Thessaloniki

A rich multi-ethnic history has shaped this vibrant port city

Thessaloniki is a railway hub for the Balkans, with direct connections to Sofia, Skopje, Belgrade, Moscow, Vienna, Budapest, Bucharest and Istanbul, alongside Athens and other destinations in Greece. Commuter rail services have recently been established between Thessaloniki and Larissa, covering the journey in an 1 hour 33 min.. Traces of the port town’s Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Turkish, and Jewish heritage are visible on every other corner of this bustling modern city of one million. Thessaloniki’s multicultural past is legendary: from hosting one of the largest pre-war Jewish populations in Eastern Europe, to being the birthplace of Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey.

Unlike Greece's “Big Village” capital to the south—a magnet for rural job-seekers since the 1950s—Thessaloniki (aka Salonica) has been cosmopolitan for centuries, and Thessalonicans’ sophistication shows. Today it offers rich nightlife, good and relatively inexpensive traditional and multi-ethnic food, cultural treasures that include numerous Byzantine churches, and a 2 1/2-mile-long seaside boardwalk (if you don’t mind being subjected to the unusually high humidity). Most important for the rail traveler, the city is a springboard for rail excursions to the whole of northern Greece as well as the country’s gateway to Turkey and the Balkans.

© 2009, Wiley Publishing, Inc.