2 days in Thessaloniki, budgeted honestly Thessaloniki is Greece’s second city, not a warm-up for Athens and not an island stop, a real working port town on the Thermaic Gulf with its own Byzantine and Ottoman layers and a genuine claim to being the country’s food capital. Two days here is the tightest honest version of the trip: the historic centre and Ano Poli, covered on foot and with a cheap bus or metro ticket, where most of the actual sightseeing is free or close to it.

3 days in Thessaloniki, budgeted honestly Thessaloniki is Greece’s second city, not a smaller Athens and not an island stop: a working port and university town on the Thermaic Gulf, layered with Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman history, and a fair claim to being the country’s food capital. Three days is the honest sweet spot for the city itself, enough time to add the two big museums, the markets and an evening in Ladadika on top of the free-to-walk historic centre and Ano Poli.

4 days in Thessaloniki, budgeted honestly Thessaloniki is Greece’s second city, not a smaller Athens and not an island stop: a working port and university town on the Thermaic Gulf, layered with Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman history, with a fair claim to being the country’s food capital. Four days is enough to do the city properly, the same free-to-walk historic centre, Ano Poli and UNESCO churches as the 3-day plan, plus the museums, markets and Jewish heritage, and still add one real regional day trip to Vergina’s royal tombs.

5 days in Thessaloniki, budgeted honestly Thessaloniki is Greece’s second city, not a smaller Athens and not an island stop: a working port and university town on the Thermaic Gulf, layered with Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman history, and a fair claim to being the country’s food capital. Five days here is 3 real city days plus two separate day trips, not a city padded out to fill a week. Run lean, guesthouse and street food included, the five days cost roughly EUR 171-285 total.

6 days in Thessaloniki, budgeted honestly Thessaloniki is Greece’s second city, not a smaller Athens and not an island stop: a working port and university town on the Thermaic Gulf, layered with Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman history, with a fair claim to being the country’s food capital. Six days here is the honest 3-day city core plus three separate regional day trips, not a city stretched thin to fill a week on its own.

7 days in Thessaloniki, budgeted honestly Thessaloniki is Greece’s second city, not a smaller Athens and not an island stop: a working port and university town on the Thermaic Gulf, layered with Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman history, with a fair claim to being the country’s food capital. Seven days here is 3 real city days plus four separate day-trip days, Vergina’s royal tombs, Mount Olympus, and a two-day Meteora overnight, not a city stretched thin to fill a week.

Thessaloniki is Greece’s second city, and its best sights are free Thessaloniki is Greece’s second-largest city, not a smaller Athens and not an island stop: a working port and university city on the Thermaic Gulf, layered with Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and Sephardic Jewish history, and fairly marketed as the country’s food capital. The city itself is a comfortable 2 to 3 day break; longer trips add a regional day trip rather than more in-city sightseeing.