Tips

Komninos
110 Egnatia, +30 2310287229
Small, likeable pastry shops with many pastry products and excellent fresh piroshki. Sweets that come from Anatolia and the syrup running freely everywhere. Especially for traditional sweets in large containers. Of course, chocolate is also prominent, in the family-made profiterole as well as other sweets. Tip: Chocolate pie! In individual packaging, or a piece straight from the pan. In every way it is simply perfect!

Papadopoulos Turkish Delights
49, Ionos Dragoumi, +30 2310544040
The biscuit-turkish delight is a bookcrossing urban myth. This simple and delicious little sweet, with the special ritual. Many will say that the secret of success is hiding in the way the petit-beurre is pressed and will show you how. But the truth is in the turkish delight. The more soft, succulent and aromatic the turkish delight is, the more perfect the result. And you can find the perfect turkish delight in an old dairy shop owned by an old man in Ionos Dragoumi street. Tip: Mastic turkish delight and "ypovrychio" mastic. Direct flight to the Mastic villages.  

The Etsi
2 Nikiforou Foka, +30 2310222469
A very famous souvlaki-shop, on the street with Thessaloniki's best rock clubs. Open until late to serve hungry drinkers, it makes incredible souvlaki with traditional pitta bread, i.e. withoul oil. It is worth the wait, because after midnight the queue grows threateningly. Tip: the Cypriot pitta bread is amazing. Try it in every combination.


Negroponte Eatery
24 Egyptou, Ladadika, +30 2310 523571
A very likeable retro eatery, which fills up very easily, especially at noon on a day with good weather. Very small, but in the summer it may take out a table or two! Very special entrees and meat. The fried pork with yoghurt and lachmatzoun stand out. Tip: when you are done eating, they will ask you whether you want dessert. Select yoghurt-lemon. Very special taste and an alternative dish.

Doxa
Ap. Pavlou
If you love home-made good food and an informal and a bit decadent atmosphere, then you must take your friends and go eat at "Doxa". It might look like a coffee-shop but you will eat very well and very cheap! Tip: any omelette with a lot of bread heated up on the stove!

Traveller Travel Bookshop
41 Pr. Koromila, +30 2310275215
In Thessaloniki's most expensive street, close to a shop full of cats, a very informed and colorful travel bookshop is hidden. Maps, guides, photo albums, puzzles, and everything else someone might need in order to travel. Figuratively and literally. Tip: the trinkets close to the till are pretty and will complement your gifts perfectly.  


Thessaloniki Koulouri
In front of the Central IKA building, 19 Aristotelous
On weekdays, after the large arches of Aristotelous square, right in front of the entry to the IKA building, a small tricycle awaits, filled with delicious Thessaloniki koulouri (bread rings with sesame). The old man who owns it, arrives arround 8:00, opens the back door and the smell of warm koulouri fills the square. Turned in a way that if you are exiting IKA you will see him. Around 9:30 and after all his koulouria are gone, he disappears. Tip: the small koulouria (1/2 of the normal ones) are eaten best quickly when they are warm. In 2 bites.

Room with a view
Aristotelous Square
Olympion cinema can be found on Aristotelous Square, the center of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival. On its 4th floor, you will find one of the most "must" cafes in town, Room with a View. It has a great view over the square, where you can let your mind wander. Tip: choose one of the stands found close to the windows, or descend to the lower floor and chill out on the sofas found in the back.


Roof Garden Εlectra Palace
Aristotelous Square, +30 2310 294000
And because every balcony has a different view, I definitely recommend the roof garden of Electra Palace Hotel on Aristotelous Square again, right across Olympion. You should know that it is a tad expensive, as they are all around Aristotelous, but the view across all the Thermaikos Gulf is just unique. It is recommended especially to romantic types! Tip: Visit in the afternoon, so as to enjoy the colors of the sunset.


Chrysopsaro (Goldfish)
Athonos Square, +30 2310229147
Everyone knows Athonos. Taverns of questionable quality, with barkers on the street and, often, bad service. However, you don't know everything about Athonos Square. Because on the contrary to all the above, a breath's distance from Bazaar OBCZ, you can find Chrysopsaro. A small restaurant with a nice kitchen, with limited room for the winter, but ample room outside, not easily seen, with nice colors and a pleasant atmosphere. Tip: Definitely try its fried pork "tigania".


Delicioso
Plateia Shopping Mall, +30 2310228410
In the heart of Thessaloniki's center, right next to Aristotelous Square, on "Plateia" Shopping Mall, you will find Delicioso. A cafe/pastry shop with nice sweets and the best waffle you will every try. The room smells of butter and believe me, you want to experience this. Tip: Try your waffle with ice-cream. A great sensation.  

Valentino
Navarinou pedestrian street
See, lets say you are walking around the center and you are close to Kamara or the White Tower, right? And you're hungry. You are starving and you want to grab something to eat on the go. You will go to Navarinou. I'm not sending you there by chance. You will go to Valentino. For a crepe. The whole of Thessaloniki passes from there, don't get upset if you see a queue. The lads inside are very quick to serve their customers. Tip: the sweet crepes are better than the savoury ones.  

Gelati e Amore
Al. Svolou
Because there is nothing like Italian ice-cream, pay a visit to “Gelati e Amore” on Al. Svolou street. Tip: You won't find a nutella like this anywhere!  

I Agnosti Kadath (Unknown Kadath)
6, Aimilianou Grevenon, +30 2310229060
I believe that thematic bookshops are missing in Greece. But in Thessaloniki we have one of the best. Anything you are looking for in Fantasy and Sci-Fi literature, in English or Greece, Kadath has it. A shop that you can immerse yourself into for hours if you are a fan of these particular genres. Tip: Take a look at the offers in the boxes on your right as yolu enter the shop. You might find something good!


Social Center/Immigrant Hang-out
23 Ermou, +30 2310241015
As you know I am an alternative type, so I have to recommend an alternative meetip place, the Social Center/Immigrant Hang-out. It is a meeting spot for many voluntary, anti-racist, social and environmental groups and various events are frequently organized there. But even if there is nothing particular on schedule, it is worth visiting for a coffee or a drink, since the space is very nice. Tip: I will be blunt about it: It has fucking low prices!

Boats in the Thermaikos Gulf
White Tower seafront
There is something very special that you can do in Thessaloniki: drink your coffee or your drink on a boat! On the seafront, close to the White Tower, you can find the boats/floating bars of the Thermaikos Gulf. I personally prefer the "Arabbella" and "Argo" for rockers or the "Clio" with its reggae rhythms. Tip: If you get seasick, avoid it. Or take a pill.


Photography Museum Cafe
Port
Can you imagine drinking your coffee and looking at the sea and Panagia Soumela! Impossible? Not at all, at the Photography Museum Cafe you can sit for hours, watching the port and the little boat "Panagia Soumela" that usually moors right under the glass wall. Tip: it's best to visit during a period when an exhibition is on, and until nine o'clock in the evening, or you will find it closed.


Vyzantion Cafe
Eptapyrgiou, Kastra
If you want to see the best view to the Thermaikos, go up high, in the area of the Kastra (Castles) If you want to see something even better, go to cafe-bar Vyzantio an go up on the roof. You will drink your coffee or drink looking down on the city. Tip: If you go in the morning, take sunglases. In the evening, a cardigan. Health above all.


Porto souvlaki-shop
Eleftherias Square
You are in the city and your instincts command only one thing: food. You want to eat. Oils, meat, fat, you want to savour a souvlaki, dammit! Go to Porto, on Eleftherias Square, and you will not regret it. Especially during the festival, it has saved many! Tip: gyros-gyros-gyros-gyros.  

Stoa Bar
Modiano
It might be a little scary getting there, since in order to find it you must pass from an empty -at night- Ermou, to enter the even emptier at night Modiano market and climb an iron stair. But if you are a photographer, film-maker or serial killer, you will love the ride. Up, a small bar with a glass wall so you can see the creepy way you just passed, music, nice people. Tip: tell your friends to wait for you there and go alone. *shudder*

Bit Pazar
Definitely one of Thessaloniki's most historic places. It was once known for antique shops, now it is most loved as a night-spot. Right in the urban landscape, a small round square with an olive tree in the middle, and small taverns all around it, with people having fun. One of the places you-must-definitely-visit, at least during the hot months. Tip: young people and lots of students usually hang out there, so if you are looking for something posh, try somewhere else.