A short history of Thessaloniki
Ask where to meet in Thessaloniki and most people will say Kamara. That's the local name for the triumphal arch the Roman emperor Galerius built around AD 300. The Rotunda just above it dates from the same emperor's reign.
The city was founded in 315 BC by the Macedonian king Cassander, who named it after his wife Thessalonike. The Ottomans took Thessaloniki in 1430, and it stayed under Ottoman rule until 1912. Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain at the end of the 15th century settled here and for a long time were the city's largest community. Most of the community was deported to Nazi camps in 1943.
The great fire of 1917 destroyed most of the historic bazaar, and today's Aristotelous Square was laid out under the plan drawn up after it. For visitors from Turkey there is one more stop, the house next to the Turkish Consulate General. Atatürk was born in this house in 1881, and today it can be visited as a museum.
Thessaloniki neighbourhoods
The streets around the Kapani and Vlali markets fill with fish, olive and spice stalls in the morning. A good place to start wandering after breakfast.
Bit Bazar is a small square ringed by junk and antique shops. In the evening the tables spill into the street and fill with people eating meze with tsipouro.
The area around Kamara and the Rotunda is full of students, since it's close to Aristotle University. The cafés are cheap and the streets stay lively until late.
Old warehouses on and around Valaoritou Street have turned into bars, and weekend nightlife shifts here.
On the hill of Panorama above the city there are villas and pastry shops. The cream-filled triangular pastry trigona was born here and takes its name from the area, and the gardens look out over the gulf.
Where to stay
- Aristotelous Square: On the main square, right by the sea.
- Ladadika: By the port, full of tavernas and bars.
- Ano Poli (Upper Town): A quiet old quarter with steep lanes and views.
- White Tower / Nea Paralia: Next to the seafront parks and museums.
- Kalamaria: A calm, local seaside district.
When to visit Thessaloniki
May-June and September-October are best. Days are 20-28 °C, and a light cardigan is enough on the seafront in the evening. The Thessaloniki International Fair opens in the first weeks of September, and finding a room in the centre gets harder then.
On 26 October the city celebrates both its patron saint Demetrius and its joining Greece in 1912, with a parade along the waterfront. In November the international film festival fills the city's cinemas.
July and August are humid and 30-35 °C. Locals escape to the Halkidiki beaches at weekends, and the city empties a little. Winter is harsher than in Athens, and the Vardaris wind from the north makes 5-10 °C days feel colder.
Food culture in Thessaloniki
In Thessaloniki the day starts with bougatsa. Filo pastry is filled with semolina custard, cheese or mince, and the custard one gets a dusting of icing sugar and cinnamon. The sesame koulouri sold on the street is the local take on the simit.
The cooking clearly shows the influence of people who came from Anatolia after 1922, and you'll see familiar names on the menu such as soutzoukakia or imam bayildi. Lunch is around 14:00 and dinner after 21:00. Ouzo and tsipouro come with meze plates, and ordering bit by bit in small portions is the custom. For dessert, Terkenlis's Easter bread tsoureki and Panorama's trigona stand out. Rounding up the small change is the usual tip.
Thessaloniki trip budget
Thessaloniki is a notch cheaper than Athens, and you feel it right away when eating out. A table full of meze and wine costs less than its equivalent in the capital. In 2026, 50-75 € a day covers a hostel and street food, and 100-160 € a mid-range hotel and taverna evenings. A comfortable trip with a sea-view hotel and good restaurants is 250 € and up.
The centre is walkable. A bus ticket is around 1 €, and the metro that opened in 2024 is useful in the same area. The Archaeological Museum ticket is about 15 €.
Walking the seafront from the White Tower to the Umbrellas sculpture, the area around Kamara and the Rotunda, and the walls in Ano Poli cost nothing. Visiting the house where Atatürk was born is free too.
Prices are approximate as of October 2026.
Build your route on the Thessaloniki map
More guides for Greece
Athens travel guide