The North — Greece's best-kept secret

Ask a hundred Germans about Greece, and 99 will rave about Santorini, Crete, or Mykonos. Northern Greece only appears on page 200 in most travel guides — and that is its greatest asset. Up here, between the Macedonian plain and the Pindos mountains, lies a Greece that most tourists never get to see: wilder, more authentic, culinary superior, and historically at least as significant as the south.

While the Cycladic islands groan under the onslaught of Instagram tourists, you sit in a tavern by the sea in Thessaloniki and pay for a three-course seafood meal half of what a cocktail costs on Mykonos. While in Athens the Acropolis disappears behind a wall of people, you stand in Meteora before monasteries that literally reach for the sky — and have the place practically to yourself at nine in the morning.

The North is the Greece of the Greeks. Thessaloniki is the country's unofficial culinary capital. The Vikos Gorge in the Zagori region is deeper than the Grand Canyon. Mount Olympus rises as the highest mountain in the country at 2,917 meters. And on Chalkidiki's three fingers, you'll find beaches that rival the Caribbean — only with taverns instead of resorts behind them.

Northern Greece can be perfectly combined with the Peloponnese or Athens: Athens → Delphi → Meteora → Thessaloniki → Chalkidiki is one of the best routes in Greece. With 10–14 days, you see the best of the north. If you only have a week, focus on Thessaloniki (2–3 days) + Meteora (2 days) + either Chalkidiki or Delphi.

A word of warning: The North is addictive. Anyone who has tried the Bougatsa in Thessaloniki, seen the monasteries of Meteora in the evening light, and discovered the secluded bays of Sithonia will never understand why everyone only wants to go to the islands.