The people of Thessaloniki told me many times that to them it is a large city. Though it was indeed a city, I didn’t think it was particularly large – at least not for tourists. On a map Thessaloniki is pretty big in size but when it comes to seeing all there is to see, there is a very small scope of Thessaloniki that can make a huge positive impact on your travelling experience. I never walked more than 25 minutes to get from one spot to another. Spending 48 hours in Thessaloniki will definitely give you enough time to see all that you came there to experience. I have two wonderful suggestions if you’re visiting Thessaloniki.
Suggestions #1: Hop-on, Hop-off Thessaloniki Site Seeing
Thessaloniki Sightseeing
Website: www.thessaloniki-sightseeing.com
Price: Starting at 9 Euros for Adults, 3 Euros for Children
Suggestions #2: Use Your Own Two Feet!
And of course, what I came to Thessaloniki to do… sight-see! Instead of using just your typical tourist website like TripAdvisor, I put it together with my own added touch of creeping ‘Thessaloniki’ in Pinterest and Stumble Upon to find some secret spots that most tourists don’t end up exploring. Here is my list of 8 incredible things that you must do in Thessaloniki regardless of how much time you have (tip: it can all be done within 48 hours easily).
A Guide to Thessaloniki in 48 Hours:
1. Spend some time relaxing along the Port
I wouldn’t recommend going for a swim here but the fishing seemed to be quite good. You can watch the baby (and big) jelly fish swim buy along with schools of fish quite close to the ledge of the port. The sun shines directly onto the docks mid day and it is the perfect place in the city to unwind.
2. Climb up the White Tower and learn about the history
No matter how long you’re in Thessaloniki, this is the place you must visit to say “you’ve been.” The White Tower is part of the Greek history and has so many stories to tell. However, I made the mistake of paying the 3 Euros entrance fee without getting my English headset only to find out that all the history lessons on the way to the top of the tower were in Greek. For me it wasn’t worth the 3 Euros to get to the top because the photos I took of the port and city at ground level were just as good. I’m sure the 3 Euros would have been worth it had I of asked for the free headset in English. I think at the moment I expected them to automatically provide it to me as I stated “English, please” to the man at the counter. My latter thought was that I would be provided the headset at the first history station. I quickly figured out that I wasn’t getting a headset at all.
3. Spend the evening amongst the markets around Aristotelous Square
I walked passed Aristotelous Square during the day as I followed the Hop-on, Hop-Off route but wasn’t particularly interested in spending more time there. Like any road there were shops, pretty buildings and restaurants. I accidentally stumbled across the square again during the evening when I was headed back to the Colors Hotel and was amazed at the beauty. The change between day and night was incredible. I ended up staying out an extra few hours just to catch a few photographs of the evening sun, the well lite walkways and the beautiful architectural buildings.
4. Walk through the Galerius Arch
This is in fact just an arch way, but a beautiful arch way at that. The Galerius Arch is also smack centre around all the other wonderful tourist sights and shopping and is definitely worth your while walking under for a few photographs.
5. Visit the Church of Agia Sofia and Across the Street the ‘Haunted Red House’
As I was taking a photograph of one of the monuments in town I ended up talking to another local taking the same shot as I was. He was quite friendly and offered to take me through a bit of the town where he could show me some historic and ancient pieces of Thessaloniki that would make for great photographs. At the end of our little city he suggested I look for the ‘Red House’ in Thessaloniki which has a history of being haunted. I didn’t know what he was talking about and could only find pieces in Greek online. Thanks to my handy translation tool I figured out it was right across the Street from the Church of Sofia and was completely and utterly abandoned. It even looked haunted and was quite a site to see!
6. Window shop along Tsimiski Road
I say window shop because I’m not particularly in any situation which allows me to spend my money on shopping. However, most shops are very affordable and offer very stylish and unique pieces. Expect lots of clothing stores, shoe stores, 1 Euro stores and a whole load of babies shops. This is one of the main roads so you’re bound to be walking along this street at one point or another.
7. Visit the abandoned Railway off of Stathmou
This was one of the places I found while lurking through Pinterest to find hidden spots in Thessaloniki. Though the journey there was quite eery, and there was nothing to see but plastic bags rolling down the street, it was quite a unique experience once I arrived to the abandoned Railway. There is quite some history to this railway and if you ask anyone local they’ll tell you to ‘ask the Turkish people.’
8. Eat some street food
The one reason Greece has been on my bucket list for quite sometime is to experience the street food and cooking my own Greek cuisine (which I will be doing in Athens). Greek food is my all time favorite and I would call you crazy if you didn’t agree with me. Chicken souvlaki, feta cheese, Greek salad, Greek pastries… YUMMY!
Who doesn’t want to visit Greece?! Check out my blog on How to Break out of Habit and just Fly for a little more inspiration!
Give for Granted was sponsored as a guest through Colors Hotel. All words and thoughts are as always, my own. For more information about visiting Thessaloniki and the Colors Hotel, feel free to visit the Colors Central Website.
