Thessaloniki, Greece

Thessaloniki or Salonica is Greece's second-largest city and the capital of Macedonia. It is a busy, vibrant city and Greece's second major economic, industrial, commercial and cultural center as well as a major transportation hub in southeastern Europe. Its landmark is the White Tower, and there are many important sites within easy reach. It is also known for its exceptional nightlife with the famous Ladadika quarter and its music scene.

Attractions in Thessaloniki include the picturesque old town (Upper Town) which offers a view over the bay and the enormous seafront promenade (about 12 km altogether) with views of the amphitheatrically-built city. See the Archaeological Museum, the new award-winning Museum of Byzantine Culture (2005 - the best Museum of Europe) and the Roman Forum excavations. The Byzantine churches are not to be missed; one of them, the Rotonda, started life as a Roman temple of Zues, built by ceasar Galerius, and is almost as old as the Pantheon in Rome. Next to the Rotonda, see the Arch of Triumph of Galerius and the ruins of his palace.

Also worth a visit is Aristotelis Square-the biggest of the city-and the promenade with its cafes and restaurants. The nearby traditional central food market, with hundreds of stands selling meat, fish, fruit, vegetable, cheap clothes and shoes, flowers, herbs and spices, is located between Aristotelis Square and Venizelou street.

Things to See & Do

* Upper Town
* seafront promenade (about 12 km altogether)
* Museum of Byzantine Culture
* Byzantine churches see the Arch of Triumph of Galerius and the ruins of his palace
* Bezesteni old turkish market
* The White Tower

General information

Cruise Season - Feb to Dec
Currency - Euro (€)
Language - Greek
Land Area - 3,683 km²
Population - 1,500,000
Electricity - 2 round pins European style
Time - GMT/UTC plus two hours
International Country Telephone Code - + 30

Port Location - The passenger terminal is located in the ground floor of a neo-classic building at the entrance of the port and serves passenger ships and flying dolphins with several destinations from Skiathos to Crete.

Travel Links - Trains are available from from Athens taking about 4h 15 min (intercity express trains), 6h(normal trains). There are also direct train connections to Sofia (about 5 hours), Belgrade (12 hours), Istanbul (12 hours-every evening-arriving next morning),Budapest and Ljubljana (24 hours) via Zagreb (21 hours). But please mind: The trains from Ljubljana arrive usually more than two hours too late in Thessaloniki.

Thessaloniki has an International airport connected to Athens, Milan, Rome, Zurich, Berlin, Dusseldorf, Munich, Frankfurt, Dortmund (easyJet, starting may 31, 2007), Moscow, London, Paris, Vienna, Larnaca, Prague, Budapest, Bucharest. There are several flights to Aegean and Ionian islands.