1

There is only one bus departure per day heading north from Delphi to Thessaloniki, http://www.ktel-fokidas.gr/?module=default&pages_id=30&lang=en you will have then to change multiple buses through Lamia, Larissa, Trikala to head to Kalambaka/Meteora. I have never done this, but people report it is a good 7-8 hours' trip including waiting time among buses etc.
An other option is bus enroute to Athens from Delphi, but disembark on Livadia, taxi from Livadia center to train station, train to Kalambaka (often train change in Paleofarsala required)
http://www.ktel-fokidas.gr/?module=default&pages_id=29&lang=en
http://tickets.trainose.gr/dromologia/
Depending on how bus/train schedules fit, this option might save you 2-3 hours bus ride or on the contrary might add significant time on the trip.

I think it is wise to check while on the spot, it is rather confusing and complicated to work this out through websites, and online bus schedules are not always up to date... : (

2

Thank you for the information. I had no idea it took so much time. I wonder if it would be easier and more time efficient to do it in two separate overnight trips and return to Athens in between? I am staying with an acquaintance in Athens so don't need to worry about finding and paying for a hotel. Any thoughts on this idea?

3

It looks a bit like back-tracking, but given travel logistics, going back to Athens is much more straighforward, because the Athens-Delphi bus service is a frequent and comfortable one. http://www.ktel-fokidas.gr/?module=default&pages_id=29&lang=en
Then you can either use bus from Athens to Trikala and onwards to Kalambaka
http://ktel-trikala.gr/?module=default&pages_id=16&lang=en
http://ktel-trikala.gr/?module=default&pages_id=28&lang=en
either train from Athens to Kalambaka
http://tickets.trainose.gr/dromologia/
(Train site seems a but temperamental but click the English version, erase names on white boxes and put Athens to Kalambaka in English characters and then pick a day on the related box. Click blue button and schedules will come up. It need some play around, but it is easy when you get the haddle of ti.....)

You do not mention your dates but it is is some time soon, I suggest to get the 14.30 bus from Athens to Delphi, traveling lightly with what you need just for the overnight. It will approach Delphi around 18.30-19.00 . Museum closes early, at 16.00 but sites are open till 20.00 . I would ask the bus driver to stop over the sites, preferably the more far out of the modern town, the lower site of Athena Pronaea/Gymnasium. It is smaller and 1 hour is more than anough to explore there. Around sunset, light is great there and there will not be many visitors around. This way you enjoy part of the site by your self.and you save walking to the distant part of sites next day. After the lower site, you will climb back to the road, heading left, you will see the Kastallia spring on your right hand side at 20 metres, then you may pleasantly walk along the pedestrain road leading to upper site/museum entrance,and continue towards modern town, pedestrian street finish 50 metres before town entrance. So you get your bearings around. Sortly afterwards you will enter modern Delphi. You can check in in your hotel, have a shower, relax, browse the localshops, then enjoy a nice dinner in a valley view tavern or something. NExt morning, havbe an early start and try to be by the upper sites's entrance around 9AM the latest. Most tour groups visit museum first, so you will be able to climb up the sites and enjoy in relative quitness. Do not forget to go all the way up to the stadium. When you fisnish with sites, you can go visit the gorgeous museum. Museums is small but hosts some very important and fashinated things : ) This way you avoid the midday heat, as you'll be inside the museum at hostest part of the day. Yes, on fasll heat is not as bad as on summer, but it is still an issue when you climb up and down a whole hill side spread of ruins! lol
About your stuff, Delphi hotels are used to store them for a few hours after checking-out, or you could always ask at the bus station if they could keep your laguage for you from early morning till departure time (it is wise to have your return ticket beforehand rather to rush and purchase it lastr minute) It is up to you which bus to depart on to Athens, most people spend around an hour to the museum and 2-3 hours at the sites. IF you are not in a hurry, note that Delphi modern town although touristy, has a few nice spots to visit that people tend to ignore, For example you may want to research the Angelos & Eva Sikelianos museum.

About Meteora, I do not know if you plan to visit all monasteries or not if you plan to do some hiking and so on. Monasteries have different off days and timetables each. It worths to have a look here : http://www.kalampaka.com/en/meteora/monasteries.asp
On my opinion, 2 nights make more sense on Meteora. It really worths try to visit some of them and plan around avoiding large tour groups. MEteora has a very different ambaince on late afternon due to light but due to less crowds around ditto.

Edited by: mariha2912

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Thank you very much for the useful information. I visited Delphi today and really enjoyed it. I plan to go to Meteora tomorrow.

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Glad you enjoyed Delphi, have a nice trip to Meteora : ))))

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Meteora was a highlight of my trip!!!!! I elected to ride the bus up the hill and the morning and walk between all of the open monasteries. I can't imagine doing it any other way, the scenery in that area is beautiful and walking allowed me to go at my own pace. Highly recommended!

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Great to hear back from you Sierragirl : )

How was your experience on bus connections Delphi to Meteora? I see many people moaning about this, and I guess they are fair enough to do so, as it is a very long trip, but on the other hand, bus schedules are aimed mainly to locals so no direct service among some tourist spots...I wonder how it worked for you?

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Oh, I ended up coming back to Athens for a night after visiting Delphi (I actually did an organized tour to Delphi-not recommended). I decided I'd probably spend as much time on a bus/in bus stations and coming back was far less frustrating.

I learned that the day I left Kalampaka they had a big storm that left some people homeless and others without electricity. This makes me sad as I met some great people there and am afraid it will have an even further negative effect on tourism.

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I think that Delphi is a very straightforward side trip from Athens, no need for an organized tour on my opinion... Meteora is usually the tricky one lol

I do not think recent storm left people homeless but it is true there were some electricity problems in this area. I think everything is back to normal now...

Nice to hear your feedback : )

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I guess the news was exaggerating.....good I am glad to hear things are good in the area.

Thank you to everyone who advised me on this trip, it was a good one!