The Top Things to Do in Thessaloniki, Greece

[Dayna Stephens]

The newest destination for independent tourists will be Thessaloniki with bragging rights. A gateway to Macedonia, with links to Aleksander the Great and his teacher Aristotle is Greece's second biggest city. Its two main colleges draw a huge student population and with them a young music, arts, and sports culture. The city's restaurant and café culture is diverse. 

Also rich in history, from the 15-th century towers to astounding museums with a great collection of historical artifacts, Thessaloniki, designated as an Open Museum of Ancient Christian and Byzantine Art by UNESCO.

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Watch a festival celebration

Thessaloniki moves throughout the year between high art and street art, popular culture and cultural brilliance.

The Street Fashion Festival: a three-day celebration of more than 20 activities, this enormous festival features live, street-based art, music and athletic acts. DJs, graffiti and street art exhibitions and contests, and street sports such as parkour and BMX, are present at this end of September.

Thessaloniki International Film Festival: This late October-early November festival began in 1959 and includes several days of the finest in modern film-making with screenings, conferences, expert workshops, and debates.

Try Mylos, an enormous nightlife area that originally was a flour mill in the Port warehouse. It's packed with cafés and bars, restaurants, musical theaters, showrooms and hundreds of gourmets. Or see what's going on at Fix Sound Factory, where concerts and club nights are taking place as well as a sort of pit music scene.

Hike Great Museums of Ancient History

Given the position of the city at the crossroads of Ottoman and European culture, Thessaloniki naturally has some wonderful old history museums, and the city is not deceived.

The Thessaloniki Archeological Museum, one of the biggest Greek museums, retraces Macedonian culture from ancient times up to late ancient times, and is packed with glaring, antique artifacts.

In the 1990s, the Byzantine Culture Museum was inaugurated to great acclaim and hosts exhibits covering the transition of the Roman religion and the early Catholic Church into Constantinople in the 15th century.

Current Museums Experience

If you're not into ancient history, there are many excellent modern museums and galleries to check out in Thessaloniki.

Contemporary Art Museum in Macedonia: This architectural attraction has approximately 2,000 works by Greek and foreign artists, in terms of photographing, painting, sculpture and gravure.

Photography Museum of MOMus-Thessaloniki: this museum has regular exhibits and international events in Greece.

Cinema Museum of Saloniki: this tiny location contains numerous important and rare exhibits, the only such museum in Greece and center of the city's yearly cinema festival.

The Olympic Institution of Thessaloniki: the Olympic Museum of Thessaloniki is the only museum of its type that was formally recognized by the Olympic Committee.

The Museum of ARIS Basketball: This museum presents trophies, jerseys, pictures and other artifacts honored by the ARIS Thessaloniki professional team.

For a modern setting, see Old Monuments

Thessaloniki has sustained numerous battle scars, like other large cities in the Balkans. In the 20th and 21st centuries, most of the city was built or reconstructed. However, there are traces of old Byzantine and Ottoman buildings throughout the city.

The White Tower is an important emblem and was an Ottoman stronghold constructed to replace an early Byzantine fortress in the 15th century. It allows just 70 guests at once. Step to the top for views (about 10 storeys).

Others are located in secret nooks of residential areas, such as the Byzantine baths. The bathrooms were constructed about 1300 and were impressively functional nearly 700 years ago, until 1940.

Treat yourself to an international film festival

The Thessaloniki International Film Festival is Southeastern Europe's leading film festival, taking place several days from the end of October to the beginning of November.

The festival began as Greek Cinema Week in 1960, and in 1992 it was internationally presented as some of the most creative independent films in the world. The event will feature a non-competitive Greek film panorama, an international competition and more.