Pluto Caving Tour

Are there caves in Greece? Of course there are! Just remember some of the most known Greek myths: Minotaur was living in a vast cave under the palace of King Minos, Hercules had to descend into a deep cave to find Cerberus, Cyclops Polifimos was living in a cave, and many more! We can not get you to these caves, but we have prepared a fine tour, with five of the most important and easily accessible caves.
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Day 1
The airport is just 30 minutes away from the centre of the city, and we will be there to welcome you.
After you settle at the centrally located hotel, you will have time to walk around the city before our welcome dinner.

Day 2
The cave of Petralona has caused a great disagreement amongst scientists, especially in a conflict regarding a human skull found in the cave, and the attempts to calculate its actual age. It is believed to belong to an Archanthropus that lived in the cave around 600,000 B.C., a transitional type between Homo erectus and Homo sapiens.
The findings are presented at the museum next to cave and they include many bones from lions, deer and other animals, as well as many stone tools from bauxite, flint and quartz.
Although the stalactites and stalagmites in the cave are of considerable interest, the cave also shows some cave coral and emphasizes on the excavations.
The cave, the museum, the great surrounding environment and the proximity to the golden beaches of Chalkidiki are more than enough to offer a great day.

Day 3
The caves of Maara and Alistrati are close to each other, so you can visit them in one day.
The tour at Alistrati Cave takes about one hour and the path is about 2km long and absolutely flat, making walking around trouble-free.
The cave is famous because it shows multiple speleothems: Stalactites, stalagmites, soda straws, draperies, curtains and dripstone pools. The most impressive is that the rare dogtooth spars, helictites, aragonite crystals and cave corals are very common and of extraordinary size in Alistrati.
There are also 44 species of fauna found in the cave, quite numerous!
The Maara cave is a river cave with a tour of about 500 metres. The entrance is artificial, and the path is built on a bride above the river. There are some huge stalagmites, but the tour highlights are the water wheel built in the 19th century, the great doline and a chapel, all near the end of the tour.

Day 4
You should start earlier today as you have quite a long drive. Approximately 3 &1/2 hours later you will arrive at Ioannina, with an intermediate stop at the scenic Metsovo. Ioannina is a lovely town, with many monuments and ideal for an afternoon walk by the lake under huge plane trees.
It is also a very alive city with many cafes and bars, offering traditional handmade silver jewelry.

Day 5
The cave of Perama is just 10 minutes' drive from the hotel.
The duration of our tour will be approximately 45 min, and it will cover a length of about 1,500 m. The cave was formed about 1.5 million years ago and it is a part of the bed of an underwater river that formed three levels. It is known for the impressive formations and the bear teeth and bones found.
The tour is not as easy as a walk at the park, as there are many steps and the path goes up and down, before the last accent of about 150 steps, which lead to a spectacular view of Ioannina and the lake.
After the cave we will visit some of the famous villages of Zagori area (Zagorohoria). All buildings are made from stone, even the roads inside the villages. The most impressive buildings however are the stone bridges, resisting time and water for more than 200 years.
The other exceptional thing at this area is the natural environment, with high mountains, deep gorges and forests blending harmonically with human constructions.
We will return to Ioannina late in the afternoon.

Day 6
You will return to Thessaloniki from a different road. Descending from Metsovo to the plains of Thessaly you will visit Meteora. Even if you have seen the area on TV or photos, you are about to live a lifetime experience! If you think that the vertical cliffs are impressive, imagine how difficult was to build the monasteries on top of them! Meteora is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and depending on the day we will visit one or two monasteries.
From there, the road to Thessaloniki is easy and you can make a short stop at Tempi valley.

Day 7
In the morning you will visit the cave of Kilkis (Agiou Georgiou) a rather small but very beautiful cave, less than an hour away from Thessaloniki.
The cave shows extraordinary coral formations, covering hundreds of square meters! Although cave coral is common, it is usually found in patches of a few square decimetres, and rarely of some square meters!
In the cave were found many bones dated to be 15,000 years old. They were very well preserved and probably belong to dotted hyena, fox, weasel, horse and giant deer.
The rest of the day will be spent in Thessaloniki. There are many interesting monuments from all ages, and we will take care that you see as many as possible.

Day 8
If you have time we will be happy to show you more of Thessaloniki or just have a coffee, before we drive you to the airport.