Cities & towns

Athens and Thessaloniki: Europe, the Mediterranean, the West, the Balkans and the East together. Discover the colour, rhythm, history, sights and life of Greece's two largest cities. Let them overwhelm you with their charm!

Journey to Athens

The metropolis with its vast history and modern vibrancy welcomes you. From the Acropolis Museum to the Ancient Agora, ancient Greece comes alive right next to you. A short getaway cannot "fit" the images and aromas of this capital. The centre of Athens will surprise you.

With a stroll through Thiseion to Monastiraki, you discover the Greek identity in shops with "treasures" from the old days. In picturesque Plaka and Anafiotika, you feel like you are on an island. From the cosmopolitan Kolonaki to the streets of Psirri and Gazi, cafes, bars and clubs give your nights a Mediterranean atmosphere.

In Athens, from the neighbourhoods of the city centre to the seaside restaurants for fresh fish, you get a taste of traditional or gourmet cuisine. And if you have time, the sea is next door: in the Athenian Riviera, in resorts and beach bars. Take a mini-holiday! Next door, Sounion offers you the best sunset.

Athens offers many high quality accommodation options: from historic hotels in the centre of Athens with spa services and famous cafes or restaurants, to boutique, art, city and business hotels, big international chains, but also luxury seaside resorts with spa and private beaches.

 Athens: a tour through the centuries 

Start from the ancient Agora and wander through monumental eras: ancient Greek, Hellenistic, Roman. Your journey through the centuries begins - get to know its most important stops:

• Acropolis: Gaze at the Sacred Rock. The Parthenon and the stunning works surrounding it invite you to experience them.
• Herodou Atticus Conservatory: a great open theatre that nowadays hosts the Athens Festival, one of the biggest cultural festivals in Athens.
• The Theatre of Dionysus: the most important theatre of ancient Athens. Discover it!
• The temple of Olympian Zeus: You will find it just after the Hadrian's Gate.
• The Kallimarmaro Panathenaic Stadium: was built in 329 BC and was covered with marble in the middle of the 2nd century AD.

Discover the capital of culture

The museums of Athens

In Athens you will find a multitude of museums, with exhibits of great importance and rich history. Among the famous museums in Athens, the following are worth seeing:

• Acropolis Museum: Great exhibits, architecture, but also modern museum concept.
• National Historical Museum: Enjoy the permanent exhibition on the history of Modern Greece.
• Museum of Cycladic Art: Excellent exhibits from the ancient civilizations of the Aegean, with an emphasis on Cycladic art.
• Benaki Museum: Its impressive collections tell the story of Hellenism through time.
• National Archaeological Museum: One of the most important museums in the world.

The most popular attractions of Athens

• The neighbourhoods of Athens: Plaka, Monastiraki, Thiseion, the Old Parliament Square in Kolokotronis and the area around Lycabettus Hill.
• The Trilogy: Academy, University, National Library. The famous "Athenian trilogy" in Panepistimiou Street. Perhaps the most beautiful buildings of the historical centre of Athens.
• Art and Music: The National Gallery contains more than 15,000 important paintings, while at the Athens Concert Hall you will enjoy unique concerts or performances.
• The "pulsating" night: Kolonaki, Psirri, Gazi, Kerameikos.

Discover more Athens attractions here!

Travel to Thessaloniki

You are heading up to Northern Greece. There you will be greeted by its "nymph", Thessaloniki, a city with a long history and unique vitality. From the White Tower to the Yenti Koule, and from Agia-Sofia to Ano Poli, Byzantine and Muslim monuments, museums of great importance introduce you to the life of the city for centuries. In the port, every year the Thessaloniki International Film Festival takes place.

Visit Ano Polis, Aristotelous, do your shopping in Tsimiski, have a drink in the bars of Valaoritou, have fun until the morning in Ladadika and its lively haunts, stroll through the arcades and the markets with the spices. And of course, in Thessaloniki, famous for its gastronomy, you can't miss the taste: eat until you drop in restaurants and traditional taverns, with flavours from the Poles and the Mediterranean boiling in the same marmite.

In Thessaloniki, the hospitality options are many: restored mansions, boutique and art hotels, city for professionals, hotels with casinos. Wherever you stay, you won't want to leave.

Get to know the multitude of cultures that have coexisted for centuries in Thessaloniki. On your visit to Thessaloniki, it's worth making a stop at three iconic spots in the city:

• Galerian Complex: the Palace, the monumental gate (Kamara) and the impressive Rotunda - reminiscent of the Pantheon.
• Jewish Museum: In its rooms are exhibited objects and photographs that capture the overall picture of the life of the Jews of pre-war Thessaloniki.
• The house-museum of Kemal Atatürk.

The most popular sights of Thessaloniki.

• The beach of Thessaloniki. The most popular and favourite walk of the people of Thessaloniki.
• The old Upper Town. Walk in the narrow alleys of the Ano Polis of Thessaloniki. You are in the most authentic old part of Thessaloniki.
• The centre of Thessaloniki. Walk from the White Tower, the emblem of the city (early 16th century) to the impressive Aristotelous Square.
• Ladadika. The old and extremely popular market area of Thessaloniki at the port.

Discover more sights of Thessaloniki here!