Start from 39 curated places around Thessaloniki, GR, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
Bougatsa Bantis
A three-generation family bakery near the port, operating since 1969 and widely considered the benchmark for Thessaloniki-style bougatsa. The phyllo is made by hand each morning using the original recipe, resulting in a crispy, tissue-thin casing around warm semolina custard, dusted with powdered sugar and cinnamon at the counter. No seating fanfare, just a fast queue at the glass case.
Serraikon
The oldest continuously operating bougatsa shop in Thessaloniki, founded in 1952 near the Modiano market and still on the original address. Serraikon built its reputation on the classic sweet custard version but also offers a sharp cheese bougatsa and seasonal savory variants. The interior is small, functional and unchanged for decades.
Trails & outdoors
Seich Sou Forest Loop (Agios Vasilios – Kranos)
A moderate circular trail through the suburban pine and beech forest of Seich Sou, starting near the Ano Toumba district and climbing through the forest to the Agios Vasilios chapel and the Kranos viewpoint before looping back. The forest starts 15 minutes from the city center, making it the most accessible woodland walk in Greece's second city. Panoramic views over Thessaloniki and the Thermaic Gulf open from the higher ridgelines.
Mount Chortiatis Trail to Refuge
A moderately strenuous trail from the village of Chortiatis climbing to the mountain refuge at 1,000 meters through beech and chestnut forest, with views over Lake Koronia and the Macedonian plain from the higher sections. Mount Chortiatis reaches 1,201 meters and the main trail covers 14 kilometers return, with sustained elevation gain of around 600 meters. The SEO Thessaloniki Alpine Club refuge at the top offers drinks and occasional meals on weekends.
Things to do
MOMus – Museum of Modern Art (Costakis Collection)
The Greek State Museum of Contemporary Art housed in a wing of the restored Moni Lazariston monastery complex in Stavroupoli, holding the internationally significant Costakis Collection of Russian avant-garde art from 1900 to 1930 — Kandinsky, Malevich, Rodchenko, and hundreds of lesser-known artists from the same period. The monastery courtyard is used for summer concerts and outdoor programming. A serious art museum that draws specialists from across Europe.
Olympion Cinema
The historic cinema on Aristotelous Square, designed in 1950 and the permanent home of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, running year-round programming of quality international cinema alongside the November festival when it becomes the heart of one of Europe's better-regarded film events. Two screening rooms seat 676 and 192 respectively, both renovated and with proper acoustics. The café inside doubles as a meeting point for the city's film crowd.
Landmarks & sights
White Tower
The 15th-century Ottoman tower on the waterfront that became the defining symbol of Thessaloniki after its cylindrical walls were whitewashed in the early 20th century. Inside, a six-floor interactive museum traces the city's layered history from ancient Thessalonike through Byzantine, Ottoman and modern periods. The observation terrace at the top gives a wide sweep of the Thermaic Gulf and Ano Poli hill.
Rotunda of Galerius
A massive circular Roman structure built around 306 AD — possibly intended as a mausoleum for Emperor Galerius — that was later converted into an early Christian church and then an Ottoman mosque, leaving a minaret still standing outside. The interior preserves extraordinary 4th-to-6th century Byzantine mosaics in the dome, including a golden parade of saints in front of elaborate architectural backdrops. It is the most architecturally comparable building to the Pantheon in Rome and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.