September 2, 2024, 3:46 pm | Read time: 3 minutes
The Chalkidiki Peninsula is a dream destination for campers and beach lovers. In the fall, most of the party vacationers are gone, and you have the beach almost to yourself. A vacation at the end of the season is, therefore, the perfect way to end the summer.
Monk on the port side! The binoculars of the tourists on deck immediately turn to the side. Indeed: a monk. And what is he doing? He’s hanging up laundry! Well, monks are also humans. But they are still a sight to see on the Chalkidiki peninsula in Greece.
Most holidaymakers only get to see the monks from afar. This is because, to this day, only small groups of male pilgrims are allowed into the monastic republic of Athos, the easternmost finger of Chalkidiki. Everyone else gets on a boat and travels along the coast. And they observe the monasteries through binoculars – catching glimpses of monks both sunbathing and hanging laundry.
Chalkidiki’s beautiful beaches
Up close, Chalkidiki may not boast as many sights to see. Ancient temples and large archaeological sites, as elsewhere in Greece, are not the main tourist attractions here. Instead, there are plenty of sandy beaches – and what beaches they are.
For example, in the small village of Vourvourou on Sithonia, the middle finger of the peninsula. There, a dusty dirt road between pine trees leads to Karidi Beach, which sounds – and looks – a bit like the Caribbean: Turquoise sea and bright sand await tourists there. This idyllic scene is framed by striking rock formations, with the majestic Mount Athos shimmering in the background.
Hip beach bars and small bays
In high season, the chic crowd from Thessaloniki also meets here on the coast for an evening drink. The city is just over two hours away by car. Accordingly, there are many hip beach bars in the small bays. On Karidi Beach, there is an old VW bus in which two young guys play reggae music and sell drinks.
But if you come at the end of the season in September, there’s no need to fear a disco on the beach. That’s when most of the beach bars go quiet, and the party vacationers, for whom a number of bars in Sarti in the south of Sithonia are designed, have also disappeared. The campers’ caravans are also usually already in their autumn quarters and no longer obscure the view of the landscape.
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Delicious food
In places like Kalamitsi and Nikiti, however, cute restaurants still await guests, many of them rather upmarket by Greek standards. The big feast only begins after the meal. That’s when the cats come. Before that, the guests have to defend their food well. This is a small price for the privilege of dining right on the beach on charming whitewashed wooden tables with quaint fabric-covered floor lamps reminiscent of a dollhouse. But it would also be a shame to leave such delicacies to the cats: deep-fried zucchinis with grilled feta and fish roe paste.
Of course, Sithonia is not complete without a rustic mountain village. Parthenonas is not really ancient, but it looks it. Vines and fig trees flourish in front of the natural stone houses, and from the guesthouse perched atop the village, one can gaze over verdant slopes stretching all the way to the sea. From here, a hiking trail leads down through olive groves and a dried-up riverbed to the bay off Neos Marmaras. Once at the bottom, you can dip your feet back into the turquoise-blue water and watch the sunset with a drink in your hand.