Thessaloniki has no swimming beach of its own. Where to swim instead: Peraia and Agia Triada by boat from the port, Epanomi and Potamos by bus, Halkidiki for a full day.
There is no swimming beach in the city
Start with the part nobody tells you before you pack. The national bathing water register lists fourteen designated bathing waters across the Thessaloniki regional unit, and none of them falls inside the Municipality of Thessaloniki. The central waterfront is for walking and cycling and for sitting with a coffee. Nearest on the register is Aretsou, over in Kalamaria, whose own profile records a wastewater outfall to the west and a risk of algal blooms. Locals head out of town for a swim.
Fourteen designated bathing waters in the regional unit
None inside the Municipality of Thessaloniki
Aretsou in Kalamaria is the closest one on the register
Peraia and Agia Triada, by boat from the port
The easiest water from Ladadika needs no car. Two boats work the gulf every day, the Thermaikos and the Thessaloniki, leaving the port and calling at the White Tower before they tie up at Neoi Epivates and Peraia. The crossing takes about 45 minutes. Our door is 8 minutes on foot from the port, so you walk down in the morning with a towel and go. When the weather turns the harbourmaster cancels the sailings, so ask us the day before.
Boats from the port and the White Tower
Agia Triada runs 2,550 metres of sand in front of Neoi Epivates and Peraia
Part of it is organised, with sunbeds, umbrellas, showers and changing rooms
By bus, in July and August
The city transport authority reinforces five beach lines each summer. Two of them start at the New Railway Station, close enough to the centre to matter. Line 70 goes to Epanomi and line 71 to Michaniona. Both run as express services in July and August only. On the way out you board anywhere in the city and get off at Epanomi or Peraia. Outside those two months you are left with lines 69 and 72, which both start at the IKEA terminal. Since 1 September 2026 the new M2 links Mikra metro station to that terminal, so the metro-then-bus chain now works off season.
The city transport authority reinforced these five lines from 1 July 2026. Timetables change every season, so check them before you set off.
Line
Starts from
Where it takes you
69
IKEA terminal
Epanomi
70
New Railway Station
Epanomi, express in July and August
71
New Railway Station
Peraia and Michaniona, express in July and August
72
IKEA terminal
The coast road down to Nea Michaniona
77H
Epanomi
Potamos beach, summer only
Epanomi and Potamos
Round the Epanomi headland to the southeast lie the two big stretches of sand in the regional unit. The community beach runs 3,100 metres, between ten and thirty metres wide, shallow underfoot, with an organised section and changing rooms behind it. Potamos is the long one. It runs 10,200 metres, and the five-metre depth line sits more than 70 metres offshore. Water that shallow, that far out, is half the job done when you are travelling with a small child. Its own profile warns of a rough road in places.
Epanomi community beach: 3,100 metres of sand, shallow water
Potamos: 10,200 metres, with the five-metre depth line over 70 metres out
The seasonal 77H drops down from Epanomi village to Potamos
Halkidiki, when you have a whole day
Kassandra and Sithonia want a whole day. Watch which station you go to. KTEL Halkidikis does not leave from the Makedonia intercity terminal but from its own, at the 9th kilometre of the Thessaloniki-Nea Moudania road, and from there it serves all three peninsulas. City bus lines 36 and 45 reach it. If you are driving, our day-trips guide carries the road times for each destination. Pick one beach and stay on it. The day disappears if you try to tour the coast.
The official monitoring programme covers 177 beaches across Macedonia and Thrace and runs from May to October. This year the reinforced bus lines started on 1 July, and the two express services worked in July and August alone. The boats were still sailing in early September 2026. Seasons shift from one year to the next. Check the timetables before you set off, or send us a message and we will look at them with you.
Your base in Ladadika
Our five suites sit inside Ladadika at 13 Ernestou Emprar, with the port just below. Each has a full kitchen. Make coffee and pack something for the road before the bakeries open. Self check-in starts at 15:00 and nobody stands there checking the clock. Bring a car and the partner garage runs around the clock, 250 metres from the entrance, at its own charge.
No. The national bathing water register lists no designated bathing water inside the Municipality of Thessaloniki, so the central seafront is a promenade and nothing more. The closest entry on the register is Aretsou, in Kalamaria. For a proper swim most people head to Peraia, Agia Triada or the Epanomi beaches, all of them south of the city.
How do I reach a beach without a car?
Two ways, and both of them work. The Thermaic Gulf passenger boats leave the port and the White Tower for Neoi Epivates and Peraia. The crossing takes about 45 minutes, and the port is 8 minutes on foot from our door. In July and August the city adds express buses 70 and 71 from the New Railway Station, which run straight to Epanomi and Peraia. Outside those months, lines 69 and 72 leave from the IKEA terminal that the M2 now connects to Mikra metro station.
Which beach suits a family with young children?
Potamos, on the Epanomi side. Its bathing water profile puts the five-metre depth line more than 70 metres from the shore, so the shallows run a long way out. It is sandy along all 10,200 metres. The community beach at Epanomi is shallow too, with an organised section and changing rooms. Both need a car, though the seasonal 77H shuttle drops down to Potamos from Epanomi village in summer.
