TOP REASONS TO VISIT
1. The traditional villages
In the middle peninsula of Sithonia, visit the village of Nikiti, a 700-year-old settlement, with beautiful houses built in the traditional Macedonian style. Another must-stop is Parthenonas, a village that was abandoned by its residents in the late 1960s (many of whom settled in Neos Marmaras to find work in the tourism industry). Some years later it started to attract foreign settlers who began refurbishing the traditional homes and creating guesthouses and restaurants. Today it is one of the most beautiful places in Halkidiki and has been declared a protected village.
Walk up to the village of Afitos on the western Kassandra peninsula, with its cobbled streets and stone-built houses. In central Halkidiki the traditional mountain town of Arnaia is also well worth a visit, with charming cobblestone alleys and colorful yellow, red and blue buildings.
© Pericles Merakos
2. The Tower of Prosforios
Head to Ouranoupoli (the last village before the monastic communities of Mount Athos) to see the Tower of Prosforios, a unique – in every respect – Byzantine-era tower built right on the sea. It is considered the largest and most well-preserved of such towers in the region of Halkidiki.
3. The cruise along the coast of Athos
In Ouranoupoli, hop on one of the boats that make day trips along the west coast of the Athos peninsula, to get a taste from afar of the eight stunning monasteries of Mount Athos, accompanied by the white seagulls that will doubtlessly follow your boat, hoping for a scrap of food or three.
EASTER IN HALKIDIKI
In Ierissos on Easter Tuesday, all of the residents, led by the elders, form a line that stretches for hundreds of meters in a traditional dance that ends with the Kagkelefto, a reenactment of a slaughter of 400 villagers by the Ottomans in 1821.
In Arnaia, also on Easter Tuesday, underneath the large plane tree in the central square, a huge kantari, or scale, is set up to measure the weight of those who didn’t fast during lent. On the same day in Sykia, traditional horse races take place on the village’s beach.
© Pericles Merakos
4. The Holomontas mountain
Full of wildflowers, oaks, pines, chestnut trees and firs (the last are sold as Christmas trees), Holomontas is a beautiful mountain of central Halkidiki. It’s tallest peak reaches an altitude of 1,165m, and its slopes are ideal for trekking and biking.
