Thessaloniki, Greece

Thessaloniki is Greece’s second largest city and the capital of Central Macedonia, set on the Thermaic Gulf in the north of the country. The municipality counted 319,045 residents in the 2021 census, while the metropolitan area holds about one million. It is a port and university city: the Port of Thessaloniki handles freight and passenger traffic, and Aristotle University is the largest university in Greece. The historic centre sits below the Byzantine walls, and metro construction uncovered Roman and Byzantine remains.

Daily life runs on a compact centre, a metro line and a dense bus network. The metro opened in November 2024, and an extension to Kalamaria opened on 27 August 2026, adding five stations and linking the centre with the eastern coastal suburbs. Makedonia Airport lies 14 km southeast of the centre, with bus routes X1 and N1 running to the railway station. The climate is Mediterranean, with hot, dry summers and cool, wetter winters.

Healthcare is a strength for a regional city: nine public hospitals and nine private clinics operate in Thessaloniki, and several of the main hospitals are linked to the Aristotle University medical school. English is widely spoken, especially among younger residents, and the foreign-resident community is smaller than Athens’s but established. The practical catch is environmental: summer heat is intense, and the annual average PM2.5 level of 17.5 µg/m³ is more than three times the World Health Organization guideline of 5 µg/m³.