Greece Guide
Central Greece
Central Greece offers scattered highlights – especially the site of the ancient oracle at Delphi (modern Dhelfí), and, further north, the other-worldly rock-top monasteries of Metéora. Overall the region, dominated by the vast agricultural plain of Thessaly, is less memorable, with mostly drab market and industrial towns. The area south of Thessaly is known as Stereá Elládha – literally "Greek Continent", reflecting its mid-nineteenth-century past as the only independent Greek mainland territory, along with Attica and the quasi-island of the Peloponnese. It encompasses the ancient districts of Boeotia and Phokis, the domains respectively of Thebes (modern Thíva) and Delphi. Most visitors head straight to Delphi, but those with extra time make a rewarding detour to Ósios Loukás monastery – containing the finest Byzantine mosaics in the country.
The basin of Thessaly (Thessalía in Greek) formed the bed of an ancient inland sea – rich agricultural land ceded reluctantly to the modern nation by the Ottomans in 1881. Thessaly's attractions lie at its periphery, defined by the mountain ranges of Ólymbos (Olympus), Píndhos (Pindus), Óssa and Pílio (Pelion). East from the major port city of Vólos extends the hilly peninsula of Mount Pílio, whose luxuriant woods and idyllic beaches are easily combined with island-hopping to the Sporades. To the west, Kalambáka gives access to the unmissable Metéora, and to Epirus via the dramatic Katára Pass over the Píndhos.
Highlights
1 Ósios Loukás A remote Byzantine monastery with vivid eleventh-century mosaics.
2 Delphi Spectacularly set ruins of an oracle believed in ancient times to be the centre of the earth.
3 Galaxídhi The best preserved settlement on the Gulf of Kórinthos, one of Greece's major ports in the nineteenth century.
4 Náfpaktos A lively market town with a stage-set old harbour and swooping castle walls.
5 Karpenisiótis valley This alpine valley, nicknamed the "Greek Switzerland", is a major springtime river-sport venue.
6 Mount Pílio Hiking trails link mansion-filled villages clinging to wooded hillsides, the mythical home of the centaurs.
7 Northeast Pílio coast Superb, pale-sand beaches provide respite after arduous hiking.
8 The Metéora Meaning "rocks in the air"; bizarre, scenery and exquisite Byzantine monasteries.