictures at Delphi (she has even scanned the ticket!) is Dr. J's Illustrated Guide to Greece - Delphi .  Do not miss this site if you want to see more photos of archaeologically important scenes from Delphi.

While I was in town, there was a production of the play Medea, by a traditional Chinese Opera group.  It was held in the circular end of the Stadium of Herodes Atticus at night and though it was entirely in Chinese, I will admit that I loved it.  The costumes, acrobatics, high-pitched singing were all wonderful as was the Chinese accompanying orchestra.  It was a terrific surprise that most people in our group missed out on.

Osios Loukas: Osios Loukas is a monastery famous for its mosaics and its age.  It is not very accessible though,  unless you have a car.  I hope to have more information here soon.

Arachova: Arachova is a small town east of Delphi (the buses to Delphi run right through the middle of the town and it is easy to catch a bus back and forth - price is 220 drx. each way).  It has relied upon its woven products for its fame.  There is a beautiful clock tower hanging out over a cliff in the middle of town and when it rains there are countless streams running right through the middle of the streets in specially designed troughs.  Try Arachova.com for some pictures, but the site is only in Greek and is basically nothing more than an index page.

Thermopylae: After swinging down from the mountains north of Delphi, you are finally deposited near the site of Thermopylae on the main highway from Thebes to Lamia.  Alongside the highway, which is very dangerous if you have to cross it, there is a monument of Leonidas , and further up the mountain is the site where he made his famous stand against the Persians.  Learn more about this famous battle by reading some information online (or off).  A few of us (mainly Dean Hammer and myself) tried in vain to find the remnants of the Phocian wall where the Spartans kept the Persians at bay, but the thickets and thorns were just too problematic.  It was also a lesson to bring extremely detailed maps to the sites so you do not spend forever looking for things that should be easier to pick out.  Thanks to Ron Markovich for the site presentation.

Lamia: (41,000 inhab.) Just a note here that in this boring town I had to sit for a few hours till my connecting bus arrived.  It was one of the worst layovers I ever have had to endure (ok, so I am exaggerating a little here).  But I have also heard from others confirming my opinion of the place so I will advise you to try to keep away from this one.

Meteora: The towns of Kalambaka (5,692 inhab.) and Kastraki (1,278 inhab.) do not make it to many people's trip itinerary simply because they are out of the way. But though this has nothing to do with ancient history, my interest, this is something I am extremely glad I decided to see.  The monasteries that adorn the top of the huge rocks that make up " Ta Meteora " ("the things in the air") are just unbelievable (click here for an awesome site on Meteora with great pictures for each of the monasteries).   The entire complex of monasteries has been designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988.  Even the surrounding area is very peaceful and unique, thanks to the wildlife and wonderful rock formations.  Here is a thorough description of the site and its surroundings, sure to be of interest to you naturalists and a site for the more adventurous . Here is a number of marvelous panoramic views of the monasteries and villages at Meteora. You MUST see these! You will need the Quicktime plug-in though.

It is easy to take a bus up in the morning to the Grand Meteora and walk back down, but all but the strongest will have to skip one or two on the way down. You have surely seen some of the monasteries in advertisements or at the end of "For Your Eyes Only," the James Bond movie. But the monasteries are even more spectacular in real life.  It is too bad you cannot take photos inside the buildings (all the more reason to buy a guidebook!). They do ask that you wear pants or skirts for visits inside though.  I am sure glad I did, since on the way to the bus station I was bit by a dog and the only thing that kept me from extreme danger was the fact that I had worn pants that day (the first time in the whole trip!)!

A nice guy runs the Hotel Odyssey on the Kastraki side of town and usually American groups are there.  It is a nice walk on to Kastraki from there and enterprising people can actually just walk on to the monasteries from there.  The bus station in Kalambaka is in a bad place (hard to find).  While I was there I saw numerous people climbing up the side of a particular rock.  If you enjoy rock climbing, this would be one place I would think you could not pass up!

The ride to Ioannina: After leaving Kastraki for Ioannina to the west, the first rain storm I had seen in Greece came up.  Also a road block stopped the bus in the middle of the street for thirty minutes while the police searched the bus. They finally grabbed the guy in the seat behind me and took him out at gun-point, forcing him to get his bag under the bus and show his papers. Yelling, screaming, people looking at the show, and a driving rainstorm made it very nerve-wracking. The checkpoint was made at a one lane bridge over a river and it was meant to catch 11 violent criminals (I found this out the next day in the paper) who had escaped from the jail in the town east of Kalambaka the night before. It just so happened that Olymbiakos was playing Panathanaikos (Dominique Wilkins' team at the time) for the Greek Pro Basketball finals the night before and all the guards at the jail were watching the game while a major prison break was occurring.  The sad part is that I am not making this up!

Metsovo: (2,705 inhab.)  Metsovo is actually two towns divided by a gorge.  I did not stay in Metsovo (here is a nice web site for the small town ), but it is in some of the highest mountains of all Greece.  It is a quaint little town with a surprising tourist side due to the amount of crafts made here. There are ski resorts nearby and the town makes a good stopover. The Pass of Katara over the Pindus mountains nearby is at 1707m. and is amazing.  It should only be attempted in the best weather though, since it is above the snow line.

Ioannina: (44,000 inhab.) Actually a very pretty town cradled in the mountains of Epirus . There isno real outlet for the huge lake at Ioannina so it is quite polluted. Still there are usually many people rowing on it and it looks clean from afar. There is an exceptional Byzantine Museum of Ioannina here that I recommend if only for its up to date exhibits and tasteful displays. The fortified part of the town is also nice to visit and there is an Archaeological Museum of Ioannina .  I mainly visited locations on the waterfront and the touristy area.  Few people in this region speak any English or French at all, though they seemed more friendly.  Not that many tourists travel up here as compared to the rest of the country.  It appears to me that the relatively high hotel rates in this town may be due to a lack of competition.  I eventually paid a high rate for a bad room, but there were not many choices.  On a weekend you may be out of luck.  My choice was the Hotel Astoria but I would not recommend it unless you were in dire need.

If you have made it this far then you should be sure to see the sanctuary and theater at Dodona.  It was the real reason that I was in Ioannina in the first place.

Dodona: One of the best preserved theaters in all of Greece is located here and it is the main attraction. Dodona is around 13 miles from Ioannina, nestled into a valley between spectacular mountains on one side and some large hills on the other.  There is only one hotel and they will charge you as much as they can, but if you walk a couple miles up the mountain, you will arrive at the village of Dodona where you can obtain a decent room for a better price.  NO ENGLISH at all was spoken here.  I had to use my rusty Spanish here to be able to communicate with a man who was staying at the same place I was.  Luckily I happened upon a local celebration at around 7pm on the night I was there and I was able to see some dances and performances in traditional costumes at the theater itself.  The sanctuary at the theater was the reason the complex was built in the first place.  It was an oracle like Delphi but much older.  There are few remains at the Archaeological Site of Dodona , but the acropolis does extend from the top of the theater (I bet you would not be surprised if I told you that you can find out more about their Bouleterion online).  Watch out for snakes though!  I saw a couple of them and the locals warned me.  Two other tourists (Swiss) also warned me by what must be the international symbol for snakes: make your hand like a "C" and hiss while you close your fingers together).  The coolness of the area gets quite chilly after being in the Peloponnese for a while.  You definitely realize you are not in the big city anymore when you are in this part of the country.  Mules are still common as transportation in places and herds of goats are seen blocking the road sometimes too.