Spread across the steep slopes of Mount Parnassos under huge cliffs, the site is crammed full of temples, treasuries, a stadium, theatre, and lots of steps!
The ancient Greeks believed Delphi was the centre of the universe after two eagles, released by Zeus, flew around the world in different directions and met here. The first sanctuary was built around the 8th century BC and pilgrims flooded in to consult the oracle, who was believed to speak for Apollo.
We made our way down to the coast and camped by the beach at Itea that night, waking the next morning to find we’d gained some new neighbours.
Heading north we reached Thermopyles, site of the famous battle in 480BC when 300 Spartans defended a narrow mountain pass against the invading Persian army. The story was made into the film ‘300’, which wasn’t entirely accurate as all the actors had pants on!
We then stumbled upon a natural hot sulphur water spa. We jumped at the chance to sit under the waterfall and swim about in the hot water, while Charlie looked on longingly from the van!
Travelling up the east coast we stopped briefly at Sesklo, the first known ruins dating from 6800BC. These were the final ancient ruins for us: there are only so many crumbling walls you can look at before you get so bored you want to eat the audio guide!!
The beach resorts on the east coast heading up towards Thessaloniki were closed for the winter and quite deserted, despite the fact it was still 26 degrees! So if you ever fancy camping on a beach with no one around, this is the place to come. Be warned though – the mosquitoes are the size of Mini Metros!
It was at this point we decided to change our travel plans. We’d originally intended to head home through Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary but we realised we wouldn’t have much time to explore them properly.
There seemed little point in simply driving through them on our way home for Christmas dinner, so we opted to catch the ferry back to Italy and drive home from there instead.
Meteora is one of the most visited places in Greece, and for good reason. The area is littered with huge rock pinnacles which look like the setting for a science fiction film.
Many of the rocks have monasteries on top, some of which date back to the 14th century. One of them was used as the villain’s lair in the James Bond film, ‘For Your Eyes Only’ - the bit where Roger Moore had to climb up the rock and then send a basket down to collect the rest of his team!
Staying at the motorhome aire in Meteora was a strange experience. We had a beer with the family who own it as they watched the Greek version of ‘Have I Got News For You’ in their deserted restaurant. It felt like we were sitting in their front room as they laughed at the host, who looked remarkably like Alexi Sayle.
The next day we took the opportunity to go for a walk up between some of the huge rocks. We got a little worried when we lost the path and had to scramble down a very steep slope. Images of Michael Buerk on ‘999’ sprang immediately to mind!
On our final day before catching the ferry back to Italy we found a deserted beach about half a mile south of the Albanian border. It was one of the most gorgeous places we’ve stayed on the whole trip, with great views over a flat calm sea to Corfu. We spent the day sunbathing, and the night beside the campfire; it was the most perfect way to end our time in Greece.
We would highly recommend Greece to motorhomers. The historical sites, beaches and weather are simply stunning, and the wild camping opportunities out of season are limitless. We would love to go back and see the islands and southern Peloponnese... maybe next year!
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