today i am sharing with you 17 things to do in thessaloniki the second biggest city
in greece but one that isn't very frequently visited by tourists let's start with the most
famous monument in thessaloniki the white tower during the ottoman period it was known by a far
more nefarious name of red tower and that is because it was the site of many executions it
was an infamous prison if you watch my video about greek food which by the way you totally
should when you're done with this one you will already know that greece was for a very long
time part of the ottoman empire what you may not know however is that thessaloniki was literally
the largest urban center on the continent in all of europe during that time period and as a result
it has a lot of ottoman and byzantine history all of that history is the reason why thessaloniki
has 15 unesco world heritage site a number that is pretty much unheard of around the world especially
in a city that most people don't seem to have heard of next to the tower you will find
a giant monument to alexander the great his proper title was alexander iii of macedon and now this is
interesting thessaloniki this big greek city finds itself in a greek region called macedonia you
might also know that to the north of greece you will find a country by the name of north macedonia
which is not too far away from this region and there's a reason for that both of these regions
used to be part of the kingdom of macedon during the ancient greek era this caused an
ongoing argument about who had the right to use the name macedon or macedonia which lasted for
27 years but luckily has now been resolved next to the statue you'll also find these umbrellas
the entire waterfront is beautifully decorated and a great place to ride a bike walk around or just
relax on a bench in the warmer months when you're done head directly north and you will soon come
across pedian arias park this park isn't a big local attraction in fact it's not even that nice
but it does have turtles they just hang out there they swim i frankly don't really know
what they get up to but they are there a short walk away from the park you will find the museum
of byzantine culture i i had to google that word and i think i mispronounced it the first time i
said it so i apologize apparently it's pronounced byzantine like that who knew not me probably you
um and one thing i want to point out is the street signs in thessaloniki because they're pretty fun
they have a lot of information on them like the classic stuff the name of the site and how far
away it is but then they also have um the number of minutes it's going to take you to get there
and the number of calories that you are gonna burn by walking there here's a little tip for visiting
the museum if after watching this video you decide you would like to visit all of the historical
sites i have mentioned purchase the combined ticket it costs 15 euros is valid for three days
and will save you a ton of money this museum is very detailed with 11 permanent exhibitions
there is less focus on historical events which is what i personally prefer and more emphasis on
various objects these range from early christian church decorations and objects excavated from
byzantine graves to domestic pottery i personally love a day out exploring a museum but i would say
an hour here is plenty if you're feeling hungry after visiting the museum i recommend you walk
to a nearby restaurant called pitas despolis but this restaurant is in greek it's turkish which if
you've watched my food video sorry i keep plugging it but it keeps being relevant um you will know
that there is a lot of overlap between turkish and greek cuisine because of the long duration
of the ottoman empire and the fact that they were both in it um but these are quite specifically
turkish dishes but the reason i'm recommending it is a because the food was incredible and b
because it is very rare that you come across a place that is this highly rated on google maps so
yeah i definitely recommend it what i thought was really interesting is that most of the clientele
um seemed to be at least when i was there syrian refugees while we're on the subject of food you
should walk from there to pantopoleo sorry sorry for doing the accent um it may just be a grocery
store but it is such a good one they've got a long long deli counter full of greek food but
they're also well stocked on snacks from all over the world luckily i was traveling carry on only so
i couldn't buy much but i would definitely go back if i visited thessaloniki again right final food
entry skyline cafe and bar didn't really impress me on the food front it's incredibly overpriced
okay why am i talking about it because the views are amazing you can just sit there for 60 minutes
and enjoy a 360 degree overview of the entire city but know that a hot chocolate costs about seven
pounds or nearly ten dollars okay back to a bit of culture now the rotunda which is included in
the combined ticket i mentioned earlier is one of the most important roman monuments in thessaloniki
it was commissioned by emperor galerius in the 4th century and has had many different
uses over the years it was a polytheist temple a christian basilica a muslim mosque and now
an archaeological site now this next one probably isn't for everyone as it's a cemetery but it is
on route to our next spot and very very pretty plus it's full of friendly cats so it gets five
stars from me the next stop is pasha's gardens a little-known park full of these mysterious
half-ruined stone structures that some believe used to be an initiation temple
for ottoman freemasons speaking of the ottomans we are now headed to a part of town where their
lingering presence is most intensely felt this area is called anapoli which means old city
in 1917 thessaloniki suffered a big catastrophe now known as the great fire which burned for 32
hours and destroyed two thirds of the entire city annapoli however was largely spared and so has
preserved much of the byzantine and ottoman era city design byzantine i'm finally getting the word
right annapoli is the highest part of the city and mainly dominated by tesla nikki's acropolis
a fort known as the heptapergeon if you paid attention in math class you'll know that hepta
means seven hepta per giant then means fortress of seven towers but despite its name the fortress has
ten towers classic overachiever move it's a great picnic spot very romantic really enjoyed it
alternatively though you can head to vladidon monastery which is just a short walk away it's
one of the city's 15 unesco world heritage sites that i mentioned earlier and i found it incredibly
peaceful it's one of those rare places in a busy city like thessaloniki where you feel like you
can really stop and be alone with your thoughts so i highly recommend you visit and then after
sunset you can wander around the winding streets of anapali if you're traveling solo it might seem
a little bit spooky but i did feel safe the whole time i was there and in thessalonica in general
i really recommend you stop for dinner at this restaurant uzuriya tsunari not only is it
incredibly picturesque with checkered tablecloths and blue windows but the food is also delicious i
particularly recommend their fava porridge it's not a fancy dish but it's really comforting
and ended up being one of my favorite things that i ate in thessaloniki okay here's one for the
daytime now the church of saint dimitrios another unesco world heritage site it's the main sanctuary
dedicated to the patron saint of thessaloniki and its interior is fittingly impressive
it's particularly famous for its ornate mosaic panels don't miss the crypt beneath the basilica
which was once an old roman bathhouse scholars believe that this is where soldiers imprisoned
saint demetrius and later left his lifeless body after they executed him pretty dark okay let's
lighten the mood with a quick trip to lalbero a lovely upmarket restaurant in central thessaloniki
which just so happened to be about a five minute walk from the apartment i was staying at
it's incredibly highly rated pretty much every review on google maps is five stars
the food is excellent the interior and background garden are beautiful if you're in thessaloniki
and want to treat yourself definitely go there seeing as i just mentioned my apartment i would
like to show you what it looked like because i feel like it was a really really good find
i booked at viabooking.com which is how i book a lot of my accommodation and it came to 39 british
pounds or 50 dollars per night split between me and my boyfriend the final entry on our list
is a bit bizarre it can be a little bit tricky to find but i promise you it is well worth the effort
it's a curricular part of town that's full of antique shops it's got loads of traditional
small tavernas and hole in the wall bars my favorite was called carlo gasueldo which had a
very friendly waiter and almost exclusively played arctic monkey songs final final point when you go
out in greece you should definitely make a point of trying two greek spirits the first being uzo
and the second being cipro now i'm about to show you a clip of me trying super for the first time
but before i show you it i want to preface it by saying that i'm specifically not sharing the
name of this restaurant because the service was atrocious it was just they were this well this one
specific waiter was incredibly rude but i don't want to like publicly name and shame them because
the food was really nice and i'm sure all the other stuff were great and maybe this man was just
having a really bad day or i was just particularly loathsome to him which isn't impossible um anyway
here is the clip honest thoughts on cipro not very nice it is a very strong 40 spirit so
drinking it on its own is a little challenging but what is far more challenging
it's the waiter here he really really really really doesn't like us to the point where he
wrote a salad without a fork i scavenged a spoon and sam
is using thank you so much for watching this video i just want to reiterate how fun thessaloniki is
it's a great city if you like places that feel really authentic and allow you to get the real
vibe of the country you're visiting thessaloniki is a really good bet so thanks for watching once
again um what did cool youtubers say they say smash the like button or just click it that's
fine too don't forget to subscribe i bring out new videos every friday and i hope to see you then bye