A surprising city in Greece, Thessaloniki is my choice destination for great food, sweets, and nightlife.
My Posts on Thessaloniki
General Info:
Areas:
Attractions:
- Ancient sites in Thessaloniki
- Church of St. Demetrios
- Post-Byzantine churches in Thessaloniki
- Ottoman monuments in Thessaloniki
- Paleochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessalonika (UNESCO World Heritage sites)
- Rotunda of Galerius
- White Tower
Events:
- Oxi Day 2013
- PAOK vs Udinese
Introduction to Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki is the 2nd biggest city in Greece and is rich with history. It’s an important city for Greeks, Turks, and Jews. In 1913, there were 62,000 Jews, 46,000 Turks, and 40,000 Greeks living there. The founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, was born there. War and other circumstances have changed the demographics dramatically, but the city’s past is still an important fabric that makes up today’s Thessaloniki.
Personally, Thessaloniki is one of those cities that I can go back to time and time again and it never gets old. It’s got phenomenal food and desserts, great live entertainment, and it’s just a cool place to sit at a café or taverna and let time pass by. Many songs have been written about this amazing city.
What to Do in Thessaloniki
There are plenty of things to keep you busy when visiting Thessaloniki, whether it be museums in the city center, ancient archaeological sites, Byzantine churches, Ottoman monuments, or just sitting at one of the several cafes sipping a frappe, especially along Nikis Avenue (Leoforos Nikis). It also has great food, sweets, music, and entertainment. Thessaloniki can be seen completely in two or three days, but if you’re short on time, you can see the main sites in just a day.
Is shopping your thing? You can find high-end stores all along Tsimiski Street (Odos Tsimiski), and bargains along with some souvenirs at Kapani (Agora Vlali).
If you’re into football, Thessaloniki’s biggest team is PAOK. They play at Toumba Stadium to the east of the city center. It is a great place to watch a game with a very enthusiastic fan base. Just don’t wear anything other than black and white. Other historic teams are Aris and Iraklis. They play at Kleanthis Vikelidis and Kaftanzoglio, respectively.
Getting To Thessaloniki
I’ve traveled to Thessaloniki by bus, train, and plane.
Thessaloniki Bus Terminal
The intercity bus terminal, KTEL, can get you to other cities, towns, and villages in the region. I’ve also traveled back and forth from Istanbul a couple times on Metro Turizm, but it looks like only a few other companies offer trips at the moment (as of March 2024). I’ve recounted my misadventures on a bus trip from Istanbul below.
Thessaloniki Railway Station
The Thessaloniki Railway Station serves cities such as Athens, Alexandroupoli, Florina, and Larisa. International routes include Belgrade via Skopje and Sofia (as of March 2024). The Friendship Express used to run between Thessaloniki and Sirkeci Station in Istanbul from July 2005 and February 13, 2011. I traveled that route in December 2010.
Thessaloniki Airport
Thessaloniki Airport “Makedonia” is about a 25 minute drive from the city center. There are flights to destinations all over Greece and Europe, many of them seasonal. The airport opened in 1930 and expanded with a second terminal opening in 2021. I’ve used the airport to fly to or from Heraklion, Manchester, and Istanbul.
Getting Around Thessaloniki
Getting around Thessaloniki is pretty easy. Chances are, you won’t need to ride the bus very often because for the most part it’s a very walkable city. If you need to ride, you can buy tickets at OASTH sales points all over the city and from vending machines on most buses. Fares start at 0.90€ for a single ride and are 1.80€ for rides to the airport (as of March 2024). Just make sure to validate your ticket when you board to avoid any fines.
The Cultural Route, which is a tourist bus that stops at historic and cultural monuments around the city, is also 1.80€ (as of March 2024). It’s accompanied by audio-visual material and leaflets. The Cultural Route is a good option to get orientated and reach the few out-of-the-way attractions in the Upper Town.
A metro system was under construction at the time of my visits. It’s been much delayed, thanks to archaeological excavations and the Greek financial crisis. Construction started in 2006 and the metro is finally expected to open in the 3rd quarter of 2024 (as of March 2024).
Where to Stay in Thessaloniki
I’ve stayed in four different hotels on three trips to Thessaloniki.
Hotel Emporikon
Hotel Emporikon is in a great location within walking distance to several sites, and my favorite area for dinner and entertainment – Ladadika. The room was great for the price.
Nea Metropolis
Nea Metropolis is just a block from Hotel Emporikon which also makes the location excellent. I stayed there in December 2011 and tried to book it for my stay in October 2013, but it was unavailable.
Vergina
The Vergina is a bit further away, closer to the train station, but still within a manageable walking distance. It’s a much larger hotel than the others I’ve stayed at. It was clean and the breakfast was good. The price was a bit high for the location and the quality of the room, but it makes a decent backup choice.
RentRooms Thessaloniki
RentRooms Thessaloniki is a hostel near the Arch of Galerius and Rotunda. I stayed there for one night on a trip with Tim in October 2013. The rooms and attached bathrooms were clean, comfortable, and secure. The location is also excellent and the staff is wonderful.
Graffiti in Thessaloniki
One of the things I dislike is seeing excessive amounts of graffiti in Thessaloniki. Much of it is meant to be political or humorous, but some of it is very disgraceful.
As in other major cities, you might find some impressive murals, although on my visits to the city there are fewer of them in Thessaloniki than in other cities around the world.
Walking around, I was shocked at the disrespect shown to some public monuments. For example, there’s absolutely no reason for anyone to deface the bust of Athanasios Diakos (1788-1821), a military commander and national hero during the Greek War of Independence.
Similarly, the political graffiti on public and private property was an eyesore. As I mentioned, much of it is political and used as an excuse for the youth to express themselves. Even if it’s a positive message it’s not justified.
A lot of non-Greeks who visited told me they thought it was kind of scary to see so much unsightly graffiti everywhere. Don’t be intimidated by it. It’s disgusting but it doesn’t mean your safety will ever be in jeopardy. Take the normal precautions you would take in any city.
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My Disastrous Bus Trip to Thessaloniki
This is a somewhat comical recount of a bus trip I took from Istanbul to Thessaloniki with my friend Tim on October 26, 2013.
When Tim asked if I’d like to take a last-minute weekend bus trip to Thessaloniki, I jumped at the chance. It’s one of my favorite cities in Greece and I couldn’t think of a better place to spend a weekend
The Ride
Unfortunately, this trip didn’t start out very smoothly as we were turned away at the Istanbul bus station for the overnight bus with Metro Turizm. We bought our tickets to leave the next morning, but getting caught in Istanbul traffic on the way back to the bus station left us just two minutes to jump on our bus. After breathing a sigh of relief, we settled into the terribly misnamed “Bistro Bus” and were on our way out of Istanbul and heading towards the Greek border.
Thankfully, there were no border issues or delays other than the seemingly excited busload of Turks visiting the duty free shops. The Bistro Bus lumbered down the highway past towns and villages and farms while we were either freezing from the air conditioning or sweating when the driver turned it off. We made a short rest stop for the bathroom and some snacks. After an agonizing 10 ½ hour ride, we finally pulled into the new Metro branch office in Thessaloniki.
When I stepped off the bus, I had no idea where we were. Every other time I had taken a bus to Thessaloniki, I was dropped just a 10 minute walk to the city center. This time, I was at a Metro Turizm office in the middle of nowhere.
A friendly man happily took us to the brand new main bus terminal across the highway where we found a local bus into the city center. The local bus dropped us off at the train station which is near where I used to get dropped off before. I got my bearings and started to walk to our hotel that we had booked the night before.
Hotel Problems (and Solutions)
We arrived at the Emporikon Hotel at around 10pm and were greeted with a look of shock and confusion. Because they weren’t sure we would arrive, the hotel had cancelled our booking! It was a busy weekend with Oxi Day and St. Demetrios Day, and literally every hotel in the city was fully booked.
The owner apologized for giving our room away and said he found us a comparably priced room near the airport – a €25 one-way cab ride away. Completely unacceptable. Tim and I played a little “good cop, bad cop” but still there was no solution. As late as it was, we were prepared to sleep in a park and weren’t expecting to find a room at all.
Finally, we got some good news. The owner found the last two beds at RentRooms Thessaloniki, a hostel just a few minutes walk away. The lady at check-in was very friendly and quickly made up our beds. We both stayed in separate six bed shared rooms. Although it wasn’t exactly what we wanted for the night, at least we didn’t have to spend money on a taxi to and from an airport hotel.
We stayed at Rent Rooms one night and returned to Emporikon the next morning. The owner offered us a late checkout and free breakfast for their oversight. He turned out to be a very nice and hospitable guy and again profusely apologized for the mistake. I had a good conversation with him about the economic crisis and how it has affected him and his family, and the rest of our stay went off without a hitch.