The cutting-edge art performances, cinematic avant-garde, cultural sites, creative projects, arts and entertainment hubs all-in-one, numerous monuments, fifteen listed UNESCO World Heritage sites and the 5 km meandering waterfront make Thessaloniki a must-see destination.
Thessaloniki is the second largest city of Greece (officially the Hellenic Republic and known since ancient times as Hellas, is a country in Southern Europe).and the most important centre of the area. Built near the sea, it is a modern metropolis bearing the marks of its stormy history and its cosmopolitan character, which give it a special beauty and charm. Due to its privileged location of land-proximity to both Europe and the East, travelling to Thessaloniki has always been a no-brainer.
Historically one of Europe’s oldest and most multiethnic cities, widely considered as the cultural capital of Greece, Thessaloniki is truly unique in the sense that it intricately marries its thousands-year-old multicultural heritage and the architectural marvels with the Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and Sephardic Jew history.
Museums & Monuments
Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki is considered one of the country’s most important museums. Museum collection includes findings from the area of Thessaloniki and the wider northern Greece. The eight permanent exhibition units, structured thematically, represent all aspects of private and public life in antiquity. The Museum of Photography is the only state-run museum dedicated solely to photography, aiming to approach all different usages of the photographic medium. Its activities are realised on a local, national and international level. Its collections and its archives include more than 100,000 photographic objects. TheMuseum organises the international photography festival of PhotoBiennale.
Thessaloniki Olymp
ic Museum, unique in Greece, was founded in 1998, initially as Sports Museum. In its permanent exhibition, the museum presents the history of the modern Olympic Games, while, in the meantime, it organises various thematic temporary exhibitions. The Railway Museum of Thessaloniki has been in operation since 2OO1, located at the military station’s building, built in 1891 by the Italian architect, Pierro Arrigoni. It hosts numerous and rare railway exhibits such as original vehicles, restaurant and sleep wagon from the orient express, locomotives, wagons, uniforms, telegraphs, tools and archival material.
The historical profile of Thessaloniki, which began in the Hellenistic era and has continued uninterrupted to the present day, is mainly linked to its Byzantine life. The walled city and its monuments can reasonably be called an open Byzantine Museum. All city monuments, Byzantine, Post-Byzantine and Ottoman have been declared as historical landmark monuments. Fifteen (15) of the Early Christian-Byzantine monuments were included in the UNESCO World Heritage Listing 1988.
Blue Flag Beaches
In the summer combine your stay in Thessaloniki with a cooling bath at the nearby beaches, in Perea, Neoi Epivatoes, Agia Triada, Nea Michaniona and Epanomi, all located on Thermaic Gulf, and Asprovalta, Vrasna a
nd Stavros at the other end of the Thessaloniki Regional Authority, on the Strymonian Gulf, where you will find crystal clear sea, beaches where you can also enjoy your favorite summer sports and activities.
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The ‘Blue Flag’ is an international quality sign, perhaps the most known environmental sign in the world and it is awarded to those beaches and marinas which fulfill all 29 of its criteria.
Shopping
Thessaloniki has always been a city of commerce, due to its special geographical location. Its important port played a significant role for the sale and purchase of goods, uniting various people and acting as a passage from East to West and vice versa, resulting in the shaping of a varied and populous market. Today the entire historic center of the city, between Egnatia St. and the Port is one of the most popular shopping destinations in Greece and 
Balkans. In the market of Thessaloniki, with its key road axes being Tsimiski St., Mitropoleos St., Proxenou Koromila St., P.P. Germanos St., Agias Sofias St., Ermou and Egnatia a visitor can fist shops stocked with domestic and imported brands and the hippest and most in vogue articles of clothing, footwear, accessories, jewelry and furs. Several major shopping malls have recently been developed both in the eastern and western entrances of the city.
Nightlife
If you think that everyone in Thessaloniki is rushing somewhere all day, just wait until nightfall. It seems like everyone in town tops at a favorite cafe on the way home from work and then heads out to dinner this, before or after taking in a play or concert at one of the city’s many theaters, concert halls, and nightclubs and bars with live entertainment. Meanwhile, the city seems festooned with enough bars and clubs to serve a population twice its size, yet all of them are crowded t
o the bursting point — and more open every year. For some of the liveliest nightlife in town, try one of the cafes in the waterfront Ladidika district, or along the harbour and the shoreline on Nikis Street, or head inland to Athoonos Square, or sample the cafes on Zefxidos and Iktinos streets. Mitropoleos street and the narrow streets around as well as the area around White tower has a lot to offer to night fun lovers.
Demetria Festival, (October 26), St. Dimitrios’s day is celebrated all over Greece, but in Thessaloniki, the celebration lasts for weeks. The festival, which gets bigger every year, now includes many theatrical and musical events. The International Film Festival draws hoards of film buffs to the city every November.
Eating Out
Thessaloniki is a crossroads of flavours, a metropolis of tastes, a gastronomic capital, a city of pleasure. Various religions and customs have added to or subtracted from its ancient gastronomic features. Gastronomy, an indisputable cultural creation, includes a wealth of flavours and pleasures. Nowhere 
else in Greece
can one find so many different flavours combined on the same table.
Thessaloniki residents pride themselves on their willingness to try unusual, strong flavours, which they learn to love and, finally, adopt. Also of interest are the roofed traditional food markets Modiano, Kapani and Vlali which cornucopia competes with variety and low prices.
Climate
The climate of Thessaloniki is Mediterranean. The January and February are considered to be the coldest months, with temperatures around 0ºC, or below 0. Rainfall is frequent, with large intervals of sunlight. Spring begins in early March, with long sunlight and sudden changes in weather and temperature. June is a pleasant summer month, whilst July and August are characterised by high temperatures approaching or even exceeding 40ºC. September is a very pleasant month without sudden weather changes and with very pleasant temperatures. Autumn begins in late October, when the first rain and low temperatures occur.
VISA Process
Applicants need to appear in person for the collection of the bio-metric data at Visa Centres or embassy of Greece in New Delhi. Ten finger print and a photograph are collected from person applying for a Visa. However, for subsequent applications within five years, finger prints can be re-used from the VIS file (Visa Information System) unless there is reasonable doubt regarding the identity of the applicant. When the visa holder arrives at the external border, the border authorities have access to the VIS to verify his or her identity and the authenticity of the visa.
Embassy in New Delhi
EP-32, Dr S. Radhakrishnan Marg,
Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110021
Tel: (009111) 26880700-4
Fax: (009111) 26888010, 24675231
Emergency Tel: 0091 9654616196
E-mail: gremb.del@mfa.gr grcon.del@mfa.gr
Web Site: www.mfa.gr/newdelhi
Need to Know
Thessaloniki: Second largest City of Greece
Greece: Officially Hellenic Republic, Southern Europe
Capital City of Greece: Athens
Region: Macedonia
Official Language: Greek
Currency: Euro (€)
Climate: Mediterranean
Geography: South-Eastern Europe
Time Zone: Time Greece GMT +2 (India GMT +5.5)
Calling Code: +30
City Tour: 50 Minutes City Tour, No. 50 Cultural Route Bus
Getting Here
Airport Macedonia
Airlines from India to Greece: Alitalia, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways, Turkish Airline, British Airways etc. (stopover flights).
