Thessaloniki: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
Cassander founded the city in 315 BC and named it after his wife Thessalonike, the half-sister of Alexander the Great, whose own name meant victory in Thessaly. Six hundred years later the emperor Galerius made it his capital and built himself a palace, a triumphal arch and a round domed building whose purpose nobody has settled — and all three are still standing in the middle of a working city, with shops and flats built up against them. Two hours, flat.
A short history of Thessaloniki
In 315 BC King Cassander founded the city and named it after his wife, Thessalonike, the half-sister of Alexander the Great. Under Rome and Byzantium it was the second most important city after the capital. In 1430 the Ottomans captured it, and after the expulsion from Spain in 1492 tens of thousands of Jews arrived. For centuries Jews were the majority of the city's population, the port closed on the Sabbath, and Ladino was heard in every street. In 1912 Salonica passed to Greece, and in 1917 a great fire burned most of the centre. In 1943 about 50,000 of its Jews were deported to Auschwitz, and most of them never returned.
The ten best sights in Thessaloniki
1White Tower6 euros, six floors of city history, and the roof is the view
2Rotunda8 euros, from about 306, and the only minaret left in the city is on it
3Arch of GaleriusFree, from 299, and the locals call it Kamara
4Roman ForumFree, found in 1966 when they dug for a car park
5Agios DimitriosFree, and the crypt below is the Roman bath he was killed in
6Hagia SophiaFree, eighth century, and modelled on the one in Constantinople
7Panagia ChalkeonFree, from 1028, brick-built, and sunk below street level
8Prophet ElijahFree, fourteenth century, and it was a monastery before the Ottomans
9Vlatadon MonasteryFree, from 1351, and the only Byzantine monastery still working
10HeptapyrgionFree, the acropolis fortress, and it was a prison until 1989
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What is an audio walk?
Tours in Thessaloniki →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Thessaloniki:
Free walking tours in Thessaloniki
Three hundred and twenty years of Rome
Cassander founded the city in 315 BC and named it after his wife Thessalonike, the half-sister of Alexander the Great, whose own name meant victory in Thessaly. Six hundred years later the emperor Galerius made it his capital and built himself a palace, a triumphal arch and a round domed building whose purpose nobody has settled — and all three are still standing in the middle of a working city, with shops and flats built up against them. Two hours, flat.
- White Tower · The Ottomans built it in the fifteenth century and used it as the city prison and the place of execution — it was known as the Tower of Blood, and the stones were stained. In 1890 a prisoner was offered his freedom if he would whitewash the whole thing; he did, and the name changed with the colour.
- Arch of Galerius · Put up in 299 to celebrate a victory over the Persians, and the carvings on the piers are a running account of the campaign — you can follow the battle from the bottom up. Only two of the original eight piers survive, and the locals do not call it an arch at all: they call it Kamara, and it is where everyone arranges to meet.
- Rotunda · Built around 306 by Galerius, probably as his own mausoleum, and he was never buried in it. The dome is twenty-four and a half metres across with walls six metres thick, and it has been a pagan temple, a church, a mosque and a church again — the minaret beside it is the only one left standing in Thessaloniki.
- Navarinou Square · The excavated ruins sunk below the square are Galerius’s palace — the throne room, the octagonal hall, the heated floors. They were found in the 1950s when a block was being demolished, and the city built the square around the hole rather than filling it in. Students drink on the steps looking down at it.
- Roman Forum · The forum was found in 1966 when the city started digging foundations for a courthouse car park, and the work was stopped. Under it is a cryptoporticus — a vaulted service corridor the length of the square — and the small odeon at the end still holds concerts in summer.
- Agios Dimitrios · Dimitrios was a Roman officer held in the baths under this spot and speared there in about 306, on the orders of the same Galerius who built the arch. The church above was raised over the baths, and the crypt you go down into is the actual room. It burned in 1917 and the five mosaics that survived are the ones either side of the altar.
The fire, the grid and the Mother of Israel
On the eighteenth of August 1917 a cooking fire in a kitchen in the upper town got into the wind and burned for thirty-two hours. Two thirds of Thessaloniki went, and about seventy thousand people lost their homes — most of them Jews, because the Jewish quarters were in the burned zone. The government then forbade rebuilding on the old plots, hired a French architect to lay out a grid, and the community that had been half the city never recovered its ground. Twenty-six years later it was deported. Three hours, and this is the heaviest walk in the catalogue.
- Aristotelous Square · Ernest Hébrard, a French archaeologist and planner who happened to be in the city with the Allied army, was given the whole burned zone to redesign. He drew an axis running from the sea up to the Roman forum, with this square as its opening, and it took until the 1950s to build — which is why the buildings look older than they are.
- Holocaust Memorial · On the eleventh of July 1942 every Jewish man between eighteen and forty-five was ordered to assemble in this square. Nine thousand came and were made to stand in the sun doing exercises for hours while German soldiers photographed it. The day is remembered as Black Saturday, and the forced labour that followed killed hundreds.
- Jewish Museum · Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain in 1492 were invited here by the sultan, and by 1900 they were about half the population — the port closed on Saturdays because the dockers were Jewish. Between March and August 1943 around forty-eight thousand were sent to Auschwitz in nineteen transports. Fewer than two thousand came back.
- Modiano Market · Eli Modiano, a Jewish architect from one of the city’s big families, built this covered hall in 1925 on the ground where his own community’s burned quarter had stood. It fell derelict for decades and reopened in 2022 after a restoration, with some of the original butchers’ stalls still trading in it.
- Monastirioton Synagogue · Built in 1927 by Jews who had come from Monastir, now Bitola, and it is the only large synagogue in the city that survived the occupation — because the Red Cross requisitioned it as a store and the Germans left it alone. There were around thirty-five synagogues here before the war.
- Aristotle University · The campus stands on the old Jewish cemetery, which held something over three hundred thousand graves and had been in use since the fifteenth century. It was destroyed in December 1942 on the orders of the occupying authorities with the agreement of the city, and the marble was used in building work across Thessaloniki.
The quarter the fire did not reach
Ano Poli, the upper town, sits above the line the fire of 1917 climbed to, which is the entire reason it looks the way it does — wooden Ottoman houses with overhanging upper floors, lanes too narrow for a car, vines over the streets and the Byzantine wall running along the top of it. It is the only part of Thessaloniki that was not redesigned, and the view from the wall takes in the whole bay and, on a clear day, Olympus. Two and a half hours, and all of it is uphill.
- Hagia Sophia · Built in the eighth century as a smaller answer to the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, and the mosaic in the dome shows the Ascension with the apostles standing round the rim looking up. When the Ottomans converted it they plastered over the mosaics, which is exactly why they survived.
- Alatza Imaret · An imaret is a public kitchen, and this one was endowed in 1484 to feed the poor, the students and travellers of any religion without charge — that was the condition of the endowment. Alatza means coloured, after the glazed tiles that once covered the minaret. It is now an exhibition hall.
- Prophet Elijah · A fourteenth-century monastery church built on the plan used on Mount Athos — a cross with two semicircular side chapels where the choirs stood. The Ottomans turned it into a mosque for dervishes and knocked out the frescoes; what you see inside is what was found under the plaster in the 1950s.
- Vlatadon Monastery · Founded about 1351 and the only one of the city’s Byzantine monasteries still working as a monastery. The Ottomans left it alone because, according to the monastery’s own account, the monks showed Murad’s army where the water supply entered the walls — which is how the city fell in 1430.
- Trigonion Tower · The corner tower of the Byzantine wall, rebuilt by the Ottomans after 1430 with thicker walls for cannon, and this is the point the whole city climbs to at sunset. From here the grid Hébrard drew after the fire is legible as a shape — you can see exactly where the fire stopped, because the roofline changes.
- Heptapyrgion · The fortress at the top of the acropolis, and its Turkish name Yedi Kule — seven towers — passed into Greek slang as a word for prison, because it was one from 1890 until 1989. Prisoners of the junta were held here, and the cell blocks the state built inside the Byzantine walls are still standing.
Getting to Thessaloniki and getting around
- Makedonia Airport · 15 kilometres out, bus 01X is 2 euros and runs all night
- Railway Station · Trains to Athens in four hours, and to Sofia and Belgrade
- KTEL Bus Station · Buses to Halkidiki, Meteora and Kavala, and out past the station
- Aristotelous Square · The centre of the city and of the new metro, and open to the sea
Cheap eats in Thessaloniki
Eight counters where Thessaloniki eats standing. Breakfast is bougatsa — semolina custard or cheese between sheets of filo, baked in a tray, cut up with scissors on a marble slab and handed over in paper, about two and a half euros. The city is the food capital of Greece and everyone in Greece agrees, mostly because of what the refugees from Asia Minor brought in 1922: peppers, spices, the small plates and the habit of eating them slowly with ouzo.
- Bougatsa Bantis · About 2.50 euros, cash, and the sweet one is the default
- Kapani Market · Open 7 to 3, closed Sunday, and cash is easier
- Modiano Market · Reopened in 2022, covered, and the stalls run to late
- Athonos Square · Tavernas round a small square, and a full meze table is 15 euros a head
- Mourga · About 25 euros a head with wine, and arrive early
- Ouzou Melathron · An institution since 1987, a joke-filled menu, and about 18 euros
- Tsinari · An 1880s ouzeri in Ano Poli, under a plane tree, and the oldest in the city
- Full tou Meze · In Ladadika, live music most nights, and about 20 euros
Museums in Thessaloniki
- Archaeological Museum · 8 euros, and a joint ticket with the Byzantine museum is 12
- Museum of Byzantine Culture · 8 euros, and it won the European museum prize in 2005
- White Tower · 6 euros, six floors spiralling up, and the roof is the point
- Jewish Museum · 5 euros, closed Monday and Saturday, and an hour
- Museum of Photography · 4 euros, in a port warehouse, and the only one of its kind in Greece
- Ataturk House · Free with a passport, and closed at weekends
- Alatza Imaret · Free, a 1484 soup kitchen, and the shows change every few weeks
- Bey Hamam · Free, from 1444, the oldest Ottoman bath in Greece, and small
Holy places in Thessaloniki
Fifteen of the city’s Byzantine churches are on the UNESCO list as a single entry, which is unusual — they were listed together because the sequence shows the whole development of the domed church across eleven centuries, in one city, mostly still in use. Almost all of them are free.
- Agios Dimitrios · Free, and the crypt below closes at two
- Rotunda · 8 euros, and the mosaics in the dome are fourth century
- Hagia Sophia · Free, eighth century, and the Ascension mosaic is in the dome
- Panagia Chalkeon · Free, sunk two metres below the street, and often locked
- Vlatadon Monastery · Free, from 1351, still working, and there are peacocks in the yard
- Prophet Elijah · Free, fourteenth century, and built on the Mount Athos plan
- Monastirioton Synagogue · From 1927, and the only large one left of about thirty-five
- Mount Athos · Two hours out, permit needed, and boat cruises see it from the sea
Nature and day trips near Thessaloniki
The city faces its own bay with Olympus on the far side of the water, visible on a clear day from the seafront — which means the Greeks have looked at the home of their gods from their own promenade for three thousand years. Beaches start an hour away; the mountain is ninety minutes.
- Nea Paralia · Free, and the city walks it from six in the evening
- Pedio tou Areos · Free, the park between the university and the sea, and shaded
- Halkidiki · An hour out, three peninsulas, and the first two are where the city swims
- Mount Olympus · 90 minutes south, and the trail starts at Litochoro
- Litochoro · The village at the foot of Olympus, and every walk starts from it
- Edessa Waterfalls · Free, 90 minutes west, and you can walk behind the big one
- Dion · 8 euros, the Macedonians’ sanctuary, and half of it is under water
- Kavala · Two hours east, an aqueduct over the old town, and a working port
Things to do in Thessaloniki with kids
- The Umbrellas · Free, on the promenade, and lit at night
- White Tower · 6 euros, a spiral ramp all the way up, and audio guides included
- OTE Tower · From 5 euros, and the café at the top turns a full circle in an hour
- Nea Paralia · Free, five kilometres with no cars, and bicycles for hire
- Archaeological Museum · 8 euros, gold wreaths and a bronze krater, and not too big
- Halkidiki beaches · An hour out, shallow and clear, and the first peninsula is nearest
- Edessa Waterfalls · Free, a cave behind the falls, and a park to run in
- Port Pier 1 · Free, ships to look at and ice cream, and the sunset is there
Nightlife in Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki has seventy thousand students in one university and it shows after midnight. The night is built around the tsipouro table rather than the bar: you order a small bottle, small plates arrive with it, and you stay four hours. Nothing starts before eleven and the clubs do not fill until two.
- Ladadika · From nine, and the tavernas have live music at weekends
- Athonos Square · The cheap meze tables, and they run until two
- Navarinou Square · The student square, cheapest drinks in the centre, and loud
- Port Pier 1 · Bars in the warehouses, and the only ones that face the sunset
- Warehouse C · Concerts and film screenings in the port, and cheap
- Concert Hall · From 10 euros, two halls on the waterfront, and the smaller one is better
- State Theatre · From 12 euros, and it also runs the Roman odeon in summer
- Tsimiski Street · The evening walk before anything else starts, and it is free
Frequently asked questions about Thessaloniki
What is there to see in Thessaloniki?
The top sights in Thessaloniki are White Tower, Rotunda and Arch of Galerius. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Thessaloniki?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Thessaloniki without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Thessaloniki?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Thessaloniki, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: Three hundred and twenty years of Rome.
How do you get to Thessaloniki and get around?
The main ways are Makedonia Airport, Railway Station and KTEL Bus Station. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Thessaloniki, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Thessaloniki that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Thessaloniki for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.