The Quiet Lounge
Adults only travel | Childefree tourism
Thessaloniki, Greece
Thessaloniki is one of the pleasant surprises I have had in my travels in recent years.
Thanks to two different conferences, I had the privilege of coming to the city for two weekends, one in February and the other in November. The weather was reasonable, even in February it didn't drop below zero and you could walk around at all hours of the day and night with a coat.
I stayed in two hotels, in two different areas:
The Grand Palace Hotel - it is in an industrial area far from the city, it is a nice hotel but my experience as a tourist in the city is that the remoteness affects my good experience.
The Vanoro Hotel - an excellent hotel, within walking distance of the city center (but not located right in the center), with an excellent breakfast that you can choose when to eat it at any time of the day, charming service, and a bar that also operates for guests outside the hotel with a menu of excellent food and cocktails.
At the Grand Palace Hotel today there were families with children, at the Vanoro Hotel there were mostly couples.
Greek food is wow! No matter where you are in Greece, you will enjoy the food.
When we arrived at the hotel at noon, we were hungry and asked the receptionist where we should go to eat and they rightly answered - Wherever you go, it will be delicious and it was. The products are fresh and excellent and they just know how to prepare food.
There is a place for everyone, whether you like meat or vegetarians and there is also a place for vegans. There is no doubt that Mediterranean cuisine provides an answer with an abundance of vegetables, fruits, wonderful yogurt, and much more.
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What not to miss -
Tzatziki - a dish based on wonderful Greek yogurt with dill and garlic. Every restaurant we went to, this was the first thing I looked for and found. You can say that it goes well with almost everything. Pastries - there are many types of pastries that to say them, there is a danger of breaking teeth... Some with cheese and some with spinach or a combination of them, mostly I came across them at breakfast and I can eat it every day.
The kebab - they probably have a way to prepare it because to this day I have not found anything similar in taste in any other country. I could go on but I'll just say - go there!
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There is also an interesting indoor market in Thessaloniki, although I toured it a bit, I didn't get to buy or eat from what is offered there, but I plan to go there on my next visit and explore the place.
There is another important thing (for some of you) that you should consider - shopping! The main street is full of plenty of different shops with excellent prices. There are both the big chains and local stores. I enjoyed a successful shopping trip on this street. Near the Grand Palace Hotel, there is a small outlet mall where I did not find what I was looking for.
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Although I had a lot of fun on both of my visits, I realized that Thessaloniki is a summer city with taverns and parties all over the city from June to September. Can't wait to go back there again, maybe this summer... Yasu!