Managed to get a cheap flight to Thessaloniki on the 16th of may, and we (2 guys, aged 30) are planning to go to Halkidiki by rental car.

What is the best place to go in Halkidiki? We want to go to a place that has a nice nightlife, plenty to do but also on a nice beach.

Its our first time in Greece so i'm a bit clueless! Hope you guys can help out

Hi, I saw your post on Trip Advisor and the responses you received there and I thought I would offer a different perspective.

May is very much the start of the tourist season so Halkidiki will be quiet. Being a city, Thessaloniki will definitely be much busier with much more year-round nightlife, but if you want to get more of a 'beach holiday' feeling I would highly recommend going down to Halkidiki for a few days.

My favourite village is Pefkohori, with it's lovely long beach and the promenade lined with shops, bars & tavernas. There are some loud, club-like bars (Cuccureddu, Kahlua, Orca, Sushi etc) although I'm not sure how busy they will be in May. Hanioti, 5 mins up the road, also has a similar nightlife style based around the square. As stated on TA, Kalithea has good clubs on the weekend and well worth a visit on Sat night (Ahoy is a local favourite) but I think you would find the village quieter than Hanioti and Pefkohori during the week.

I hope that helps a bit, happy to answer any further questions...

Thanks for your reply! I'm just looking for the place that has the most activity in may. We will also be staying in Thessaloniki for a day or 2, depending on how much we like it. It will probably be at least the first night.
So ur saying we should go to Hanioti or Pefkohori afterwards? I dont really like it when it's completely quiet although its a beach holiday. Will checkout the other options!

You have picked a pretty early time for anywhere in Greece (not just Halkidiki) and the season is just ramping up, but there will be people around, just not like it gets in July / August (which can be hell as the beaches get rammed!).

Thessaloniki is a lovely city with some great nightlife (as stated on TA) but gets very hot in the spring / summer. If you fancy the Hanioti or Pefkohori option there are a couple of hotels I would recommend:

Pefkohori: [www.aeollos.gr]

Hanioti: [haniotivillage.com]

A lot of the 'buzz' in Halkidiki is created by the people you meet - all the bar & taverna owners / workers are very friendly and will make sure you have a good time...