Apart from the monasteries and the magnificent scenery, another good reason for coming to Meteora and northern Greece are the wild flowers. We were a touch early in the season; they're apparently at their best about a month later, in late April.

Sufficient flowers had emerged for me to wax lyrical and wander about the grass meadows and verges taking photographs. One of the problems with wild flowers is that many have a short season and those that bloom in March may be spent by May, so it's a case of enjoying the ones that are flowering at the time.

We managed to see a large variety of wild flowers, including sweet violets, a type of dwarf yellow and brown velvety iris, various daisies, anemones ranging from white to pink to crimson, periwinkle, vetch, and many others that we're still trying to identify.

You will need to leave your car and go for walks to discover pockets of wild flowers in the meadows.

Trees were just beginning to burst into blossom. A bonus of early spring is the amount of green in the countryside before it's parched dry by a hot sun, and if you dislike the intense heat of summer, a spring climate is particularly comfortable for walking.

a spring carpet of daisies around Meteora