I was surprised and upset to read you thought Thessaloniki was dirty and not very interesting. This is the second city of Greece and we have always found it to be so interesting and full of character and history. OK there may be dirty parts (not visited them though) but there are in any city, I would imagine London and indeed many other capitals cities is not that brilliant in parts. I have heard a lot of Greek people think Thessaloniki should be the first city of Greece as Athens is supposed to be much worse and not as attractive - can't speak for Athens though as I have only passed through there.

There are fantastic areas to visits, old style markets, superb shops both expensive designer and cheaper, great delicatessens and some fantastic restaurants with prices so much lower than in the holiday resorts of Halkidiki.

The purpose of this post really is to say that I hope you try the city again some time if you visit Halkidiki, and get some local advice on where to go shopping, eating, sightseeing etc., I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

It is also a great base for visiting areas around like Vergina (superb), Nymfaio (about 3-4 hrs drive away, but a beautiful mountain village with spectacular scenery and a bear and wolf sanctuary), the lakes of Northern Halkidiki and much more.