Macedonia
A grass-covered tumulus (burial mound) has been converted into a truly spine-tingling museum where visitors can descend to unspoiled royal Macedonian…
Must-see attractions in Northern Greece
Macedonia
The cloud-covered lair of the Ancient Greek pantheon, awe-inspiring Mt Olympus is simply spectacular. It fires visitors' imaginations today, just as it…
Zagorohoria
The Voïdomatis ('Good Water' in its Slavic roots) River, a tributary of the Aoös, carved the 12km-long, 900m-deep Vikos Gorge over millions of years. Per…
Thessaloniki
Macedonia's prehistory, Hellenistic and Roman periods are charted in this wonderful museum, home to many of the region's major archaeological discoveries…
Macedonia
Founded in 356 BC by the energetic Macedonian dynast Philip II, father of Alexander the Great, this evocatively sited ancient city is on Unesco's World…
Thessaloniki
This enormous 7th-century basilica honours Thessaloniki’s patron saint. A Roman soldier, Dimitrios was killed around AD 306 at this former Roman bath site…
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Thessaloniki
This fascinating museum has plenty of treasures to please Byzantine buffs, plus simple explanations to introduce this long-lived empire and its culture to…
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Thessaloniki
This serene little 5th-century church, once the katholikon (major church) of the Monastery of Saviour Christ of Latomos, is one of the most significant…
Macedonia
Looming from an imposing coastal bluff near Platamonas village, 20km south of Plaka Litohorou, this well-preserved stronghold assumed much of its present…
Macedonia
Dating to the 5th century BC, Dion was sacred to ancient Macedonians worshipping the Olympian gods, especially Zeus, thought to reside on the awesome…
Epiros
North of Ioannina, this large protected area includes the Vikos-Aoös region around the plunging Vikos Gorge, and the Valia Kalda forest north of Metsovo…
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki's iconic landmark, the 34m-high White Tower has a harrowing history as a prison and place of execution. Built by the Ottomans in the 15th…
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki's New Waterfront is evidence that architecture can improve urban life through intelligent redesign of the space in which it is lived…
Thessaloniki
Believed to have been founded around 1351 on the place where Paul preached in Thessaloniki, this secluded monastery blends fascinating history with some…
Thessaloniki
Japanese architect Arata Isozaki created the M2, one of two waterfront buildings that house Thessaloniki's high-brow music scene. It's a strikingly…
Macedonia
Spectacular Moni Simonos Petras rears seven stone-and-wood-fronted storeys above the west coast of Athos. Shorn of frescoes, icons and precious books by…
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Epiros
The Tossizza family mansion conjures life in this mountain town: a cosy dream of fireplaces and gorgeous carpets, and the reality of being snowbound for…
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Thessaloniki
South of the Rotunda on Egnatia, the Arch of Galerius (AD 303) celebrates the eponymous emperor's victory over the Persians in martial scenes carved into…
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Thessaloniki
In AD 306 Roman emperor Galerius built this harmonious 30m-high dome, comparable to Rome's Pantheon and possibly intended as his mausoleum. Marking the…
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Thessaloniki
A former Byzantine fortress repurposed as a prison by the Ottomans and only decommissioned in 1989, the Eptapyrgion (‘Seven Towers’) is a grim reminder of…
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Macedonia
One of the largest Byzantine buildings in the Balkans, this basilica has a chequered past. Dedicated to St Paul in the 11th century, it was remade as a…
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Ioannina
Although the centre of Ioannina no longer rings with the distinctive tapping hammers of the city's famous artisans, that sound and their trade are…
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Thessaloniki
The kastra (castle) encloses Byzantine churches and timber-framed houses with overhanging upper storeys. Enjoy panoramic views from the tower by the…
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Zagorohoria
Set between two sheer cliffs below the village of Koukouli, this is one of the most picturesque of the Zagorohoria's stone bridges. It was first built in…
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Thessaloniki Museum of Photography
Thessaloniki
This 1910 port warehouse presents thought-provoking exhibitions of historic and contemporary photography in Greece's only dedicated photography museum…
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Macedonia
Greece's largest organic winery, Porto Carras was founded in 1970, and now grows 28 different grapes across 47.5 hilly square kilometres on Sithonia's…
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Macedonia
Best guesses date this three-aisle Byzantine basilica, perhaps Kastoria's most beautiful, to the late-10th or early-11th centuries. The external walls are…
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Macedonia
One of the most elegant and revered monasteries on Athos, 10th-century Dochiariou boasts beautiful buildings, frescoes from the 16th- to the 18th…
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Zagorohoria
Built in 1630, this little monastery has a church that glows like a box of jewels: its vivid 18th-century frescoes have never been retouched, but simply…
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Zagorohoria
A stone-paved trail leads down from the roadside parking area to this stone bridge, one of the prettiest in the Zagori region and a rarity in its triple…
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Macedonia
One of Kastoria's oldest Byzantine churches, St Stephen's is a triple-aisled basilica retaining frescoes dating back to its construction in the 9th…
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Zagorohoria
All the views of Vikos Gorge are stunning, but this one might be the best. It's reached from outside the village of Vradeto. You must park and walk about…
Ioannina
In the middle of the lake, the reed-encircled patch of land locals just call To Nisi (The Island) is a pretty, peaceful destination, whether you just want…
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Epiros
This ancient complex is small but comes with a gripping backstory. According to Homer and Herodotus, it was a place to consult with an oracle …
Thessaloniki
Sprawling in splendid incongruity amidst the souvenir shops and crêperies of Plateia Navarinou, the ruins of this 3rd- to 4th-century palace remain…
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Preveza
The ruins of Nikopolis, built in 28 BC by Octavian (later Augustus), after he defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra in the naval Battle of Actium (Aktion),…
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Archaeological Museum of Amphipolis
Macedonia
This well-curated museum shows artefacts from the Athenian colony of Amphipolis (later a Macedonian and Roman city) and its surrounding area, from 5000 BC…
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Epiros
Set in a wildflower-carpeted valley 21km southwest of Ioannina, Dodoni was the religious capital of the ancient Epirote Alliance. It is most famous for…
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Ioannina
This monastery, active at least since the 13th century, bursts with flowers and is tended by kindly nuns – in stark contrast with its church, in which one…
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Macedonia
Some 50km southeast of Thessaloniki on the main road is the stalagmite-rich Petralona Cave. Discovered by Petralona village locals in 1959, it became…
