Thessaloniki

If you thought Greece was done and dusted once you'd popped in on Athens, hopped lazily around a few Greek islands, and mopped up some ouzo, you've missed a large spot on the map.

In the northern region of Macedonia, along the Thermaic Gulf, lies Thessaloniki, the country's second largest city. Not only has it been around for some 2400 years, but it was once second only in importance to Constantinople in the Byzantine Empire, and also the centre of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans - and it has a host of monuments to prove it.

The White Tower along the waterfront is the major landmark, a 15th-century circular Venetian building that today houses the impressive Byzantine Museum. The city's most outstanding repository of relics, however, is the Archaeological Museum, filled with sculptures, prehistoric finds and treasures from ancient tombs, including that of Alexander the Great's daddy, Philip II of Macedon.

Other enticing buildings include the churches of Agios Dimitrios (Greece's largest), the 4th-century Rotunda and the 8th-century Aghia Sofia. And, as the only area to remain unscathed by a disastrous fire in 1917, you can still get feel for the Turkish era in the narrow streets and gardens of the walled Kástra quarter. Elsewhere, near the Arch of Galerius and the Roman Agora, excavations are revealing more of the city's ancient past.

There's a lot more to Thessaloniki than history, though. It's one of Greece's most fashionable and lively places - with cafés, bars, ouzeries (taverns) and bouzouki clubs buzzing and bustling for your attention, along with fantastic Greek, Turkish and international restaurants.

Roughly equidistant from Mount Olympus (of gods fame), Mount Athos (of monks fame) and the Halkidiki peninsulas (of balmy beach fame) it's also the natural starting point for an exploration of northern Greece.