Olympou Street Puts Thessaloniki on the Cool Map
Ranked among the world’s coolest streets,…
The latest print issue of Greece Is magazine – Greece Is Thessaloniki 2025-2026 – will be available together with The New York Times International Edition – Kathimerini English Edition this weekend (15-16/11/25), everywhere that international press is sold throughout Greece. In addition, you’ll soon be able to order the issue from anywhere in the world through our e-shop, or download a digital version from our website.
© Perikles Merakos
© Olga Deikou
We’re excited to present Greece Is Thessaloniki 2025-2026, a vibrant new edition dedicated to the city’s timeless charm and ever-evolving identity. From its grand neoclassical façades and Byzantine echoes to its contemporary creative pulse, Thessaloniki is a city of many layers, and this issue peels them back one by one. Step inside and explore a metropolis redefining itself with high ambitions and open horizons, where culture, history, and innovation converge.
Meet the people shaping its future, from local visionaries and artists to curators and community leaders. Wander through seventeen centuries of living heritage, from Roman landmarks to modern icons. Discover the long-forgotten queens of Aigai, relive the echoes of historic turning points, and journey to Veria, a treasure trove of natural and cultural riches.
© Perikles Merakos
© Perikles Merakos
For lovers of authentic experience, we delve into the soul of the koutouki – the classic neighborhood eatery where time slows down and conversation flows – and trace the story of Greek wine pioneer Evangelos Gerovassiliou. Street food, too, takes center stage, reimagined by a new generation of chefs who blend tradition with bold creativity.
Richly photographed and beautifully written, Greece Is Thessaloniki 2025-2026 celebrates the city’s depth, diversity, and irrepressible spirit. Whether you’re a first-time visitor or a lifelong admirer, this issue invites you to see Thessaloniki anew, through stories that surprise, inspire, and linger.
By Greece-Is team
There’s a hum to Thessaloniki this year – the sound of a city adjusting its rhythm. With the long-awaited opening of the metro, an engineering feat that doubles as an underground museum of antiquities, the conversation has shifted from “If …” to “What’s next?” Test runs on the Kalamaria extension began in September, pushing the network seaward and signaling a more connected urban future.
Above ground, the city’s fabric is being rewoven. The Flyover, an elevated artery along the eastern ring road designed to ease the bottlenecks that have tested the patience of the city’s drivers for years, is moving steadily forward. At the port, record results and an approved master plan confirm a maritime hub that’s thinking in decades, not seasons, while anticipation is building for the Metropolitan Park taking shape on the grounds of the former Pavlos Mela army barracks.
Momentum is visible on the arrivals board, too. Thessaloniki Airport welcomed more than 4.3 million passengers in the first seven months of the year – a 7.3 percent increase year-on-year – with growth climbing to 10 percent by September. The hospitality sector is also keeping pace. New arrivals are broadening choice and raising the bar for quality. Cruise calls keep stacking up, while the port readies for its next leap. The challenge now is to channel that growth into better city experiences, higher value and more sustainable flows.
This is also a significant year for cultural institutions. The 66th Thessaloniki International Film Festival has cemented its place as one of the Mediterranean’s premier cinematic gatherings, spotlighting Balkan voices and bringing audiences back to the city’s historic theaters. Later this month, Open House will once again transform the city into a living museum of design and memory, turning buildings into stories and streets into itineraries. The Holocaust Museum of Greece, a testament to remembrance that will become an integral part of the living cityscape, has already entered its construction phase.
Between sea and skyline, the city is finding its stride. At last, Thessaloniki feels less like a promise deferred and more like a promise kept – and renewed.
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