Thessaloniki

We are due to dock in Thessaloniki in early October. Looking at Google Earth the town does not appear particularly interesting.

Is there anywhere that can be visited independently without a lot of travelling, or is there anything of interest in the town?

There is a half day trip to Pella offered fairly cheaply by our cruise company but we do not want to do a prescribed tour as we have a few arranged already on this cruise - can we get there on our own easily and would it be worthwhile?

Thessaloniki has enough going for it to spend a light day doing some self touring. Or you can opt to go to Pella or to Vergina, both sites associated with the Macedonian family of Alexander the Great.

In Thessaloniki about a year ago, I took a taxi just outside the port entrance to the Archaeological Museum, which has some really fascinating pieces due to all the Macedonian tombs that have been excavated in the region, as well as finds from the later Roman era when Thessaloniki was one of the Imperial capitals. Heaps of beautifully worked gold (wreaths, laurels, jewelry) and silver.

Then I walked from the museum over to the area of the Palace Complex of Galerian, which has several parts. Some you can see and admire from the outside, or look down on them. Others you can pay to enter and walk around. The surviving remains of the Triumphal arch (spanning the road that was once the Via Egnatia) and the Rotunda (Mausoleum) are both fascinating.

From there, I walked to the remains of the Roman forum, which are again not entirely accessible but interesting.

I did all of this with a very early start and in a long morning because I wanted to go to Vergina in the afternoon. With a nice lunch, it could've taken 3/4 of a day.

Vergina was fascinating. The ruins there are under restoration so you may or may not be able to see them -- but the place is steeped in history. The amphitheatre, for instance, is the supposed location where Philip II (Alexander's father) was stabbed. The museum beautifully incorporates several of the royal tombs that have been found and again, the riches on display are quite amazing. (I could give you a contact to email if you are interested in finding out whether the site will be accessible when you visit. They were very prompt in replying to me.)

Hi, also from Wirral!

We rather liked Thessaloniki. Not major sightseeing but plenty to do and see. Pleasant walk along the seafront to the white tower. Drinks and people watching in the main square. Browsing in the very traditional market. Ancient churches, ruins and excavations all over town centre.

I read the book "The Thread" by Victoria Hislop (after visiting) and found the recent history of the city interesting and moving.

A couple of sites with good info-

http://www.enjoythessaloniki.com/visit/

http://www.planetware.com/tourist-attractions-/salonica-gr-mac-salon.htm

Thank you boh very much for the very detailed replies. That should leave us well armed to spend the day in the town, so I will not need the contact info regarding Vergina, but thanks for the offer of that cruisemom42.

"Hello from Wirral, kate52." This is a little strange as it was within the last week I replied to someone who had Heswall in his title - so I said "Hello from Heswall" as that is where we live. It is a small world.

Cheers,

Barbara

"Hello from Wirral, kate52." This is a little strange as it was within the last week I replied to someone who had Heswall in his title - so I said "Hello from Heswall" as that is where we live. It is a small world.

 

I'm not a HE!! I suppose louthebowler could sounds quite manly! the lou is shortened from when family used to call me lindylou and bowler because I play crown green bowls.

Im looking at just about everyones posts at the moment as we are on a Thomson ship in a few weeks and being new to Thomson was so surprised by the lack of activity on rollcalls, I've got so used to rollcalls that are active with lots of information sharing. I've picked up more tips from Americans about med ports than any Europeans, I'm so glad they like posting. but its quite unusual to have three of us from little old Wirral.

Sorry.

I do have an issue with the English language in that respect. the only alternative to guessing a gender is to use a plural which is clearly wrong anyway.

I am having some problems with upcoming ports as well. One cruise is with Fred Olsen to 3 ports in Cape Verde and Fred is probably no more followed on here than Thomson. However, a cruise we are going on next Wednesday is with Voyages of Discovery's ship, Voyager and their following is more or less nil and they have some very unusual ports. It is really good to get access to those ports on a cruise though, so I should not complain. We have booked 29 nights on board Voyager for Feb and very early March 2017 with a brilliant itinerary. The big cruise lines have to stick to the large ports, and even then are very reluctant to try to find anything out of the ordinary, so it is unlikely we will book a big cruise company again, even on a smaller ship.

I have found Trip Advisor better for some locations, but answers are not always forthcoming there and not all places are documented elsewhere on the net, (which is why I have asked questions in forums of course).

Good luck with your search and enjoy your cruise,

Barbara

Here's what we did in one day in Thessaloniki:

http://www.plane2port.com/do-it-yourself-greek-islands-cruise-part-7-thessaloniki/

We had been island hopping in the Northern Aegean, and we were flying back to the states from Thessaloniki. We hadn't done research ahead of time, but boy, were we pleasantly surprised at all there is to see in that town!

I would love to go back and would appreciate having it as a port day!

Thessaloniki has enough going for it to spend a light day doing some self touring. Or you can opt to go to Pella or to Vergina, both sites associated with the Macedonian family of Alexander the Great.

 

In Thessaloniki about a year ago, I took a taxi just outside the port entrance to the Archaeological Museum, which has some really fascinating pieces due to all the Macedonian tombs that have been excavated in the region, as well as finds from the later Roman era when Thessaloniki was one of the Imperial capitals. Heaps of beautifully worked gold (wreaths, laurels, jewelry) and silver.

 

Then I walked from the museum over to the area of the Palace Complex of Galerian, which has several parts. Some you can see and admire from the outside, or look down on them. Others you can pay to enter and walk around. The surviving remains of the Triumphal arch (spanning the road that was once the Via Egnatia) and the Rotunda (Mausoleum) are both fascinating.

 

From there, I walked to the remains of the Roman forum, which are again not entirely accessible but interesting.

 

I did all of this with a very early start and in a long morning because I wanted to go to Vergina in the afternoon. With a nice lunch, it could've taken 3/4 of a day.

 

Vergina was fascinating. The ruins there are under restoration so you may or may not be able to see them -- but the place is steeped in history. The amphitheatre, for instance, is the supposed location where Philip II (Alexander's father) was stabbed. The museum beautifully incorporates several of the royal tombs that have been found and again, the riches on display are quite amazing. (I could give you a contact to email if you are interested in finding out whether the site will be accessible when you visit. They were very prompt in replying to me.)

Will be there on October 13 and would really appreciate the email address!

Can check back here or you can email it to deedeegroff@gmail.com

Will be there on October 13 and would really appreciate the email address!

Can check back here or you can email it to deedeegroff@gmail.com

The email address I used is:

vergina@culture.gr

I received a response within a day.

The museum is not affected by the renovations, but I wanted to know whether the rest of the site would be open. It was not when we were there but hopefully a year on, you will have better luck.

Here's what we did in one day in Thessaloniki:

 

http://www.plane2port.com/do-it-yourself-greek-islands-cruise-part-7-thessaloniki/

 

We had been island hopping in the Northern Aegean, and we were flying back to the states from Thessaloniki. We hadn't done research ahead of time, but boy, were we pleasantly surprised at all there is to see in that town!

 

I would love to go back and would appreciate having it as a port day!

Thank you for yet another detailed reply. We are now looking forward to this port.