City Stopover

What an idea going quickly to a greek city

Visit the exciting city of Athens with its rich Archeological history. Visit the Acropolis, Delphi, Mycenae, Epidaurus and the nearby islands of Aegina, Poros and Hydra. Enjoy the Greek cuisine, the vibrant night life and shopping.
Or go to the fascinating city Thessaloniki: The metropolitan centre of Northern Greece with a history of 2,300 years. If Athens is the city of classical antiquity and its monuments reflect the spirit of ancient Greece, Thessaloniki resonates the wealth and magnificence of the Byzantine empire.
However, its age-old presence goes beyond this dimension. The city that is open to two worlds, the Orient and the Occident, has always been a stopover for the peoples that went through it; Byzantines, Franks, Ottomans, and Jews left their mark on its architecture, its cultural heritage, the histories and traditions of its people, but they also took something from the city ambience with them.

ATHENS
Join the increasing number taking short breaks to Athens and experience a city transformed during a long and glorious history. Once just an Acropolis, Athens is now a vibrant, fast-paced megalopolis, showcasing some of the western world's most significant monuments.

Most of the major sights reside within a very walkable area within and surrounding the oldest quarter, Plaka. Rising up south of the Plaka is the grandfather of all attractions, the hill of Acropolis - an irresistible port of call on all city breaks to Athens - whose treasures are as famous today as they were in ancient times.

Along with the grand, 2,400-year-old Parthenon, its slopes hold the equally elderly Theatre of Dionysos, where once over 10,000 people applauded classical spectacles.

Don't miss the best-preserved monument in the city, the Tower of the Winds, which began keeping time with a sundial and water clock in the first century BC. Short breaks to Athens are synonymous with ancient relics and to the north, the National Archaeological Museum houses enough Greek riches to rank as one of the best in the world.

In a valley near the hill of Areopagus, you'll find the ruins of the Ancient Agora (market), the political and commercial hub of old Athens.

History aside, it doesn't take much effort on a city break to Athens to look past the city's grubby veneer and find a thriving destination with atmosphere, excellent dining, pumping nightlife and a number of charming old districts to explore.

Kolonáki, a stylish district roosting on Lykavitós' slopes, provides well-heeled café culture with delightful scenery - on a clear day you can see across to the Acropolis, and the area is also great for shopping. A visit to the flea market near Plateia Monastirakiou is to experience Athens at its best - vibrant, passionate and colourfully chaotic.

If the hustle, bustle and high traffic levels get all too much, don't worry. Many travellers taking short breaks to Athens find the city a convenient stopover before relocating to one of the hundreds of idyllic Grecian islands.

Hotels coming soon...
Please write us for your individual request and we will answer you inbetween 24 hours: info@bluemar.gr

THESSALONIKI
If you thought Greece was done and dusted once you'd popped in on Athens, hopped lazily around a few Greek islands, and mopped up some ouzo, you've missed a large spot on the map.

In the northern region of Macedonia, along the Thermaic Gulf, lies Thessaloniki, the country's second largest city. Not only has it been around for some 2400 years, but it was once second only in importance to Constantinople in the Byzantine Empire, and also the centre of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans - and it has a host of monuments to prove it.

The White Tower along the waterfront is the major landmark, a 15th-century circular Venetian building that today houses the impressive Byzantine Museum. The city's most outstanding repository of relics, however, is the Archaeological Museum, filled with sculptures, prehistoric finds and treasures from ancient tombs, including that of Alexander the Great's daddy, Philip II of Macedon.

Other enticing buildings include the churches of Agios Dimitrios (Greece's largest), the 4th-century Rotunda and the 8th-century Aghia Sofia. And, as the only area to remain unscathed by a disastrous fire in 1917, you can still get feel for the Turkish era in the narrow streets and gardens of the walled Kástra quarter. Elsewhere, near the Arch of Galerius and the Roman Agora, excavations are revealing more of the city's ancient past.

There's a lot more to Thessaloniki than history, though. It's one of Greece's most fashionable and lively places - with cafés, bars, ouzeries (taverns) and bouzouki clubs buzzing and bustling for your attention, along with fantastic Greek, Turkish and international restaurants.

Roughly equidistant from Mount Olympus (of gods fame), Mount Athos (of monks fame) and the Halkidiki peninsulas (of balmy beach fame) it's also the natural starting point for an exploration of northern Greece.

Hotels coming soon...
Please write us for your individual request and we will answer you inbetween 24 hours: info@bluemar.gr

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