Thessaloniki
travel guides

Thessaloniki is Greece's second city - a 2,300-year-old Aegean port founded by Cassander of Macedon in 315 BC and named after his wife (the half-sister of Alexander the Great). Modern Thessaloniki is the food, nightlife, and student capital of northern Greece, with 325,000 people in a 1.1 million metropolitan area, and 15 UNESCO-listed early Christian and Byzantine monuments scattered across the historic centre.

The city wraps along the Thermaic Gulf with the seafront promenade (Nea Paralia, 4.5 km long) on the south, the Aristotelous Square at the heart, and the medieval Ano Poli (Upper Town) climbing up to the Byzantine castle walls. Major sights cluster within a 1.5 km radius: the White Tower, the Rotunda, Hagia Sophia, the Archaeological Museum. Ladadika is the old Jewish-quarter ouzo district.

Two days are right for Thessaloniki - one for the central monuments, one for Ano Poli and the seafront. Add a third for a Vergina (Royal Tombs of Macedonia) or Mount Olympus day trip. The food scene is among the best in Greece - this is the home of bougatsa, koulouri, and the rebetiko underground.