Nearly every Greece itinerary is islands. The mainland holds monasteries on rock pillars, the best ancient sites, mountain villages and a second city with better food than Athens — and books at a fraction of the rate.
Meteora
Monasteries built on top of sandstone pillars rising 400 metres from the plain, from a period when inaccessibility was the point.
Six remain active. Each has its own opening days and they close on rotating days of the week, so check the current schedule — arriving to find three shut is common.
A dress code applies: covered shoulders and knees, skirts for women, and wrap skirts are provided at the entrances.
Five hours by train from Athens to Kalambaka, four by car. Two nights, and walk the paths between the rocks rather than only driving the loop road.
The Peloponnese
A week, with a car.
Nafplio as a base — a Venetian port town and one of the most attractive small cities in Greece.
Mycenae, Bronze Age, with the Lion Gate.
Epidaurus, a theatre with acoustics that still work — a coin dropped on the stage is audible in the back row, and people test it constantly.
Ancient Olympia, the original games site.
Mystras, a Byzantine city on a hillside, abandoned and remarkably intact.
Monemvasia, a fortified town on a rock joined to the shore by a causeway, invisible from the landward side.
The Mani, with stone tower villages built for feuding families, and the Diros caves.
Zagori and the northwest
Stone villages in the Pindus mountains, connected by arched packhorse bridges and old stone paths, above the Vikos gorge.
Some of the best walking in Europe and almost no international visitors. Ioannina is the nearest city, with an Ottoman lakeside citadel.
Access by car. Spring and autumn are best; winter brings snow.
Delphi
On a mountainside above a valley of olive trees, and the setting does most of the work.
A day trip from Athens, or better, an overnight — the site at opening, before the coaches, is a different experience. The museum holds the bronze Charioteer.
Thessaloniki
Greece's second city, and one many Greeks rate above Athens for food and nightlife.
Byzantine churches, Roman ruins, and an Ottoman and Jewish history largely absent from the capital — Thessaloniki was one of the great Sephardic cities before the Second World War.
Connects well to Halkidiki's beaches and to Meteora.
Transport
Trains reach Kalambaka and Thessaloniki from Athens usefully.
Buses (KTEL) cover the country extensively and reliably, and are the default for anywhere without rail.
A car is necessary for the Peloponnese, Zagori and the Mani. Roads are good; mountain roads are slow.
Timing
April to June and September to October across the mainland.
Summer is very hot at the archaeological sites, which have no shade — Olympia and Delphi in August at midday are punishing.
Winter works for Meteora, Thessaloniki and the cities, with snow in the mountains and many coastal places shut.