7 Day Halkidiki Itinerary: Follow Our Epic Road Trip!

Halkidiki Itinerary

Ready to discover one of the most beautiful regions of Greece? We recently spent one week in Halkidiki, and are so excited to to share our itinerary with you! Follow along our northern Greece road trip as we show you all three peninsulas, the incredible beaches, seafood delicacies, and amazing historic sites. Hopefully, our 7 day Halkidiki itinerary will inspire you when planning your own trip!

Our Northern Greece Road Trip

If you’ve been following us for a while now, you know that Greece is one of our favorite countries. Yet, for some reason, we hadn’t made it to the northern region until this past visit. 

Last summer, we switched it up from the islands for a bit, and headed to Greek mainland. We spent a week in the Peloponnese, drove to ancient Meteora, and ended on the stunning west coast

This inspired us to take a Northern Greece road trip, and we immediately started planning our 7 day Halkidiki itinerary! As you’ll see next, we started off by flying into Thessaloniki, and then made our way to the three peninsulas. 

Halkidiki Northern Greece Road Trip

What is Halkidiki Greece Known For?

Halkidiki is popular with travelers for a variety of reasons that you’ll see in our Northern Greece itinerary. With it’s abundance of beaches, delicious food, and history, you’re in for an exciting trip!

The main part of Halkidiki is the three peninsulas that flow south into the Aegean Sea. They’re all very different from each other, bringing in a mix of beach lovers and even pilgrims to the Mouth Athos monasteries. 

For us, we were especially excited to hit the beaches! Our visit in late spring gave us the opportunity to see the area just before the summer crowds arrived. Still not sure if Halkidiki is right for you? Here’s 12 more reasons to book a trip this summer! 

While this was an unreal 7 Day Halkidiki itinerary, it truly wasn’t enough time. Between the city of Thessaloniki, three peninsulas, and all the historic sites, we definitely could have used a few more days.

Halkidiki Northern Greece Food

Planning Your 1 Week Halkidiki Itinerary 

☎️ Get a Greece E-Sim before you arrive so it’s easier to stay connected! 

⛴  Use FerriesinGreece to compare different routes, prices, and companies.

✈️  Check out Skyscanner for cheap flights, especially between Athens and the islands.

🛌 We search both Booking.com and Agoda to find places to stay. Also, visit  Hostelworld if you’re on a budget.

🚗 Having a car for our Northern Greece itinerary is a must. Use Discover Cars to explore with a vehicle (as low as $15 a day!)

⛵️  Find so many fun activities using Get Your Guide in Halkidiki Greece.

☀️ Never travel abroad without insurance like SafetyWing.

🎒 Scan through our Amazon packing lists, electronics and camera gear & long flight essentials.

Northern Greece itinerary

The Ultimate 7 Day Halkidiki Itinerary 

Day 1: Exploring Thessaloniki City

Our adventure to Halkidiki started off in the big city of Thessaloniki. We flew in from Spain, and had one day to tour Greece’s 2nd largest metropolis. 

You can read all about our day in the city here with some of our favorite things we did. If you didn’t know, Thessaloniki is full of extraordinary history and architecture.

However, the highlight of our day was easily the food! It’s been proclaimed as the culinary capital of Greece and we would taste so many great local specialties. 

The markets and nightlife are also worth visiting Thessaloniki for, which made an exciting start to our Northern Greece itinerary. The next morning we would pick our rental car (check current prices) and make the drive south to Halkidiki. 

Thessaloniki City Food

Day 2: Arnea & Ancient Stagira 

Without a doubt, the three peninsulas are the main draw to this region. Yet, if you rented a car like we did, you will want to make a stop at two important places first. 

Our 1 week Halkidiki itinerary started with a trip to the mountain village of Arnea. Unfortunately, it was raining hard the morning we visited, but we still were able to capture the beauty of this special town.

We walked through the colorful streets and learned about this history of iron mining in the area. After that we stopped in for a local honey tasting at Georgakas, who have won several international awards. 

Arnea Village

Halkidiki Greece Honey

Strolling Through Stagira

Our next stop was Stagira, which is located on the northeastern side of Halkidiki. It made complete sense with our drive as we would start on the furthest of the three peninsulas. From there, we worked our way back towards Kassandra over a week. 

This ancient city dates back to 655 BC, and is known for being the birthplace of the great philosopher Aristotle. The ruins were a fascinating look back in time and something every history lover will appreciate. Check out our complete guide to Ancient Stagira here.

We had a fabulous lunch on the water at Restaurant Akroyali before heading off to our next stop. It doubles as a beachfront hotel in one of the Messinia villages which you can book here.

We should mention that we absolutely loved this small port town of Agios Andreas! We highly recommend spending the night near Stagira at a local hotel like Liotopi, Germany, or Dimar Apartments

That night we headed to the glorious Mount Athos peninsula. We stayed in Ouranoupoli at the Akti Beach Resort which had a spectacular sea view. This was the perfect choice as we had to be up early the next morning to catch a boat!

Halkidiki Greece itinerary

Halkidiki Seafood

Day 3: Mount Athos & Ammouliani Island 

Mount Athos is a 1,000 year old monastic community that’s home to dozens of active monasteries. Only men are allowed to visit this part of Halkidiki, and travelers come from all over as part of a pilgrimage journey.

Don’t worry though! By hopping on the ferry with Athos Sea Cruises you can get some amazing views of the monasteries from afar. We had a bright and sunny day for our 4 hour boat ride which would take us around the peninsula. 

The cruise leaves from the port of Ouranoupoli where there are also many hotels and tavernas. Once we finished the boat tour, we stopped in for a delicious lunch at Lemoniadis Restaurant. 

Halkidiki Itinerary Greece

7 Day Halkidiki Itinerary

1 Week Halkidiki Itinerary

Experiencing Ammouliani Island

You can already tell that this was a packed day from start to finish! After lunch, we headed to Tripiti Port to hop on the afternoon ferry to Ammouliani Island. 

We brought our car right on the boat and it was a quick 15 minute ride from the mainland. Honestly, before our 7 day Halkidiki itinerary, we had never heard of Ammouliani island.

This small islet is home to 500 year-round residents, but attracts many tourists during the summertime. We stayed at the family-run Sunrise Hotel right near the port. 

The owners were as kind as could be and gave us so many great tips for the island! We spent the afternoon driving to all the best beaches, which would end up being some of our favorite in all of Halkidiki.

Ammouliani is the only populated island in Central Macedonia. Visiting in May before the peak summer months was ideal, as we were told it gets packed in July and August.

Still, it had a very local vibe and community which we loved. It felt very unique compared to the more touristy parts of Halkidiki we would see next. Here’s our full guide to Ammouliani Island for more information.

After a wonderful day, we headed to Glaros Restaurant in the port. They proceeded to fill the table with all kinds of seafood specialties, and it was a dinner we’ll always remember. We even had a bottle of wine from a vineyard on Mount Athos with our meal! 

7 day Halkidiki Greece itinerary Road Trip

One Week Halkidiki Greece itinerary

One Week Halkidiki itinerary

Day 4 & 5: Sithonia Beach Hopping

The next day we woke up and didn’t want to leave the island. We spent the morning at the stunning Aliki Beach, and took a later ferry before driving to Sithonia. 

Sithonia is the middle peninsula of Halkidiki and holds many of its most beautiful beaches. This portion of our 1 week Halkidiki itinerary was spent mostly hopping from beach to beach all day!

Two of our favorites were Karidi Beach and Kavourotrypes Beach among the endless paradises of this peninsula. If you’re up for some water sports like kayaking, be sure to stop by Surf Vourvourou for a rental. Nature lovers will also enjoy the many hiking trails around this part of Halkidiki. 

While there are so many popular beaches in Sithonia, be sure to leave some time to explore yourself! Some of our most memorable experiences were pulling off the main road and finding secluded beaches to take a dip.

We spent two nights at the wonderful Lagomadra Hotel right on the sea. It was perfectly located in Neos Marmaras which is not far from Nikiti Village. We loved the view from our room over the property and spent our nights on the beach for sunset.

Northern Greece road trip

Lagomadra Hotel

Halkidiki Greece

Day 6 & 7: Luxury on Kassandra Peninsula 

After an adventurous few days, we were ready to get some rest and relaxation. So naturally, we finished our 7 day Halkidiki itinerary on the Kassandra peninsula at a 5 star resort! 

Portes Lithos Luxury Resort sits at entrance to Kassandra, and is just a 45 minute drive from Thessaloniki. Over our last two days we chilled by the pool, enjoyed some delicious cuisine, and hung out by the beach. 

The second afternoon we did venture off to Nea Fokea to see its ancient tower. Walking through the traditional Afitos Village was a fun highlight as well.

With that said, this part of our Northern Greece itinerary was all about enjoying it in style! Read our full review of the Portes Lithos hotel here if you’d like to include it in your own visit to Kassandra.

Best 1 Week Halkidiki Itinerary

Ending Our 1 Week Halkidiki Itinerary

As you can see, our 1 week Halkidiki itinerary was the ultimate mix of nature, history, and food. We didn’t know what to expect on this Northern Greece road trip, but it really exceeded our expectations in every way possible.

Whether you’re up for some adventure or simply a relaxing beach vacation, Halkidiki has something for everyone. By staying on all three of the Halkidiki “fingers,” we got to to see it all without too much driving each day.

We also loved being so close to the airport and Thessaloniki at the end so we could drive right there and hop on our flight. If you’re considering a 1 week Halkidiki itinerary, know that you won’t be able to see it all with that amount of time. Overall, we loved this region of Greece, and can’t wait to return to see more! 

Northern Greece road trip

Have any questions about this article or want to share your own Northern Greece road trip? Let us know in the comments below!

Safe Travels,
Brigitte & Jake

This experience was made possible in collaboration with Halkidiki Tourism. As always, any opinions and recommendations remain our own.

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Brigitte & Jake

We’re Brigitte and Jake! American travel bloggers currently based in Spain. If you can believe it, we started Nothing Familiar way back in 2015 on an Ipad in the Ecuadorian jungle. Ever since, we haven’t stopped traveling! We’ve now been to over 60 countries around the world, with our expertise being Europe and Southeast Asia. We love outdoor adventures, tasting local specialties, and island hopping through tropical destinations. Hopefully, our guides and authentic experiences will inspire you on your own travels!

Find me on: Web | Twitter/X | Instagram | Facebook

2 Comments

  1. June 24, 2024 / 12:16 pm

    I love your itinerary. I think you covered everything and will make my future trip to Halkidiki hassle-free. I can already tell that this is going to be an amazing road trip!

    • Brigitte & Jake
      Author
      June 24, 2024 / 12:39 pm

      Thanks for reading! Hope you have a great trip to Halkidiki 😃

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