4 Days in Thessaloniki
Published · by ThessalonikiHub
Three days in the city and one outside it — or four inside, if its history is what you came for.
In this guide5
At four days Thessaloniki changes character as a destination. Up to three you are seeing the essentials; from the fourth onwards you start choosing what interests you, and the city has enough depth to repay that.
The first three days are the three-day plan as it stands: the centre and the Roman-Byzantine city, the Upper Town, the sea and the museums. The fourth is yours, and there are three good ways to spend it.
Option A: the city's other history
Thessaloniki was not always a Greek city of Christian monuments. For five centuries it was Ottoman, and for four it was the largest Sephardic city in Europe — they called it the "Mother of Israel".
Both histories have a walk of their own: Jewish Thessaloniki and Ottoman Thessaloniki. Each takes a morning and changes how you read everything you saw on the days before.
This is the option for anyone who realised, somewhere around day two, that this city is more complicated than it first looked.
Option B: a day trip
Within an hour and a half of the city there are places that justify the day:
- Vergina, the royal Macedonian tombs and the tomb of Philip II. A UNESCO monument, with the museum built inside the burial mound itself.
- Mount Olympus, for anyone who wants a mountain rather than a view of one.
- Edessa and its waterfalls, if you are travelling with children.
Vergina is the safest choice if you only have one day for a trip: it is close, it is indoors, and it does not depend on the weather.
Option C: the sea
From May to September the fourth day can be a swimming day. You do not swim in the city itself — see where the nearest beaches are and how far away they actually are.
Where to place the day
If you choose a day trip, make it the third day, not the fourth. The last day of a trip is usually half a day, with luggage and a flight time, and it will not take two hours of road.
Keep for the end the things that happen inside the city and are easy to interrupt: a museum, a market, a coffee by the sea.
Practical
- A car: you need one only for the day trip, and only if the intercity buses do not suit you. For the other three days it is a liability — see the parking guide.
- The two historical walks cross the same part of the centre. Do not put them on the same day: it is one neighbourhood seen through two different eyes, and the second pair is wasted.
