I hope that one day, even just on the way to somewhere else, you’ll get to hop into Thessaloniki!
Honestly, it’s such an unusual place: super urban, definitely not the Greece from the postcards. It’s partly a student city, and a lot of the beautiful buildings are kind of ruined by huge graffiti or just spray paint...
When I first went, for the first two days I actually kind of regretted it, felt like I should’ve picked a “prettier and more vacation-y” destination. I had a list of places recommended by locals, did my own DEEP research, but still, no love at first sight between me and the city at the very start :)
And then something SHIFTED!
Turned out this place has such an amazing history, an incredible food scene (of course there are tourist traps, but also so many spots where the freshness of the ingredients and the way simple dishes taste is just insane).
Halkidiki is also close by, so the busier city vibe can be balanced out easily :)
It’s the kind of place where it’s easy to find time to just read in a café, have a slow morning… there aren’t a million must-see sights that make you feel like you’re constantly behind on your itinerary. Not at all. In SKG it’s much easier to just enjoy the moment, have a coffee on a rooftop, walk by the port.
There are hundreds of “prettier” cities, sure, but this one has some irrational, deep magic, exactly in being not-so-perfect and not super instantly captivating. You just need to give it a little time, dig in a bit, and it totally wins you over. Highly recommend!
I love that you include the pre-travel internet deep dive in the joy of traveling itself … that’s soooo true!
Thessaloniki has never really been on my list, but it has been added to the list :)
However, even if I don’t make it there, I so glad that got a taste of this place’s charm and beauty from this post.
I hope that one day, even just on the way to somewhere else, you’ll get to hop into Thessaloniki!
Honestly, it’s such an unusual place: super urban, definitely not the Greece from the postcards. It’s partly a student city, and a lot of the beautiful buildings are kind of ruined by huge graffiti or just spray paint...
When I first went, for the first two days I actually kind of regretted it, felt like I should’ve picked a “prettier and more vacation-y” destination. I had a list of places recommended by locals, did my own DEEP research, but still, no love at first sight between me and the city at the very start :)
And then something SHIFTED!
Turned out this place has such an amazing history, an incredible food scene (of course there are tourist traps, but also so many spots where the freshness of the ingredients and the way simple dishes taste is just insane).
Halkidiki is also close by, so the busier city vibe can be balanced out easily :)
It’s the kind of place where it’s easy to find time to just read in a café, have a slow morning… there aren’t a million must-see sights that make you feel like you’re constantly behind on your itinerary. Not at all. In SKG it’s much easier to just enjoy the moment, have a coffee on a rooftop, walk by the port.
There are hundreds of “prettier” cities, sure, but this one has some irrational, deep magic, exactly in being not-so-perfect and not super instantly captivating. You just need to give it a little time, dig in a bit, and it totally wins you over. Highly recommend!