Things to do in Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki is the second city, and it reads as a different country from Athens. Cassander founded it in 315 BC. It has been a Roman capital, a Byzantine second city, Ottoman for five centuries, and Sephardic for four of those.

Layers on one street

The centre is flat and stacked rather than spread. Everything below Ano Poli burned in 1917 and was rebuilt on a grid. The upper town escaped, and keeps its Ottoman houses and the walls.

• The Rotunda. An early fourth-century Roman round building, later a church, then a mosque; the minaret is still standing.
• The Arch of Galerius. Raised around AD 300 over the main road; locals call it Kamara.
• The White Tower. Ottoman, on the waterfront, and the shape on every postcard.
• Fifteen UNESCO monuments. Mostly churches, listed together, and scattered through working streets rather than fenced off.
• Venizelou metro station. Line 1 opened in November 2024, and the Byzantine marble avenue found beneath it is displayed in place.

Where the eating happens

Greeks come here to eat before they come to sightsee. Kapani and Modiano are working markets, not exhibits. Ladadika, the old oil merchants' quarter, fills after dark.

Most food tours walk the two markets, then sit down for mezedes and tsipouro. Breakfast is bougatsa, cut with scissors and eaten standing.

What the north opens

• Vergina. An hour west: ancient Aigai, and the royal tomb found intact with its gold larnax, widely taken to be Philip II.
• Dion. The Macedonian sanctuary at the foot of Olympus, usually paired with the coast at Panteleimonas.
• Edessa and Pozar. Waterfalls through the middle of a town, and thermal pools in the gorge above.
• Halkidiki. Three peninsulas of beaches, and boat days that run down the Athos coast.
• Mount Athos. Women may not land at all and men need a permit, so the cruise stays offshore.

Practical

• Weather. Real seasons here: humid heat in summer, damp cold in winter, and a northerly off the Axios valley that cuts. Spring and autumn are the walking months.
• August. It is a student city and it empties, with some of the best kitchens shut for a fortnight.
• Legs. The centre is flat; Ano Poli is a genuine climb, and the view is the payment.
• Money. Cheaper than Athens by a clear margin. A full mezze table with wine costs what a main course does in Plaka, and rounding up covers the tip.
• Airport. Makedonia sits southeast of town, with a private transfer around fifty euros for the car and a bus for a couple of euros a head.