The highlights of travelling through Thessaly are easily summarized. Over to the east, curling down from the industrial port-city of Vólos, is the mountainous Pílio (Pelion) peninsula. The villages on its lush, orchard-covered slopes are among the most beautiful in the country - a long-established resort area for Greeks and numerous foreign car-equipped tourists, though still with many unspoiled corners. To the west is a sight not to be missed on any mainland exploration: the extraordinary "monasteries in the air" of the Metéora .

 

The central plains are something to be passed through, rather than visited. That said, Tríkala , capital of the eponymous province, is making itself into a relatively pleasant city, besides providing efficient connections by bus to nearby Kalambáka , gateway to the Metéora, and to Vólos (via dreary Lárissa ).

Heading north or west from Lárissa, you'll find yourself in one mountain range or another. North from Kalambáka there are reasonable roads, though few buses, into western Macedonia, with the lakeside town of Kastoriá an obvious focus. Most travellers, however, head north from Lárissa towards Thessaloníki, an attractive (though currently much dug-up) route in the shadow of Mount Olympus