Ten towers called seven, a Roman rotunda with a minaret, umbrellas on the seafront

Most of this sits between the seafront and the upper town, an easy walk from Venizelou or Agia Sofia metro. With one afternoon I'd do the Rotunda, Hagia Sophia, a bougatsa and the seafront at dusk.

1. Climb the White Tower before November

The White Tower costs €8 until 31 October and €4 from 1 November, when hours shrink to 08:30–15:30. Inside are six floors on the city's history; the roof is the reason to go.

2. Look up at the Rotunda's minaret

Galerius built the Rotunda in 306, 24.5 m across. It became a mosque in 1591, and the minaret added then is still standing beside the dome.

3. Compare Hagia Sophia with Istanbul's

Hagia Sophia went up in the mid-7th century as a copy of the Constantinople original. It's smaller and calmer, and I like it more for that.

4. Go down into Agios Dimitrios's crypt

Under Agios Dimitrios the crypt sits in old Roman baths, where the city's patron saint is said to have been martyred in 303 or 305.

5. Count the towers at Heptapyrgion

The name means seven towers; the Heptapyrgion has ten. It was a prison until 1989. Entry is free, daily 08:30–15:30, and the view over the gulf is the best in town.

6. Give the Archaeological Museum two hours

The Archaeological Museum is €10, open 09:00–17:00, and closed on Tuesdays from November. It's across the road from the City Hall car park.

7. Walk the seafront to the Umbrellas

George Zongolopoulos's Umbrellas have stood 13 m tall on the New Waterfront since 1997. Go at sunset.

8. Cross Aristotelous Square slowly

Ernest Hébrard drew Aristotelous Square in 1918, but most of it was built in the 1950s. The Olympion cinema on its side is the film festival's home.

Open in Google Maps ↗

Bougatsa at dawn, custard triangles and a market reborn in September

1. Eat bougatsa before nine

Bougatsa is filo stuffed with custard, cheese, spinach or mince, the sweet one dusted with cinnamon and sugar. Bantis has been baking it since 1969 and is open Monday to Saturday from 06:30. My order is the custard one.

2. Order trigona Panoramatos

Filo triangles soaked in syrup and filled with cream, named after the hill suburb of Panorama. Elenidis is the name you'll hear most.

3. Graze the new Modiano

Eli Modiano's glass-roofed Modiano market of 1930 reopened on 1 September 2026 as the Central Market of Thessaloniki, with 29 food shops, bakeries and a wine bar.

4. Eat soutzoukakia and mussels in Ladadika

Spiced meatballs in tomato sauce, brought by refugees from Asia Minor, and mussels from the gulf are the tavern classics. The old olive-oil quarter of Ladadika is full of places serving both.

Skip the seafront cafés for food; eat one street back.

A saint, a parade and a film festival on the square

1. Avoid the seafront on 28 October

The 26th is Saint Demetrius's day and the city's liberation day; on the 28th the military parade runs down Megalou Alexandrou. In 2025 parking bans started on 23 October. The 2026 list wasn't out when I checked.

2. Book early for the film festival

The 67th Thessaloniki International Film Festival runs 5–15 November 2026, centred on the Olympion on Aristotelous Square.

3. Leave the car out on marathon day

The Alexander the Great Marathon runs from Pella to the White Tower on Sunday 4 April 2027. Closures aren't published yet.

Named for a queen, rebuilt after a fire

1. Thank Cassander for the name

Cassander of Macedon founded the city in 315 BC and named it after his wife, Thessalonike, Alexander the Great's half-sister.

2. Read the 1917 fire in the grid

The fire of August 1917 burned 9,500 houses and left more than 70,000 people homeless. Hébrard's plan of June 1918 gave the centre its straight streets and its square.

3. Doubt the White Tower's pardon story

The tower was whitewashed in 1890, and the usual story says a convict did it in exchange for his freedom. Before that it was called the Tower of Blood. The paint has long gone; it's buff now, and the name stuck.