Chalkidiki

The Petralona caves, the remains of the Òlynthos, white sandy beaches and in addition a fascinating countryside – all this and more awaits you on Chalkidiki, a peninsula on the Greek mainland. Chalkidiki, like Italy’s ‘boot’, is often compared to a three-fingered hand. The three ‘fingers’ protrude into

the sea and adopt the names Cassandra, Sithonia and Athos. Cassandra is characterised by its long beaches and a hilly landscape.

Sithonia is even hillier than Cassandra. On Athos you will see the peninsula’s biggest mountain, which takes its name of the finger ‘Athos’. The mountain looks like it has jumped straight out of a child’s picture book: the sides of the mountains rise up evenly, with the three apexes seemingly competing against one another for the highest point.

For visitors, Cassandra and Sithonia are by far the most interesting, with Athos being mostly inhabited by monks. For women this raises the question whether they would happily travel to Athos without being able to set food in the thousand year old part of Chalkidiki. Even boats with women on board must stay at least a kilometre away from the coast. This interdiction goes so far that even female pets are not tolerated!

Whoever needs a day of peace away from friends or the spouse should try to get a visa for Athos, something that is not so easy to come by. But under the circumstances it could be a good change for the monks…

With a holiday to Chalkidiki, the problem is not that it is a challenge to find sights or other places to visit, its rather the decision as to where you should start!

Particularly worth recommending is the Petralona caves, the development of which have been highly documented. Here on display you will see the finds of Homo Sapiens and Homo Erectus. The biggest find in the caves is a skull that evolutionary biologists believe came between these two stages of man. The story of the cave’s discovery is one that is heard over and over again. Because the entrance of the cave was blocked, it was only discovered at the end of the 1950’s. The discovery of the cave was a mixture of luck and the intellect of a local villager. As he was minding his own business, he heard dripping on the mountain and thought it may be a spring. He followed his intuition and the rest of the cave was consequently explored.

The lagoons and small islands that share the dulcet name ‘Vourvourou’ are definitely worth visiting and a great theme for your photo album. The temple of Ammon Zeus is particularly interesting from a historic perspective. Students of philosophy can walk in Aristotle’s footprints in Stagira and visit his own memorial.

Those interested in history will be incredibly excited over the remains in the city of Òlynthos. Here you will find astonishing ancient foundations and mosaics. Even today it’s astounding how structured and linear Òlynthos was built.

Take a break from all the culture on the beaches of Cassandra or Sithonias.

While on Chalkidiki it’s worth hiring a car to give you the greatest flexibility, as the distance between the most interesting places are rather large. This means that you won’t spend your holiday at bus stations, but have the possibility to bounce back and forth between the sights and the beaches! To travel the length of the peninsula, we recommend driving along the west cost of Thessaloniki to Chalkidki.