A Thessaloniki hop on hop off bus is an open-top sightseeing bus that loops through the city. You ride past the main sights and get off wherever you like. The sections below cover the route, the stops, the sights, the tickets and the weather. The homepage lists more Greece Tours like this one.
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What does a Thessaloniki hop on hop off bus give a visitor?
A Thessaloniki hop on hop off bus gives a visitor an open-top ride around the city’s main sights. At any stop you can get off, look around and catch a later bus. Recorded commentary plays on the way, in a choice of languages.
The Thessaloniki hop on hop off bus is an open-top double-decker that runs a loop through the city. Its upper deck gives panoramic views, so you see the sights while you ride. You can stay on board for a full circuit, or leave the bus at a stop and carry on later.
If you plan to cross into Turkey as well, the homepage also lists Turkey tours.
Hopping on and off is the heart of the service. At each stop you can leave the bus to visit a museum, a church, a square or another landmark. Then you board the next bus when you are ready. You can repeat this at every stop while your ticket is valid.
Recorded commentary explains the long history of the city as the bus passes the sights. The Thessaloniki hop on hop off bus offers it in a choice of languages. The languages on offer are English, Greek, French, German, Italian and Spanish. The number differs from one ticket to the next, so check your language before you book.
For a first visit, a Thessaloniki hop on hop off bus links the top monuments in one ride. The flexible format also fits families and groups. It gives travellers who are short of time an overview of the city in a single day.
The bus is self-guided. Recorded commentary replaces a live leader, so you set the pace and choose the stops. A guided tour on a fixed route works the other way round. There, the route and the timing are set for you. The Thessaloniki hop on hop off bus suits travellers who prefer comfort and flexibility.
Public buses in the city are a separate service. They run across a large part of the metropolitan area around Thessaloniki, the second-largest city in Greece. The sightseeing bus is built for visitors instead. Its stops sit at museums, churches, squares and other landmarks, and its commentary covers the sites along the route.
Other formats sit beside the Thessaloniki hop on hop off bus. The panoramic night ride lasts about 60 minutes on an open-top bus. It is not a hop-on hop-off tour, so you stay on board for the whole loop. One combined ticket pairs the daytime bus with that night ride.
A highlights city tour is a different format, with panoramic stops. One version is sold as a shore excursion and lasts three hours. It begins with a drive along the waterfront boulevard. It ends with a stop in the Upper Town, where the views take in the city and the Thermaic Gulf.
Add-ons take a visit beyond the city. One bundle pairs a one-day hop-on hop-off ticket with a one-day tour to the sites of Vergina and Pella. A separate e-ticket covers two museums at Aigai. They are the Polycentric Museum and the Museum of the Royal Graves. The ticket comes with two audio tours for a smartphone.
Which route and stops does a Thessaloniki hop on hop off bus follow?
A Thessaloniki hop on hop off bus on the port route starts and ends at the White Tower. In between it calls at the Archaeological Museum, Agios Dimitrios, the Upper Town, the Rotunda, Aristotelous Square and the port.
The loop starts at the White Tower, which is stop one and also the arrival point. The tower stands on Nikis Street, the boulevard along the waterfront. Tickets are sold at kiosks behind the tower when you look at it from the sea. A Thessaloniki hop on hop off bus therefore begins right on the seafront.
After the White Tower the stops follow a fixed order. The Archaeological Museum comes next, then the church of Agios Dimitrios. The Upper Town stop follows the church. After that comes a stop named Kamara and Rotonda. Kamara is the local name of the Arch of Galerius, and the Rotunda shares the stop.
Aristotelous Square comes after the Rotunda stop. The square lies on Nikis Avenue, the waterfront road, in the city centre. The port is the last stop, and after it the bus returns to the White Tower. So the route meets the waterfront at the White Tower, in the square and at the port.
Longer stop lists add two more stops. One is the church of Agia Sofia, between the museum and Agios Dimitrios. The other is the old railway station, between Aristotelous Square and the port. Check the list that comes with your ticket. The stop lists of a Thessaloniki hop on hop off bus differ in length.
Each stop on a list has a number and a name. Stop one is the White Tower, and the numbers follow the order of the ride. Read the name and the number together when you pick where to step off. A rider who stays on board passes every stop on the list in that order.
The Upper Town side of the route is the Ano Poli stop. Its label reads Byzantine Castles or Byzantine Walls. The district lies north of the city centre, around the old acropolis. It is the highest part of the city. The Thessaloniki hop on hop off bus reaches it between the church of Agios Dimitrios and the Rotunda.
Give the Ano Poli stop extra time. The streets inside the walls are narrow and form a maze of lanes between the houses. Small stone-paved streets and old squares sit among them. You step off at this stop to walk the old district on foot.
On the summer timetable the first bus leaves stop one at 10 am and the last leaves at 6 pm. A Thessaloniki hop on hop off bus on the port route comes every 30 minutes in that period. Read the timetable for your own date before you plan the day.
Traffic, public holidays and weather conditions can bring sudden changes to the route or the schedule. This holds for the port route of a Thessaloniki hop on hop off bus. Treat the stop list on your ticket as the plan for the day.
Which sights can you reach with a Thessaloniki hop on hop off bus?
A Thessaloniki hop on hop off bus serves the White Tower, the Rotunda and the Arch of Galerius. Depending on the route, it also reaches Aristotelous Square, Agios Dimitrios, the Upper Town walls and the port.
A Thessaloniki hop on hop off bus stops at the White Tower, which is about 34 metres high. The Ottomans built it as part of the city’s defences and later used it as a garrison and prison. It houses an exhibition on the history of Thessaloniki, organised by the Museum of Byzantine Culture.
The waterfront promenade is a long, narrow strip beside the Thermaic Gulf. It runs from the Concert Hall to the port. Residents and visitors walk, run, fish, read and cycle there. The breakwater gives an open view of the sea and the sky.
Aristotelous Square sits on Nikis Avenue, along the waterfront. The French architect Ernest Hébrard drew the plan, and builders raised the bulk of it in the nineteen fifties. It was first proposed as Alexander the Great Square and later renamed for Aristotle. The square is one stop on a Thessaloniki hop on hop off bus route.
The Arch of Galerius celebrates the victory of the Roman emperor Galerius over the Sassanids. It stands where Egnatia Street meets Dimitriou Gounari Street. Three of its eight pillars survive. The two pillars beside the central passage still carry marble slabs showing his wars.
A Thessaloniki hop on hop off bus stop for the arch also serves the Rotunda. It lies 125 metres northeast of the arch. The round building is 24.5 metres across, with walls more than 6 metres thick. Galerius is thought to have built it as his tomb.
The Roman Agora lies at the upper side of Aristotelous Square. Workers digging for a courthouse found it by accident. It was the administrative and commercial centre of the Roman city. The site has two-storey stoas (covered walkways), a Roman bath and a small theatre, the odeon.
Agios Dimitrios honours Saint Demetrius, the patron saint of Thessaloniki. The first church on the spot dates from the early fourth century and replaced a Roman bath. UNESCO lists the church as a World Heritage monument. One Thessaloniki hop on hop off bus route stops at the church.
One route stops at the Byzantine walls in Ano Poli, the Upper Town, where lanes and houses sit inside them. The Trigonion tower stands on the northern walls. People call it the balcony of Thessaloniki, for its panorama of the city beside the sea. On clear days you can see Mount Olympus.
On one Thessaloniki hop on hop off bus route, the port stop serves Ladadika, an old market district. The name comes from the olive oil shops that stood there. Its nineteenth-century buildings are protected. Old oil stores and merchant warehouses hold bars and restaurants. The port has about 2,300 years of history.
The Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki holds finds from the city and the wider region of Macedonia. Its exhibits include the Derveni krater, a vase for mixing wine and water. On the route with this museum stop, museum and site entry is not in the bus ticket.
Which tickets, rules and seasons apply to a Thessaloniki hop on hop off bus?
A Thessaloniki hop on hop off bus ticket is a one-day pass or a 48-hour pass. It carries audio commentary, not sight entry. A phone voucher works. Cancel free of charge up to 24 hours ahead. The timetable is longest from June to September.
The Thessaloniki hop on hop off bus sells time passes. The day ticket is a 24-hour pass, and a 48-hour pass also exists. Inside that time you board and leave at any stop again and again. The clock starts at different moments, depending on the ticket: purchase, activation, first boarding, or the date you pick.
A pass covers the ride and the audio commentary. Headphones and a route map come with the tickets that list them. Attraction entry is not included. On one 24-hour ticket, food is not allowed on board, but water is.
A phone voucher is accepted by the Thessaloniki hop on hop off bus, so printing is not needed. Staff at a stop hand over your ticket. On one ticket, phone vouchers work only at the starting stop, so redeem yours there.
Book ahead on the cards, which show live availability for your date. A Thessaloniki hop on hop off bus ticket refunds in full if you cancel at least 24 hours ahead. A later cancellation or a no-show gets no refund. One seller allows a date change up to the same limit.
Children’s rules differ by seller. On the 24-hour ticket with child fares for ages 4 to 12, children under 4 ride free. Every child travels with an adult. A 48-hour ticket sets the same free limit. Another seller makes ages 0 to 4 free and sets child fares for ages 5 to 15.
The buses are wheelchair accessible on the tickets that mention access, and one ticket adds that strollers are accommodated. Needs differ, so check yours with the seller before you travel. On the 24-hour audio ticket, if no seat is free when a bus arrives, you wait for the next one.
The Thessaloniki hop on hop off bus runs its longest timetable from June to September. In April, in late spring and in October the buses stop earlier in the afternoon. Winter service is shorter again. Check the day you plan to ride before you book.
Thessaloniki summers are hot and moderately dry. Mean daily highs top 31 degrees Celsius in July and August, the hottest months. The sea breeze off the Thermaic Gulf moderates the heat. Rain falls in summer only occasionally, mainly in thunderstorms. July and August are also the driest months.
Spring and autumn sit in between. April mean highs are close to 20 degrees, and October highs are close to 22. At the airport station, sunshine runs from 325.7 hours in July down to 98.7 hours in January. January is the coldest month, and morning frost is common.
Packing depends on the season. On a summer Thessaloniki hop on hop off bus ride, bring a hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, light cotton clothes and water. Greek heat advice lists these items. In winter wear a jacket, because nights are cold.
- Phone with the voucher
- Hat, sunglasses and sunscreen in summer
- Water for the ride
- A jacket in winter