Zagorohoria
This now-unused monastery was erected against a massive rock in 1665. The building is usually closed (unless it's the Friday after Easter), but there is a…
Must-see attractions in Northern Greece
Thrace
In the marshlands between Lake Vistonida and the sea, this monastery, associated with Vatopedi on Mt Athos, is set on two islets linked by a pedestrian…
Macedonia
Founded by Georgian monks in the 10th century, this monastery enjoyed 16th-century prosperity, which accounts for its collection of more than 2000…
Zagorohoria
This cultural centre is housed in a renovated mansion. The exhibits focus on Zagorohoria history and culture, with excellent photography. Coffee-table…
Macedonia
This museum in a restored mill will turn you from novice to nerd in all things Byzantine. Splendorous icons, huge 5th-century floor mosaics and ornate…
Macedonia
Located at the eastern side of town, Waterfalls Park offers several viewing points allowing you to gaze at Edessa's star attraction, and even get quite…
Thessaloniki
This early-14th-century church, one of the most beautiful in a city heavy with stunning examples, has superb (though age-darkened) frescoes, many dating…
Experimental Center for the Arts
Thessaloniki
The wonderful programming at this old harbour space features fine art, video, installations, photography and all other forms of expression. Exhibitions…
Macedonia
Testament to Kastoria's importance as a Byzantine city, this museum holds some 400 Byzantine and post-Byzantine icons. Many are displayed, alongside…
Macedonia
Pre-eminent amongst Athos' monasteries, this magnificent 10th-century complex is the peninsula's largest; it houses founder St Athanasios' tomb, and a…
Thessaloniki
The only surviving one of Thessaloniki's 45 pre-WWII synagogues owes its preservation to the fact that it was used as a warehouse by the Red Cross. Spared…
Macedonia
A tranquil cliff-hanging monastery dating to the 14th century, Dionysiou sustains a community of around 50 monks, and shelters some very precious books…
Thessaloniki
An atmospheric 16th-century structure, this former Turkish bath has great acoustics. Today it houses a bar that's gone to great lengths to turn the lovely…
Macedonia
Just 25km south of Thessaloniki, Epanomi village is close to beaches, wetlands and this excellent winery and wine museum, which enjoys a spectacular…
Thrace
Triandafyllos Vaitsis works scrap metal and other findings into surprising sculptures that cast contradictory shadows. It's a relatively short visit, and…
Macedonia
Spilling down to the water in a cluster of stone buildings dating at the earliest to the 14th century, Athos' most inhabited monastery is kept humming by…
Zagorohoria
The most striking of Papingo's churches is Agios Vlasios (1852) with its separate 15m-high hexagonal bell tower (1887).
Church of Parigoritissa Byzantine Museum
Epiros
Three storeys plus intricate brick domes, this giant block of a church was established in the 13th century under the Despotate of Epiros. A few centuries…
Ioannina
This museum digs deeper into history than many others in Greece, staring in the ice age, with such relics as 120,000-year-old fossilized rhinoceros teeth…
Ioannina
This museum presents early Christian and Byzantine art, pottery, coins and silverware, plus post-Byzantine icons and manuscripts, early Venetian-produced…
Thrace
Set on a tall bluff overlooking the Evros River, two large towers linked by a sturdy wall are the only surviving example of Byzantine defensive…
Kahila Kedosha Yashan Synagogue
Ioannina
Open only by appointment, this temple, built in 1829, is nonetheless worth scheduling ahead if you're interested in Ioannina's deep Jewish history…
Archaeological Museum of Abdera
Thrace
This fine small museum exhibits the findings from ancient Abdera, with a focus on daily life: medical tools, for instance, and clay figurines, made in a…
Macedonia
The abundance of streams in Edessa led sensibly to an abundance of mills and other machinery to exploit this renewable power. Scattered around this open…
Epiros
Arta's 13th-century walls, erected 10m high by the Byzantine despotate atop ruins of ancient Ambracia, stand on the north side of town. They're perhaps…
Thessaloniki
Although 6km east of town, this fascinating museum of science and technology, old and new, is worth visiting. There's a planetarium, a giant-screen cinema…
Ioannina
On Ioannina's idyllic island, the monastery where Ali Pasha made his last stand (or recline, really) in 1822 is now a small, cheerfully morbid museum,…
Macedonia
This surprisingly interesting museum whirls through the history of tobacco cultivation and production in eastern Macedonia and Thrace. Bright murals, old…
Archaeological Museum of Florina
Macedonia
Florina's modest two-storey archaeological museum tells the story of the city and surrounding region through prehistoric, classical, Hellenistic, Roman…
Thessaloniki
Modern Turkey’s illustrious founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881–1938), was born here. Along with displays tracing Atatürk's life and career you'll see…
Epiros
This museum is a gem: a fine collection, clearly presented, in a manageable space that's seldom busy. It focuses primarily on the ancient city of Ambracia…
Museum of the Macedonian Struggle
Thessaloniki
Ground zero for Greek nationalism, this museum in a handsome late-19th-century mansion recounts how heroic Hellenes wrested Macedonia from both Turks and…
Macedonia
The only Athos monastery accessible by women (it sits just beyond the border), the quiet, atmospheric ruins of 10th-century Zyrgou are a short drive (or…
Thrace
Next to the custard-coloured Agios Nikolaos cathedral, this excellent museum contains priceless icons, many brought by refugees in 1923, plus early…
Macedonia
Built in the 17th century by the Aviazi family, who lived here until the 1960s, this intriguing traditional Doltso home now houses a collection of local…
Thrace
Most signage at this museum is in Greek, so consider it more an excuse to poke around two linked 19th-century mansions, built for tobacco-baron brothers…
Parga
This museum in Parga's erstwhile olive-oil factory, operational from 1929 until 1974, covers the history of Parga's major pre-tourist industry (the trees…
Macedonia
Surmounting Kavala's historic peninsula of Panagia, this picturesque fortress was built on the foundations of a Byzantine acropolis destroyed in 1391…
Epiros
This little chapel is really an excuse for a pleasant short walk, about 30 minutes along a level path. Konitsa's local religious hero, St Paisios of Athos…
Thrace
This cathedral houses the miracle-working 13th-century icon of the Panagia Trifotissa, from Aenos (Enez in Turkish) across the Evros River. Villagers with…
