Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki is where a Halkidiki holiday starts. Almost everyone flies into Makedonia airport (SKG), ten kilometres east of the city, and from the arrivals hall the three peninsulas of Halkidiki are between forty-five minutes and two hours away by car. Some people drive straight to the villa. The ones who know the region stay a night or two in the city first, or at the end, because Thessaloniki is the best food city in Greece and one of the most interesting to walk.

The city is a long seafront, the Nea Paralia, running from the White Tower to the concert hall, with the old town of Ano Poli climbing the hill behind it inside Byzantine walls. Between the two are the markets of Kapani and Modiano, the Roman forum, the Rotunda and the Arch of Galerius, a dozen UNESCO-listed churches and the Ladadika district where the evening starts around ten. Eating is the reason to come: bougatsa for breakfast, mezedes and tsipouro in the market tavernas at lunch, and a dinner scene that changes every year but never gets worse.

For a Halkidiki holiday the practical questions are simple. Kassandra, the first leg, is the closest: Nea Moudania in forty-five minutes, Sani and Afytos in about an hour, Pefkochori and Paliouri at the tip in an hour and a quarter. Sithonia, the second leg, is an hour to Nikiti and up to an hour and fifty minutes to Sarti at the far end. The Athos coast, the third leg, is about an hour and a half to Ouranoupoli and Ierissos. A private transfer meets you at arrivals with the price fixed in advance; the table below is the current pricelist per vehicle, tolls and VAT included. A hire car costs less for a week and is useful on Sithonia, where the beaches are spread out; on Kassandra you can manage without one. The KTEL bus from Halkidiki bus station in the city reaches most resorts but takes two to three hours with the change.

What we offer from here: villas on all three peninsulas, hotels in the city for a stopover, the airport transfer, a boat for a day in Vourvourou or Porto Koufo, and a person on the ground who answers. Tell us your dates and group and we send a shortlist within a day.