Thessaloniki one of National Geographic’s 20 best places to visit

“Thessaloniki’s sparkling harbor is almost empty - a good thing. It remains one of the last urban seafronts in southern Europe not hemmed in by a giant marina. Instead, wooden caiques still ply the quiet bay while footpaths trace the meandering waterfront of Greece’s second largest city, some 320 miles north - and a world away - from chaotic Athens,” National Geographic noted.

It referred to the century-old street markets of the metropolis, characterising them as the city’s trademarks “tucked between relics of Byzantine and Ottoman antiquity, art galleries, bohemian nightclubs, and culinary hot spots, all part of a grassroots vision turned reality by Thessaloniki’s large (about 50 percent of the population) do-it-yourself youth culture”.

“We are driven by our optimism and positive energy for a new way of living that embraces our heritage,” says Vicky Papadimitriou, a university graduate who helped Thessaloniki gain official status as the 2014 European Youth Capital.

National Geographic’s 20 best places in the world to visit include Crimea, Marseilles, Ravenna, the ancient city of Gerasa in Jordan, Bodo in Noway, Valparaiso in Chile, Kyoto in Japan, Malawi and Uganda, among others.