[1] Rent a car and pay attention to the GPS and the Greek drivers. It is doable but has obvious disadvantages: safety, anxiety, not enjoying the tour but concentrating on where you go, where you park your car, where you stop and eat, etc. It will take you longer and could mean an overnight!

[2] A bus tour (with some strangers next to you) will take about 4.5-5 hours each way, plus the pick-up and drop-off of all the passengers from their Athens hotels or pick-up locations. They will often do this tour as a 2-day or longer tour since the apparent tour bus delays would make a day tour almost impossible or extremely long!

Google maps is real-time, so what you see depends on the [local] time of the day

[3] Meteora-based agencies offer the train solution. You are on your own to get from your Athens hotel to Meteora by train. It will also take an even longer time to travel, assuming you also need a taxi (this is the part you have to get right) from your Athens hotel to the train station. The local/Meteora agency will pick you up from the nearby town and help you visit the monasteries. It is a economical solution but not without its issues … no need to list them and step on toes!

[4] OUR Meteora private day tour from Athens with one of our great drivers/tour leaders. The dearest of all 4 options but VFM. We know how to minimize the impact of distance without speeding but by creating an experience which will cover the distance smoothly. We leave Athens at 7 a.m. and return by 6-7 p.m. Earlier start will work for us … to beat the traffic.