Greece
Thessaloniki
Greece's second city trades island postcards for Roman ruins, Byzantine domes and the country's most argued-over food, all along one long waterfront.
Greece's second city is a Byzantine port with a student's appetite: the White Tower anchors a long seafront promenade, Roman ruins and domed churches surface between apartment blocks, and the eating is widely rated the best in the country. Salonica's Ottoman, Sephardic and Asia Minor layers still shape its kitchens and its music. It is a working city rather than a museum piece, and it stays up late.
Suggested stay
2–4 days
Language
Greek
Currency
EUR
Timezone
UTC+3
Why you'll love Thessaloniki
Food the kitchens Greeks travel for - bougatsa for breakfast, mezedes and tsipouro after dark, and Asia Minor spicing brought by refugees a century ago
The waterfront a car-free promenade running from the White Tower past themed gardens to the Umbrellas sculpture, and the walk the whole city takes at dusk
Layers a Roman rotunda, Byzantine churches, Ottoman hammams and a vanished Sephardic city all sit within a few blocks of each other
Nightlife a huge student population keeps the Valaoritou warehouse bars and the Ano Poli tavernas going long past midnight
Best time to visit
Mar-Nov
15-32° days
40.640° N, 22.935° E
UTC+3 · Europe/Athens
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Weather & when to go to Thessaloniki
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best Mar-Nov
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Thessaloniki
No bad season here, only different ones. August thins the city out as residents decamp to the Halkidiki beaches and some family tavernas shut for the month, while December to February is cool and damp, with the Vardaris wind funnelling down the valley. Swimming means a trip out of town whatever the month.
Top things to do in Thessaloniki
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White Tower - the city's symbol, inside and out
history 👍 PopularThe stout Ottoman waterfront tower now spirals up through six floors of city history to a rooftop walkway, with the gulf and, on a clear day, Mount Olympus across the water.
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Rotunda and Arch of Galerius - a Roman emperor's quarter
history 👍 PopularA vast brick drum raised for Galerius, later a church with gold mosaics high in its dome and then a mosque whose minaret still stands outside. The carved triumphal arch, Kamara, is two minutes downhill and the city's default meeting point.
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Ano Poli - the upper town inside the Byzantine walls
history scenic ⭐ Highly recommendedThe quarter the 1917 fire never reached: timber-balconied houses, tiny churches and lanes too narrow for cars, climbing to the ramparts and the Trigonio tower for the long view down over the rooftops to the sea.
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Modiano and Kapani markets - eat your way down the aisles
food ⭐ Highly recommendedTwo covered markets in the middle of town, fishmongers and spice stalls and butchers with meze bars wedged between them. Lunch here is loud, cheap and the most local thing you will do all trip.
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Nea Paralia - walk the seafront to the Umbrellas
scenic 👍 PopularThe redesigned promenade south of the White Tower strings a series of themed gardens along the water, ending at Zongolopoulos's steel Umbrellas. Go at sunset, when everyone else does.
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Church of Agios Dimitrios - the patron saint's basilica
history culture artsA huge five-aisled basilica rebuilt after the fire, with surviving mosaic panels flanking the altar and a crypt below on the site where the saint is said to have been martyred.
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Archaeological Museum - gold out of the Macedonian tombs
culture arts historyGrave goods from across Macedonia, headlined by the Derveni Krater and a run of hammered gold wreaths so fine they look like real olive and myrtle.
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Jewish Museum - the Sephardic city that was
history culture artsFor four centuries this was one of the great Jewish cities of Europe, Ladino-speaking and for a time the majority of the population. The museum tells that story and the 1943 deportations that ended it.
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Bougatsa, mezedes and tsipouro - eat the way the city does
foodCustard or cheese bougatsa from a morning counter, a long afternoon of small plates with tsipouro, then souvlaki late. The rhythm matters as much as the dishes.
Best areas to stay in Thessaloniki
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
Aristotelous and the centre
First-time visitors $$Grand squares and busy shopping streets
Explore hotels in Aristotelous and the centre →
Ladadika
Food & nightlife $$Restored warehouse lanes, tavernas and bars
Explore hotels in Ladadika →
Ano Poli
Quiet & scenic $Old timber houses below the walls
Explore hotels in Ano Poli →
Kalamaria
Families & long stays $$Leafy seaside suburb, residential and calm
Explore hotels in Kalamaria →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Thessaloniki
Getting to & around Thessaloniki
Getting there
Fly into Thessaloniki Makedonia (SKG), about 15 km southeast of the centre
Flight
Thessaloniki Airport Makedonia (SKG)
15 km southeast of the centre, out past Kalamaria. City buses run to the waterfront and the railway station in around 40 minutes; a taxi takes 25-30 minutes outside the rush.
Train
Thessaloniki railway station
The mainline station sits about 2 km west of the centre, with intercity services south to Athens and lines running north and west across the Balkans
Coach
Macedonia coach terminal
Long-distance KTEL coaches use the terminal west of the centre, covering northern Greece, Meteora and the run down to Athens
Drive
The Egnatia Odos motorway crosses northern Greece east to west through the city, and the A1 runs south to Athens in about five hours
Getting around
Walking
The centre is flat and tight: the White Tower, Aristotelous and the markets are inside a 20-minute walk of each other
Free
Metro
A single line runs beneath the main axis between the railway station and the eastern side of the city
TBC
City buses
The bus network covers everything the metro does not, including the climb up to Ano Poli and the run out to Kalamaria
TBC
Taxi
Blue-and-white taxis are everywhere and cheap by western European standards; the usual ride-hailing apps work too
TBC
Day trips from Thessaloniki
Vergina (Aigai)
Half dayRoyal Macedonian tombs
The tomb of Philip II left where it was found, under its earth mound: painted facades, armour and a gold larnax displayed in the dark of the tumulus museum.
Getting there
car | bus | tour
1 hr 15 min by car, or KTEL bus via Veria
Mount Olympus and Litochoro
Full dayMythic mountain
The home of the gods rises almost straight out of the sea. Drive up to Prionia for the Enipeas gorge trail, or make it lunch in Litochoro under the peaks.
Getting there
car | train | bus
1 hr 30 min by car, or train to Litochoro
Halkidiki beaches
Full dayBeach peninsulas
The three fingers south of the city are where Thessaloniki swims: Kassandra developed and busy, Sithonia quieter with pine-backed coves and clear water.
Getting there
car | bus
1-2 hr by car or KTEL bus
Mount Athos by boat
Full dayMonastic peninsula
Only men holding a permit may land on the Holy Mountain. Everyone else sees its twenty monasteries from a boat that stays offshore, which is still a remarkable coastline.
Getting there
car | bus | ferry | tour
2 hr by car or bus to Ouranoupoli, then a cruise boat
Meteora
Full dayCliff-top monasteries
Byzantine monasteries balanced on sandstone pillars above the plain. A long day out of the city, and worth an overnight if you can spare one.
Getting there
car | train | tour
3 hr by car, or train to Kalambaka
A little history of Thessaloniki
Founded in 315 BC by Cassander and named for his wife, a half-sister of Alexander the Great, Thessaloniki became a Roman provincial capital on the Via Egnatia and then the Byzantine empire's second city. Its walls, its churches and the Rotunda date from those centuries, and it was from here that Cyril and Methodius carried a written Slavic language north.
Ottoman rule from 1430 made it a polyglot port whose largest community was Sephardic Jewish, exiled from Spain and settled here for four hundred years. Greece took the city in 1912; fire levelled the centre in 1917 and it was rebuilt on a grid; refugees from Asia Minor arrived in 1922 and remade its kitchens; and in 1943 almost the entire Jewish population was deported. The city you walk is the product of all of it.
Cassander founds the city and names it for his wife, Thessalonike
Paul preaches here; his letters to the Thessalonians enter the New Testament
Galerius raises the Rotunda and his triumphal arch as part of an imperial complex
Ottoman conquest ends Byzantine rule over the city
Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain settle here and become the largest community
Greek forces enter the city during the First Balkan War
The Great Fire destroys the centre, which is rebuilt on a new grid plan
Refugees from Asia Minor arrive after the population exchange
The Jewish community is deported to Auschwitz
Know before you go
Payment
Cards & cash mixed
English
Widely spoken
Wifi
Reliable
Power
Type C / F
230 V, 50 Hz
Dialing
+30
Mobile network & SIM card
Get an eSIM before you fly
A Greece eSIM installs in minutes and works the moment you switch off flight mode. No SIM swap, no roaming bill.
FAQs about Thessaloniki
▸ When is the best time to visit Thessaloniki?
March to November is reliably good, with spring and autumn the sweet spot for walking the city. High summer is hot and the place empties as residents head for the Halkidiki beaches. December to February is cool and damp, though the tavernas, museums and bars are indoor pleasures anyway.
▸ How many days do you need in Thessaloniki?
Two full days covers the Roman and Byzantine core, the markets and the waterfront. Three or four lets you eat properly, climb to Ano Poli without rushing and take a day out to Vergina or Mount Olympus.
▸ Is Thessaloniki expensive?
It is one of the better-value big cities in Europe and noticeably cheaper than Athens or the popular islands. A student population keeps eating and drinking affordable, and the best of the city - the walls, the churches, the waterfront - costs nothing.
▸ Thessaloniki or Athens?
They do different jobs. Athens carries the Classical weight and the Acropolis; Thessaloniki has Byzantium, better food by most Greek reckonings and a livelier everyday street life. It is also the natural base for northern Greece rather than a substitute for the capital.
▸ Can you swim in Thessaloniki?
Not in the city. The waterfront is a promenade, not a beach, and the gulf there is not for swimming. The nearest proper swimming is an hour or more away, on the Halkidiki peninsulas or the Pieria coast.
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