Thessaloniki: Guide, Hotels, Map & Photos
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EUR 49 - 400 Minerva Premier Hotel
 In the heart of the business centre of Thessaloniki, near the city´s landmarks and the harbour, this 4-star hotel offers comfortable and well-eq… MoreEUR 39 - 189 Metropolitan
 Metropolitan Hotel´ s privileged site is ideally located: two minutes walk from the seaside pedestrian zone and eight minutes from Tsimiski Stre… MoreEUR 30 - 82 Nea Metropolis
 Located only a just few metres from Helexpo, Thessaloniki’s International Exhibition Centre, Nea Metropolis offers a 24-hour front desk and features… MoreEUR 37 - 65 Orestias Kastorias
 Excellent central location, value for money, friendly and professional staff – Hotel Orestias Kastorias is a great choice for a pleasant and peacefu… MoreEUR 48 - 89 Pefka Hotel
 Hotel Pefka is located in an ideal location, in the commercial zone of Panorama -Thessaloniki, next to a pine forest, and features an amazing view to … MoreEUR 50 - 140 Park Hotel
 Comfortable accommodation, friendly and helpful staff, a great location in the centre of Thessaloniki – you will find all this and more at the recen… MoreEUR 80 - 225 Mediterranean Palace
 Strategically positioned in the heart of the commercial and business centre of Thessaloniki, Mediterranean Palace provides 5-star accommodation with m… MoreEUR 36 - 80 Mandrino Hotel
 This budget hotel is situated in Thessaloniki’s fashionable Egnatia Street, a few minutes’ walk from the city´s major sights and points of i… MoreEUR 30 - 50 Ilios
 Ilios Hotel is located in the centre of Thessaloniki. It offers affordable accommodation with TV and air conditioning.
The hotel rooms are well equip… MoreEUR 32 - 60 Hotel Rex
 Hotel Rex is a family-run hotel, located directly opposite the main railway station, near the harbour and the long distance bus station in the commerc… MoreEUR 40 - 120 Kinissi Palace
 Located in the heart of the city´s business district, this hotel is listed as a historic monument by the Ministry of Culture and preserves its d… MoreEUR 72 - 130 Le Palace Hotel
 Strategically located on the prestigious Tsimiski Street, just 100 m from Aristotelous square, Le Palace Hotel offers spacious guest rooms with easy a… MoreEUR 65 - 280 Les Lazaristes Domotel
 Located directly opposite the arts centre, Moni Lazariston, Les Lazaristes Domotel offers luxurious accommodation just 10 minutes´ drive away fr… MoreEUR 35 - 80 Pella
 This conveniently situated hotel in the centre of Thessaloniki offers air-conditioned guest rooms with free Wi-Fi. It is 15 minutes away from the Thes… MoreEUR 48 - 170 Philippion
 Filippion Hotel enjoys a great location in Thessaloniki in the green, secluded area of Seich-Sou Park, just 10 minutes drive from the centre and 15 mi… MoreEUR 135 - 450 The Excelsior Hotel
 This 5-star boutique hotel offers modern spa amenities right in the heart of Thessaloniki.
The recently re-opened Excelsior disposes renovated guestr… MoreEUR 80 - 350 The City Hotel
 The City Hotel, one of the most central hotels in Thessaloniki, is ideally located in Tsimiski, the most fashionable shopping street of the city and o… MoreEUR 89 - 560 The Met Hotel
 Centrally located in the harbour this design hotel offers a spa and rooftop pool overlooking the Thessaloniki skyline and Thermaikos Gulf. The Met Hot… MoreEUR 50 - 100 Tourist Hotel
 Only 100 metres from the famous Aristotle Square and Ladadika, this central hotel is set in a listed historic building. Its rooms are equipped with ai… MoreEUR 45 - 216 Zaliki Boutique Hotel Thessaloniki
 Zaliki Hotel Thessaloniki enjoys a central, yet quiet location, just 150 metres from Aristotelous Square and 350 metres from the promenade. It is only… MoreEUR 45 - 112 Vergina Hotel
 Conveniently located in Thessaloniki´s city centre, this hotel is only a few minutes walk from the main market area and offers comfortable accom… MoreEUR 90 - 250 The Bristol Hotel
 The historic Capsis Bristol, part of the chain Historic Hotel of Europe, was originally built in 1860. It offers boutique accommodation in the heart o… MoreEUR 38 - 150 Telioni Hotel
 Telioni Hotel is favourably located at the heart of Thessaloniki, only 5 minutes walk from the bustling Tsimiski Street, and from Democracy Square, an… MoreEUR 70 - 250 Porto Palace Hotel
 Officially included in the elite of ‘Traditional Deluxe Hotels’ of Thessaloniki, this meticulously restored hotel boasts a 24-hour service-oriente… MoreEUR 48 - 120 Plaza Art Hotel
 This hotel is peacefully situated in the traditional area called Ladadika, only 100 metres from the harbour and near to the heart of the city´s … More | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thessaloniki: Guide
Thessaloniki is in the Greek district of Central Macedonia, and with about a million inhabitants is the second biggest city in the country.
Get in
By train
By nighttrain from Athens (Larissa station), about 6 h. Costs 15€-31€ (depending on the train), or about 50 if you want a sleeping compartment to yourself.
Daily trains from Athens 4h 15 min (intercity express trains), 6h(normal trains) cost about 50 euros first class. A very good option are the 501/502/503 trains, costing about 14 euros (11 for students and people up to 26) and take only 5h 45min. Unfortunately for smokers, smoking is banned in all but a few trains.
The last train at night departs at around 01:50.
There is also a night train (vagon lit) from Istanbul, departure every day at 20.00. It arrives 08.00 next morning and costs 48€.
To/From Skopje, - direct link:
Skopje to Thessaloniki train is 20€ RT with young person discount, 20% more without. Train leaves for Thessaloniki at 3:10am or 4:00pm. Thessaloniki to Skopje train leaves at 9am or 7pm. Both trains take about 4 hours.
There are also direct train connections to Sofia (about 5 hours), Budapest and Ljubliana (24 hours) via Zabreb (21 hours). But please mind: The trains from Ljubljana arrive usually more than two hours too late in Thessaloniki.
You can buy Balkan FlexiPass tickets for 50€ in the train station international office.
By plane
Thessaloniki has an International airport connected to Athens, Milan, Rome, Zurich, Dusseldorf, Munich, Moscow, London.
A flight from Athens costs (one way) about 80 euros - but if you book early, the two domestic airlines can offer tickets as low as 19 euros (without tax).
There are several flights to Aegean and Ionian islands.
By car
From Athens about 5 hours (Highway)
From Istanbul about 8 hours
From Belgrade about 7 hours
One of the burdens for visitors and inhabitants alike is finding a parking place, so be prepared to either spend a lot of time looking for a place or pay for space in the parking lot (starting from 4 euros/3 hours). Traffic congestion seems to be a problem nowadays, but generally fellow drivers and passers-by are helpful to show you the way if you're feeling lost.
Get around
If your goal is to get out to the airport, hop on bus 78. It connects the airport with the bus station ("Ktel"), passing by the train station ("OSE") and a ticket costs 0.50€ if you buy it from the kiosk (0.60 if you buy it from the automatic ticket vendor, exact change needed). It's about a 25 minute ride. You can take this same bus back from the airport.Now availiable bus and after 11pm, and isn't among the most frequent busses.
A taxi ride from the city center costs about 10-12 euros - it's hard to find one during peak hours (7-8 am, 2-4 pm and 7-9 pm), so plan early!
Museums and Galleries
At the beginning of Tsimiski street there is a special area in the center of Thessaloniki where you can find many museums:
Also
On no account should you miss the byzantine churches(St Demetrios, c. 200 AD and Agia Sophia, 600 AD, and the lovely smaller ones in the upper town), which are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. One of them, the Rotonda, started life as a Roman building and is almost as old as the Pantheon in Rome.
For a morning or late-night snack, try Bougatsa pies: cream (sweet) or cheese (savoury) filling
Meat eaters can try out soutzoukakia: minced meat pellets either grilled (at the central market or rotisseries) or in tomato and cumin sauce.
Go for a meal in one of the many downtown ouzo restaurants (ouzeri) - some very good ones are Agora, Odos Aristotelous, Vrotos, and Bit-Pazar - and accompany your drink with a whole battery of small dishes - by far the best way to eat in Salonica.
If you see "boiled vegetables' on the menu in wintertime, go ahead and order them- you'll be amazed at how good they taste.
Another typical winter salad is politiki, a combination of shredded cabbage and pickles.
Best winter dessert: baked quince
For those of you with adventurous tastes: go to Tsarouhas,preferably after a hard night's drinking, for a "patsas" (tripe) soup - a delicious way to prevent a hangover.
Restaurants mentioned:
For something more quick, you can taste the special crepes from many different places at Gounari street, next to Navarinou square.
Many taverns you can find also in Ladadika neighbourhood, or in Athonos square (near Aristotelous and Egnatia street)
Hotels:
City, 4 star
Luxembourg 3 star
Kinissi Palace 4 star
Olympia Hotel 3 star
on Aghiou Dimitriou street (formerly a tobacco warehouse), a 4-star boutique hotel
Queen Olga Hotel, east thessaloniki
Kapsis Hotel
Great place, everything is new there. Firm beds, very clean. Good breakfast buffet and reasonable prices. Nice location, 15 minute walk to Ocean.
"Rex Hotel:" Cheap Hotel Opposite the train station towards the center. Only a 5 minute walk from train station. Not great, but adequate. Two-bedroom in peak season was 35€.
You won't wonder where to get a drink in a town with this many bars!
If you will be in town during summer, you have to visit for a coffee or drink the small boats. You can find them right next to the White Tower and most of them every 2-3h are making a small trip (20-30') in the Gold of Thessaloniki.
This "Travel Guide" section is drawn from the Wikitravel article "Thessaloniki". We hope you will edit and improve it. It is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 license.
See
Only the northernmost Byzantine walls of the city are still standing, the exception being what has now become the city's symbol - the White Tower, on of the original fortified towers and the only one on the seafront. The rest of the walls are in the picturesque old town (Upper Town) which offers a view over the bay. Take a walk along the enormous seafront promenade (about 12 km altogether) with views of the amphitheatrically-built city. See the Archaeological Museum and the award-winning Museum of Byzantine Culture. The international film festival is held in November,the international trade fair in September. Do
Buy
One of the most cool stores in Thessaloniki is the new artistic bookstore called Bustart. Located in the center of the city (Grigoriou Palama 21), this culture oasis offers to Thessaloniki residents and visitors a wide variety of books and CDs all sharing a main theme: art, ranging from classic painters to photography, fashion and web design. With major partnerships with Europe's leading modern art galleries such as Tate Modern and Centre Pompidou, Bustart is here to stay and has already become a "must see" in the city.Eat
There are also some good similar Cretan restaurants: Myrsini and Apo Dyo Horia. Here, order raki rather than ouzo or tsipouro.
Agora - off Ionos Dragoumi
Bit-Pazar: Prosfygikis Agoras (between Olympou, Venizelou and Filippou),a great place to eat "meze" and drink,usually many students prefer this place.
Vrotos: off Athonos (which is also full of restaurants, but not as good)
Odos Aristotelous on the street of the same name - most Salonicans know it as the "lepen"
Myrsini: behind the theatre of the Etairia Makedonikon Spoudon (Macedonian Studies)
Apo Dyo Horia: off Navarinou square (site of Galerius's palace).
Taverna "Kamaras" near Rotonda,great traditional dishes, last year (2005) I ate there for almost a month every day and I can recommend it.
Also "Goody's" is the greek fast food restaurant chain. You will find classic hamburgers, pasta, salads, etc.Drink
Retsina
In winter: Tsipouro, a distilled spirit similar to, but usually better than, ouzo
Northern Greek wines produced by Gerovassileiou, Babatzim and Yannis BoutarisSleep
Hostels:
The Youth Hostel in Thessaloniki, situated in the city center (Alexandrou Svolou St.), is a fair choice for students and travellers on a budget. Beware however, it is sometimes closed for renovation work, so please contact them before you arrive in the city.Get out
Thessaloniki is by far the liveliest city in Northern Greece- maybe even the whole country.
Most of the bars at the old seafront(Nikis ave.) and around, many of the tavernas are either downtown or in the old city(kastra).
If you want to check out what the whole bouzoukia scene is all about, try Mamounia, at Vilka.
You can find also a lot of night clubs, bars and restaurants in Ladadika, the neighbourhood with the old warehouses next to the port. The area where you will find many students is around Kamara, next to the University of the town with many small and simple cafe and bars.