Psaropetra and the sunset rocks

The road that loops through Meteora between the monasteries passes a series of natural balconies, and two names cover the essentials: Psaropetra, the wide ledge with the head-on view of Roussanou monastery on its pinnacle and the Pindus ranges layered behind, and the sunset rocks above Kastraki, where the evening light comes in across the whole forest of stone towers. Both are effectively drive-up — a minute or two on foot from the roadside.

The edges of the day are everything here. Sunrise, especially in autumn, can fill the valley below with mist so the pillars and monasteries float on cloud — worth the alarm clock more than almost anywhere in Greece. Sunset gathers a nightly crowd of tripods and tour vans at the famous ledges; arriving forty minutes early secures a position, and walking two hundred metres along the rock from any named viewpoint usually finds a private ledge with the same geology.

The warning is the same at every one of them: these are natural rock platforms with no railings and serious drops, polished slick where thousands stand. Flat grippy shoes, couples placed a step back from the edge, and no backing up for a wider frame — the photographer moves, not the subjects. In rain or wind, shorten the leash further.