2 Days in Thessaloniki

Two days is what most people have, because Thessaloniki is above all a weekend destination. It is also enough: enough to see the two cities that live here side by side, the lower one and the upper one.

The plan splits exactly that way. Day one is the centre and the sea, day two is the Upper Town. Both are walked.

Day 1: the centre, the markets, the sea

Breakfast on bougatsa, starting from Aristotelous Square.

Walk up to the Roman Forum and the Church of Saint Demetrios with its crypt — both free. Turn east for the Rotunda and the Arch of Galerius, the fourth-century Roman complex.

Lunch in the Modiano and Kapani markets: meze and tsipouro at the counter.

In the afternoon head down to the White Tower and walk the waterfront to the "Umbrellas". If you still have energy, the Museum of Byzantine Culture is right there and is among the best of its kind in the country.

In the evening choose between two characters: Ladadika for dinner on cobbles, or Valaoritou for drinks in old warehouses turned into bars.

Day 2: above the walls

The Upper Town is the only quarter that survived the great fire of 1917, and it shows: narrow lanes, timber-framed overhangs, courtyards.

Go up — by taxi if the hill is not for you, it is a short ride — and walk the Byzantine walls towards Vlatades Monastery and the Heptapyrgion, the fortress that became a prison and then a monument. The view over the gulf is why you climbed.

Lunch at a neighbourhood taverna with that view, then come down at your own pace.

The afternoon is left for whatever you missed: the Archaeological Museum, Hagia Sophia and the Acheiropoietos in the centre, or simply coffee by the sea. If you like your walks mapped, the Ano Poli at sunset route gives the second day a shape.

Where to stay for two days

In the centre. With two days, distance is time you do not have, and nearly everything you will see is there. For more detail there is a neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood guide.

Practical

• Metro: running since November 2024, along the spine of the centre. There is no station for the Upper Town — you go up by bus, taxi or on foot.
• Museums: seasonal hours and a weekly closing day. Check before you build the second afternoon around one.
• Shoes: the Upper Town is cobbles and gradient. Not a walk for new shoes.

If you have a third day

The three-day plan gives the museums a day of their own, so nothing has to be squeezed.