Three days in Thessaloniki Every time I visit Thessaloniki, it feels like home. A sense of intimacy and optimism runs through the city’s streets, café’s, corners, tavernas making it irresistible. Thessaloniki is Greece’s second largest city, also named as co-capital, situated 520 km north of Athens and is built next to the sea (Thermaikos Gulf). The place combines perfectly history with cosmopolitan life. There are numerous archaeological sites and monuments to visit, as the city was both a commercial and administrative centre during Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman times. At the same time, one can find amazing little places for food, coffee and of course, the city is very famous for its pastry with the queen of all being the infamous, taram-taram (sound effect) ‘Bougatsa’.