• Greece Guide

  • Introduction to Greece
  • Weather
  • Things not to miss
  • Getting around
  • Public holidays
  • Entry requirements
  • Money

• Explore Greece

  • Athens
  • Around Athens
  • The Peloponnese
  • Central Greece
  • Western Greece
  • Northern Greece
  • The Argo-Saronic
  • The Cyclades
  • Crete
  • The Dodecanese
  • The East and North Aegean
  • The Sporades and Évvia
  • The Ionian Islands

• Cities

  • Athens
    
  • Kórinthos
    
  • Kavála
    
  • Pátra
    
  • Thessaloníki (Salonica)
    

Greece Guide

Northern Greece

Thessaloníki (Salonica)

• Accommodation
• Eating
• Nightlife

The administrative capital of Macedonia and Thrace, THESSALONÍKI – or Salonica, as it is sometimes known to English-speakers – has a distinctly Balkan feel that sets it apart from other Greek cities. Situated at the head of the Gulf of Thessaloníki, a horseshoe-shaped inner recess of the Thermaic Bight, it seems open to the rest of the world, with a wide ethnic mix and an air of general prosperity, stimulated by a major university, an international trade fair and a famously avant-garde live music and entertainment scene. The food is generally better than in the rest of the country, too: there are some very sophisticated restaurants, but also flavoursome traditional fare on offer in a great number of old-fashioned ouzerís and undeniably Turkish-influenced tavernas, not surprising when you consider that Thessaloníki was the main metropolis for the Asia Minor refugees of 1923.

A commercial and industrial centre, rather than a tourist resort, the city has enough to offer the visitor for two or three days, at least. Its many churches constitute a showcase of Orthodox architecture through the ages, while you can catch glimpses of the Turkish city both in the walled Upper City and in the modern grid of streets on the flatlands below: isolated pockets of Ottoman buildings, many of them Islamic monuments, which miraculously survived the 1917 fire. Thessaloníki's many and often excellent museums cover subjects as varied as Byzantine culture, the city's Jewish heritage, folklife, musical instruments and Atatürk. For most visitors, however, the one that stands out is the Archeological Museum, albeit depleted since the transfer of most Philip II-related exhibits back to the burial sites at Vergina.

Once you're within the central grid of streets, orientation is made relatively straightforward by frequent sightings of the bay and a series of main commercial avenues: Ayíou Dhimitríou, Egnatía (the city's busiest main street), Tsimiskí and Mitropóleos. All run parallel to the quay, but confusingly change their names repeatedly as they head east into the city's post-medieval annexe. Most of central Thessaloníki's principal sights are within easy walking distance of each other, many located on either side of Egnatía.