If you’re going to splurge anywhere in Northern Greece, Thessaloniki (thess-ah-lo-nee-kih) is the place to do it. Greece’s second city, and its cultural capital, Thessaloniki (also called Salonica) lets you indulge in fine food, sinful sweets, ultra-chic shopping, an energetic nightlife and more concerts, parties, art shows and events than you can keep track of.

What really enhances Thessaloniki’s hip atmosphere, however, are the enduring symbols of its glorious history, from the White Tower on its café-lined waterfront all the way up to the Byzantine walls, just above the Upper Town (Ano Poli), an enchanting neighbourhood of pretty traditional houses set on winding, peaceful alleyways. Down from them are impressive constructions like the 4th-century Church of Agios Dimitrios (said to be the largest in Greece), the enormous Roman Rotunda, and the sculpted Arch of Galerius in Kamara, thronged with students from Thessaloniki’s universities.

Indeed, Thessaloniki’s multitude of young people gives it a vivacious, stylish mood, which can be felt in its cafés, restaurants and bars, even in its shops and designer hair salons. Still livable and relatively small, Thessaloniki has none of Athen’s opprobrious traffic or smog. True, it’s no budget destination, but Thessaloniki is packed with life and should be on every traveller’s itinerary.

THE MET HOTEL THESSALONIKI (N.A,Thessaloniki)

Conveniently situated on the harbour of Thessaloniki, within easy reach from the city centre, THE MET HOTEL provides outstanding comfort and bountiful amenities for business and leisure travelers

DAIOS (Nikis Ave 59)

Daios Luxury Living is a supreme boutique hotel, located right in the seafront, in the city of Thessaloniki, which restates the notion of fine, luxury accommodation and whisks its guests into an experience, triggered by light that changes with the colours of the sea.

CITY HOTEL (11, Komninon Str.)

From the moment you enter the magical realm of our City Center Spa, in the heart of Thessaloniki near Aristotelous square, you will sense the relaxation offered by our unique combination of spa therapies and day spa packages. Release your body and soul from mundane problems and everyday tensions and let us show you what a truly relaxing city break in Thessaloniki means.

 ASIAN SPA (13 kilometres Thessaloniki-Perea)

Asian Spa offers you a quiet, serene experience where you can leave your stress behind. Two spacious single and two double state-of-the-art treatment rooms enjoy natural daylight and offer unique privacy. Each has a private changing area that includes a wardrobe, a vanity area, a shower and a WC. The oversized stone relaxation bath and controlled mood lighting create the perfect environment for relaxation and rejuvenation. A variety of treatments is offered, including massages, facials and body treatments.

THESSALONIKI OLYMPIC MUSEUM (S. Dimitrios & 3 rd September)

Thessaloniki Olympic Museum, the unique Olympic Museum of Greece, is situated at Thessaloniki. The museum is located next to Kaftanzoglio Stadium. The aim of the museum is to collect, conserve, record and establish the sport history and to promote it in an active and vivid place, having a mainly educative character. The exhibition consists of historical records and objects of the Greek Medalists, medals, torches, memorabilia from the Olympic organizations and athletic equipment.

STATE MUSEUM CONTEMPORARY OF ART (21, Kolokotroni str., Moni Lazariston)

The State Museum of Contemporary Art is housed in the Lazariston Monastery, and its activities include the work the Centre for Contemporary Art. Among other exhibits, the Museum also houses the very important Costakis Collection of 1,275 works by artists of the Russian avant-garde.

MACEDONIAN MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART (154, Egnatia str. Helexpo)

The Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art offers the public an opportunity to acquaint themselves with visual artists from Greece and abroad, through major exhibitions and parallel events. The Museum was founded in the late 1970’s and also houses a library with special editions, a valuable resource for the academic community.

KAPOPOULOS FINE ARTS (Municipality Thessalonikis, Prefecture Thessalonikis

The Art Gallery Fine Arts KAPOPOULOS was set up in 2003 by two people who have dedicated their life to art. Marina and Evangelos Kapopoulos are guided by their sincere love for art, always aiming to propose new trends, to endorse movements, to honor established values, but also to “embrace” new and promising artists. For four years now, with its carefull choices and its well-organized exhibitions FineArts KAPOPOULOS Art Gallery offers aesthetic devoutness and artistic pabulum to its visitors by introducing them to the work of recognized, as well as new, Greek and foreign artists.

EVANTHIA GALLERIE (Delfon 9 Thessaloniki)

Evanthia GALLERIE has a huge collection of hundreds of paintings, celebrities, and new artists for collectors, interior designers and private clients. Evanthia GALLERIE is also known for its highly modern artistic construction, wide range of frames (frames modern, classic frames), mirrors, recommendations decoration, paintings, etc.

KARE DESIGN (PALAION PATRON GERMANOY)

KARE is a lively lifestyle concept with a unique mix of furniture, lighting, furnishing accessories and gift articles. A great team, brilliant ideas, entrepreneurial flair and never-ending enthusiasm are behind a trend range of around 4500 products.

LACRIMOSA DESIGN (24, Aristotelous str. GR-54623)

Lacrimosa, an advertising company, was founded in 1999 by a team of ambitious people with a clear and realistic view of current and future market needs bringing solutions that are totally adapted to the needs of modern enterprises and to the demands of the intensely competitive markets. Our basic pursuit is to provide direct solutions in a practical way, establishing a simple and well-aimed communication.

Here you can find decorative and other daily use items; like bags, pillows, aprons, towels, lamps, posters, tabacco cases, cut & sew, furniture  and more, that we design and produce with love and passion ensuring that our effort will bring a positive breeze of creativity and warmth in your living.

THESSALONIKI’S DESIGN SPOT (Lori Margariti 6)

Thessaloniki’s DESIGN SPOT by Casa Papaioannou, is a new shop. Lori Margariti 6, that will bring you design items from Greek and International designers. Muuto’s collection can be found here.

SHINY DESIGN(30, Diamanti Olypiou str)

Liana Anastasiadou and Sofianos Papageorgiou are industrial designers from Thessaloniki. In 2006 they created the group Shiny Design which specializes in design and manufacturing applications.  Liana, began her career in architectural office, he worked as a designer in the furniture factory and a responsible and import sales professional furniture company. Now, reusing materials to create tables and utilitarian objects.

MISIMVRIA WINERY

In New Mesimvria of Thessaloniki established the winery and the vineyards of the “Mesimvria Winery”. Mesimvria northwest of Thessaloniki 20 km is built on a hill with an altitude of 200 meters overlooking the bay of Thermaikos. The company was founded in 1996 by Pericles Ntracha and Theodore Paraskevopoulos. The original objective was to highlight the growing potential of the region and creating quality wines.

DOMAINE GEROVASSILIOU

At Domaine Gerovassiliou the vineyard is cultivated with great care and enthusiasm that leads V. Gerovassiliou to constantly research and experiment with Greek and foreign varieties, both well and less known ones. New technological advances blend well with tradition throughout vine growing and vinification processes.

The aim is to produce high quality wines from grapes cultivated exclusively in the privately-owned vineyard; wines that carry all distinct characteristics of the specific microclimate (terroir) of Epanomi.

TIFFANY’S (Iktinou 3)

A charming and stylish restaurant with a classic style and a comfortable and lively character. For well over 40 years now people have been eating here to their satisfaction. A good spot for watching the people go by. You should try to book a table with view of the square.

DRAFT(Lykourgou 3)

In this charming and stylish restaurant you may eat in a modern setting and the environment is comfortable and hospitable. You can enjoy the live and DJ music being played alternately during and after your meal. The industrial style interior is out of the ordinary. It is located just outside the city centre.

MELATHZON OUZOU (Karipi 21)

Here you may eat in a charming and stylish sophisticated classic style ouzeria with a friendly and lively atmosphere. Closest ‘point of interest’: Plateia Aristotelous. It has a nice terrace. The movie star photos on the wall add that little bit extra. No fancy stuff here, just good solid Greek cuisine. An absolute must for fish lovers!

PORTO CARRAS GOLF (Sithonia, 63081, Chalkidiki)

The luxurious Porto Carras resort, is found in the evergreen peninsula of Sithonia, in Chalkidiki’S ’ s middle “ leg ” . It is surrounded by a greenery in an area of 1.763 and 9km of sandy beaches with more than 25 small bays, where the pine trees reach down to the sea. Porto Carras Grand Resort is an entire world waiting for you to discover it in a distance of only 120km away from Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece.

Link: http://www.portocarras.com/default.asp?pid=66&la=4

VILLA THESSALONIKI (9km from city center)

The house has an area of about 300 sq.m. and it is constructed in a smart way allowing two families to live there simultaneously each family having the needed autonomy and privacy.

RAPTOPOULOS VILLA

It is a matter of status for each Thessaloniki TV star, celebrity, politician or businessman to have a house in the neighbourhood of Panorama. The neighbourhood is located in the eastern city outskirts, amidst a pine forest, overlooking Thessaloniki and the Termaikos bay.Thodoris Zagorakis, the President of PAOK football club,  Elena Asimakopoulu and the footballer Bruno Cirillo are some of the VIPS that live here.

53 RD THESSALONIKI INTERNATION FILM FESTIVAL

The 53rd TIFF, which was clearly focused on independent cinema, drew the attention of its cinephile audience and was a great success with viewers, who set the tone for this year’s edition by filling the screening theaters. For ten days, films from all over the world, film surprises, important guests, tributes to directors and parallel events, turned the city of Thessaloniki to a vibrant hive of communication and dialogue around cinema. The Thessaloniki International Film Festival has come to an end for this year, but it now starts its preparations for next year’s appointment with the audience in Thessaloniki.

OPEN HOUSE THESSALONIKI 2012

Celebrating the city’s architecture and design, the event aspires to expose the architectural treasures of this dynamic city, and make architecture accessible to all. Its aim is to contribute to the deeper understanding of urban design and public space, and enable all citizens and visitors to explore and understand the value of a well-designed built environment.

AYIOS DEMETRIOS (83, Aghiou Dimitriou str.)

Agios Demitrios (Saint Dmitri) was a third century Christian scholar who was martyred by Galerius and whose ghost has apparently appeared at several key battlesites. The significance of Agios Demitrios has led to the construction of Greece’s largest church on his birthplace in Thessaloniki. The church was converted into a mosque by the Turks, who plastered over its interior walls.

ARISTOTELOUS SQUARE (Nikis Avenue, Thessaloniki,)

If you want to start getting to know Thessaloniki, start here at Aristoteles Square. It’s the heart of the city, pulsating day and night. At the front, there is the sea, on the sides beautiful architecture, and at the other end, the long pedestrian way leading up to the park and old Roman Forum. IN between all this, there is the big square itself, devoid of grass or trees, but full of activity. It’s not enough just to come and walk through once.

WHITE TOWER -Lefkos Pyrghos (Odos Nikis and Odos Pavlou Mela, Thessaloniki)

The white tower is certainly prominent here. It has been turned into a very effective museum. You climb to the various levels inside via the spiral staircase and eventually reach the top from where the views are quite specular.