Bus Travel

About nine buses a day make the seven-hour trip from Athens's Terminal A (Kifissou) to Ioannina's main Zosimadon Station. Some buses take the longer route east through Kalambaka and Trikala rather than the usual southern route to the Rion-Antirion ferry over the suspension bridge which is the largest in Europe. From Athens's dismal Terminal B (Liossion), seven buses leave daily for the five-hour journey to Kalambaka. Most routes require you to hop on a different bus for the final leg from Trikala, but one morning bus goes direct. From Thessaloniki the bus takes you via Konitsa to Ioannina in a little over seven hours.

Around three KTEL buses leave Ioannina daily for Metsovo (about one hour) and two buses for Kalambaka (two hours); frequencies are the same in the opposite direction. Buses for Dodona leave from Ioannina's smaller, Bizaniou Station. The several-times-weekly bus heading for Melingi village passes the ancient site. Other bus options drop you off 1 km (½ mi) or ½ km (¼ mi) from the site; ask for information based on the day you want to go. On Sunday, service is reduced for all towns. Regular bus service runs from Ioannina's main terminal to the towns in the Zagorohoria.

Papandreou Station (Papandreou 45, Ioannina, 45444. 26510/27442; 26510/25014 for Metsovo, Kalambaka, and Dodona.)

KTEL information (www.ktel.org.)

Terminal A (Kifissou 100, Athens, 10442. 210/512-4910; 210/512-9363 for Ioannina.)

Terminal B (Liosion 260, Athens, 10445. 210/831-1434 for Trikala Kalambaka and Meteora.)