Halkidiki hangs off the coast southeast of the city in three long legs. Kassandra is the closest and the most built-up, with sandy beaches, resort strips and coaches through the day. Sithonia runs wilder. Pine woods reach the rocky coves, and there are fewer people on the sand. The third leg is Mount Athos, a self-governing monastic state that sets its own rules for who may enter. The timetable settles which one works as a day out of the city. Ten coaches a day run to Kassandra and three to Sithonia.
Kassandra. Closest, most services, easiest by coach
Sithonia. Greener, three coaches a day
Athos. A monastic state you enter by permit
By KTEL coach from Thessaloniki
Read off the KTEL Halkidikis timetable in September 2026, for a weekday and a Saturday, which agreed. The last column is the departure time of the final coach back to the city. Services change from season to season, so check before you travel.
Destination
Leg
Journey
Last coach back
Kallithea
Kassandra
1h25 to 1h50
20:35
Kassandreia
Kassandra
1h25 to 1h45
20:30
Nikiti
Sithonia
1h25 to 1h40
19:10
Neos Marmaras
Sithonia
about 2h20
18:45
Sarti
Sithonia
3h25 to 3h50
17:45
Ouranoupoli
Athos
2h30
18:00
Kassandra, the leg that works by coach
Kassandra takes the coach well. Ten services a day reach Kallithea, the ride runs about an hour and a half, and the last one back leaves at 20:35. That is a swim, a slow lunch and an evening in Ladadika afterwards. Blue Flag went to Kallithea, Possidi, Fourka, Sivyri and Paliouri here in 2026, among ninety-three across the prefecture. Pick a bay and stay on it for the day.
Ten coaches a day to Kallithea
Last coach back at 20:35
Blue Flag at Kallithea, Possidi, Fourka, Sivyri, Paliouri
Sithonia, quieter and further out
The middle leg is the quiet one. Greece's national tourism organisation calls Sithonia the wildest of the three, and the coast backs that up, with pine forest running down to small rocky coves. You pay in hours. Three coaches a day, roughly an hour and a half to Nikiti, and well over three to Sarti at the far tip. Blue Flag beaches on this side include Toroni, Sykia, Armenistis, Platanitsi and Nikiti, all of them on the 2026 list. By bus, Sarti stops being a day trip.
Athos, the rules as they stand
The third leg is Mount Athos, a self-governing monastic state inside the Greek state. Entry to the peninsula is for men, and only with a diamonitirion, the permit issued by the Pilgrims' Bureau of the Holy Administration. Women may not enter. The bureau sits in Thessaloniki at 109 Egnatia, open 09:00 to 14:00 on weekdays and 10:00 to 12:00 on Saturday. Residents of Greece can book up to three months ahead and visitors from abroad up to six. A permit runs four days and three nights, and you collect it in Ouranoupoli on the morning you sail. Nothing about that folds into a day out of the city.
Men only, and only with a diamonitirion
Book three months ahead, six from abroad
The permit runs four days and three nights
The boat from Ouranoupoli
Everyone else sees Athos from the water. The Ouranoupoli tour boats run daily from 1 April to 31 October, along the south-western shore, past the monasteries, and they put nobody ashore. The trip lasts about three hours. The 06:00 coach out of Thessaloniki reaches Ouranoupoli around 08:30, in good time for the 10:30 sailing, and the last coach home leaves at 18:00. Women board these boats like anyone else, since the boat never touches the peninsula.
Getting out of Ladadika
The Halkidiki coach station sits outside the centre, at the 9th kilometre of the old Nea Moudania road. City lines 36 and 45 reach it, and a taxi is faster, so add that leg on top of every journey time in the table above. Driving out is simpler. The partner garage runs around the clock, 250 metres from the entrance, at its own charge. The car sits there all week and comes out only on the morning you leave town.
You come back to the same suite. Our five suites are at 13 Ernestou Emprar, on the fourth floor of a renovated building inside Ladadika, 30 m² each and sleeping up to three. Each has a full kitchen, so you can make coffee before the first coach and something light when you get back. Self check-in starts at 15:00 and nobody stands there with a clock. Checkout is 11:00. Regular housekeeping runs through the stay, and the tavernas downstairs are two minutes away on the night you come home tired.
Can you do Halkidiki as a day trip from Thessaloniki?
Kassandra, easily. Ten coaches a day run to Kallithea, the ride takes about an hour and a half, and the last one back leaves at 20:35. Sithonia works too, if you stay at the north end around Nikiti. Three coaches a day serve it. Sarti sits over three and a half hours out, so by bus it stops being a day. Mount Athos is a different matter, since the permit is booked months ahead and collected in Ouranoupoli on the morning you sail.
Can women visit Mount Athos?
No. Entry to the Athos peninsula is open to men holding a diamonitirion. Women may not set foot on it. The rule is centuries old, it is applied as written, and there is no exception to ask for, so the cruise is the answer for everyone who cannot get a permit. Boats leave Ouranoupoli, pass the monasteries from the sea and land nobody.
How do you get a permit for Mount Athos?
Through the Pilgrims' Bureau of the Holy Administration, at 109 Egnatia in Thessaloniki. It opens 09:00 to 14:00 on weekdays and 10:00 to 12:00 on Saturday. Residents of Greece may book up to three months ahead and visitors from abroad up to six, quoting an identity card or a passport. The permit covers four days and three nights, and you collect it in Ouranoupoli on the morning you sail. Monastery beds come after the permit, never before it.
Which Halkidiki beaches have a Blue Flag?
Ninety-three of them in 2026. That is more than any other prefecture in Greece, and in August the coast shows it. On the Kassandra side the list includes Kallithea, Possidi, Fourka, Sivyri and Paliouri, along with a dozen more. Sithonia carries Toroni, Sykia, Armenistis, Platanitsi and Nikiti, and several besides. Up on the Athos leg the flags include Ouranoupoli, Ierissos and Olympiada, all of them awarded in May. The award is annual. Check the current list before you plan around it.
