Thessaloniki, verdict by verdict

Thessaloniki is Greece's other city, and travelers describe the difference in one word: appetite. The waterfront promenade runs from the port to the [White Tower](/thessaloniki/white-tower-thessaloniki/), the [Byzantine walls of Ano Poli](/thessaloniki/thessaloniki-old-town/) climb the hill behind, and the density of tavernas, ouzeries and pastry shops makes it the food capital of the country by near-universal report.

The picture includes a city being a city: it is grittier and more concrete than postcard Greece, traffic is persistent, and July and August are hot in the way only a dense Mediterranean city can be, with locals gone and only hotel rates dipping. There is no Parthenon here and no beaches in town, since the city swims at Halkidiki an hour-plus away, and travelers who need their destinations pretty should know Thessaloniki earns rather than displays.

The way in is to eat, walk the waterfront at sunset, and work through the Roman and Byzantine layers sitting right in the streets: the [Rotunda](/thessaloniki/rotunda-thessaloniki/) and the Galerius complex, the [Byzantine Museum](/thessaloniki/byzantine-museum-thessaloniki/), and a [food tour](/thessaloniki/thessaloniki-food-tour/) through the Modiano and Kapani markets as the standard first-day spend. Two to three days covers the city, with [Vergina's royal tombs](/thessaloniki/vergina-day-trip/) as the highest-rated single excursion and [Meteora](/thessaloniki/meteora-from-thessaloniki/) feasible as a long day; the [Thessaloniki-or-Athens verdict](/thessaloniki/thessaloniki-or-athens/) lands on doing both, with this as the food-first second act. Sleep around Aristotelous Square for a first visit, Ladadika for dinners and nightlife on foot, or Ano Poli for atmosphere at the price of a climb; April to June and September to October keep the heat manageable.