Halkidiki

Halkidiki is a beach region first and last. Its three peninsulas give it hundreds of kilometres of shore, much of it fine pale sand or small pebble sloping gently into clear, turquoise water, often with pine forest right behind the beach. In August the sea reaches about 25°C, and it stays warm enough to swim from June into early October.

Kassandra, the western peninsula, has the long, organised beaches with sunbeds and beach bars, around Kallithea, Pefkohori and the Sani coast. Sithonia, the middle one, is wilder: rocky coves and granite shores at Kavourotrypes, Karydi near Vourvourou, and the long sweep of Kalamitsi and Toroni in the south. Visitors who want quieter water should base themselves in Sithonia or around Ouranoupoli and the island of Ammouliani. July and August bring heavy weekend crowds from Thessaloniki.

Eating here means the Greek seaside taverna: grilled fish and octopus, mussels, horiatiki salad, slow-cooked meat dishes and plenty of the region's own large green olives. The best meals are in fishing villages such as Nikiti, Toroni and Ouranoupoli and in the hill villages of the interior, where family tavernas cook for Greek visitors. Pine and thyme honey, Athos wines and the vineyards on the slopes above Neos Marmaras are the local products worth seeking out.

In the busier Kassandra resorts the menus become repetitive, aimed at package visitors. There is little fine dining outside the luxury resorts, and anyone who wants a serious food city goes into Thessaloniki for the day.

The great heritage of Halkidiki is Mount Athos, the monastic republic that fills the eastern peninsula, with twenty monasteries on cliffs and forested slopes. Entry is for men only, by permit and in small numbers, so most visitors see it from a cruise boat sailing from Ouranoupoli along the shore, close enough to take in the scale of the buildings. Ouranoupoli's Byzantine tower stands at the border.

Elsewhere the sights are modest: the excavated ancient city of Olynthos, Aristotle's birthplace at ancient Stagira, the Petralona cave with its prehistoric finds, and the stone village of Afytos above the sea. Pleasant half-days, but not a reason to come on their own.

Going out is concentrated on Kassandra in summer. Kallithea has the open-air clubs and runs latest, while Pefkohori, Hanioti and Polychrono have strips of cocktail and music bars that fill after midnight, and beach bars along the peninsula play music from afternoon into the evening. Young Greeks drive in from Thessaloniki at weekends, which gives the scene its energy.

The clubs run from June to early September and close for the winter. Sithonia and the Athos side are for quiet evenings at a waterfront taverna, with a few bars in Neos Marmaras and Nikiti.

The landscape is pine forest meeting a clear sea, at its most striking in Sithonia, where granite headlands, small islets and the wooded slopes of Mount Itamos make the coast drives and walks rewarding. Kassandra is flatter and more built up, with forest in the centre and along the southern tip.

Water sports are the main outdoor activity: sea kayaking along the Sithonian coves, sailing and boat trips to Diaporos island and its lagoon, and diving and snorkelling over rocky seabeds. Men with a permit can walk the old mule paths between the Athos monasteries, the region's one serious hike. Spring and autumn are the times for walking, when the heat eases and the hills turn green.

The obvious day out is Thessaloniki, about an hour to an hour and a half from Kassandra and Sithonia, with its Byzantine churches, the White Tower, the waterfront and an excellent food scene. Further on, the royal tombs at Vergina and the Macedonian capital at Pella make a long but rewarding day.

From the Athos side, a short ferry crosses to the small island of Ammouliani, and the harbour town of Kavala and ancient Amphipolis lie about an hour and a half to the northeast. Within the region, a drive into the hill villages such as Arnea, with its stone houses and weaving tradition, makes a change from the coast.

Halkidiki works well for a beach vacation with young children. Many beaches, especially on Kassandra and around Gerakini and Psakoudia, have sand and water that stays shallow a long way out, and the sea is usually calm. Large resorts on Kassandra and near Sithonia are built around families, with pools and children's clubs, and Greek tavernas welcome children late into the evening.

What it lacks is attractions made for children: there are no major zoos, aquariums or theme parks, so days revolve around the sea, a boat trip and the Petralona cave. Midsummer heat and drives between peninsulas are the main effort.

Halkidiki is car country. Thessaloniki airport is about an hour from the top of Kassandra and closer to two from southern Sithonia, and the main roads are good. Regional buses link the villages to Thessaloniki but are too sparse to build a stay around.

The peninsulas shape every journey: each is a long finger, and going from one to the next means driving back up to its base and down the other, so a day crossing from Kassandra to Athos takes real time. The road down Kassandra is slow at summer weekends. Within each resort village, the beach, tavernas and shops are walkable.

Shopping is limited to resort strips selling beachwear, souvenirs and jewellery, mostly in the Kassandra villages and Neos Marmaras. The items worth taking home are local: olive oil and olives, pine and thyme honey, wine, and the icons, incense and herbal products sold in Ouranoupoli at the gate to Mount Athos. For any real shopping, visitors go to Thessaloniki.

Halkidiki is a moderately priced beach region by Mediterranean standards, and much of its trade is Greek and Balkan families driving in, which keeps a large supply of simple rooms, apartments and village tavernas. Eating out at local tavernas is fair value. The bill climbs at the big resort hotels on Kassandra and in July and August, when beachfront rooms are in demand and sunbeds at organised beaches add up. June and September cost noticeably less for the same sea.

Performing arts are a summer affair. The Kassandra Festival puts on concerts and theatre in an open-air amphitheatre at Siviri, and the Sani Festival brings jazz and classical evenings to the resort coast, both through July and August. Outside these, live music means taverna musicians and the odd village feast with traditional dancing. For anything more, the stages are in Thessaloniki.

Halkidiki is a place to slow down rather than to take the waters. The one real bathing site is the thermal springs at Agia Paraskevi on the southern tip of Kassandra, with warm mineral pools above the sea. The large resorts on Kassandra and around Sithonia have serious spas with hammam-style rooms and treatments.

The restorative part is the pace itself: long mornings, siestas in the pine shade, evenings by the water. Sithonia and the stretch towards Ouranoupoli are calmest, while Kassandra's resort villages are livelier and noisier in high summer.