Kalambaka to Ioannina Travel Guide

West of Kalambáka, the 1694-metre Katára pass cuts across the central chain of the Píndhos to link Thessaly and Epirus. This route, the only motor road across these mountains kept open in winter (except during blizzards), is one of the most spectacular in the country and worth taking for the journey alone. Though nominally the shortest east-west crossing in Greece, distances here are deceptive. The road switchbacks and zigzags through folds in the enormous peaks, which rise to more than 2300m around Métsovo, and from November to April the snowline must be crossed. All this, however, will soon be optional, as several enormous tunnels have been bored through the ridges here as part of the pharaonically ambitious Via Egnatia expressway, designed to spare drivers (especially of lorries) the dangerously curvy existing highway. However, the actual road works - 129km in total from Katára to Igoumenítsa - have been delayed by the necessity of routing 28km of the route through nearly sixty expensive tunnels, often linked by viaducts.

Just two buses daily cover the entire existing route across the mountains, running between Tríkala and Ioánnina, with stops at Kalambáka and Métsovo. If you're driving, allow half a day for the journey from Kalambáka to Ioánnina (114km), and in winter check on conditions before setting out. Anyone planning on hitching from Kalambáka should take a lift only if it's going through to Ioánnina or Métsovo, for there's nothing but forest in between, except for a few small villages without significant facilities