MACEDONIA – THRACE
Thessaloniki is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of Macedonia, the nation's largest region. Its prominent position and its enlightening impact throughout the ages have rendered Thessaloniki a point of reference and an economic centre for all the Balkan nations and people.
Thessaloniki is Greece's second major economic, industrial, commercial and political centre and an important transportation hub for the rest of south eastern Europe.
Air traffic to and from the city is served by the Thessaloniki International Airport “Macedonia” for both international and domestic flights. The city is also a railway hub for the Balkans with direct connections to Sofia, Skopje, Belgrade, Moscow, Vienna, Budapest, Bucharest and Istanbul alongside Athens and other destinations in Greece. Public transport in Thessaloniki is by buses, while the construction of the Thessaloniki Metro, which began in 2006, is scheduled for completion in late 2012. The city’s archaeological museum as well as the byzantine culture museum are definitely worth a visit and so are other landmarks such as the White Tower, the byzantine churches, the art galleries etc.
Thessaloniki hosts more than three universities and technical institutions and due to its student population, can boast of a vibrant nightlife second to none. Well known for its gastronomy and its traditional dishes it is also home to a number of festivals and events, including the Thessaloniki International Trade Fair and Thessaloniki Film Festival. Its superb hotel infra structure as well as the installations of HELEXPO, offer a variety of conference halls capable of hosting large meetings and high quality events.
Chalkidiki is a peninsula located south east of the city of Thessaloniki, in the centre of Macedonia and along with its characteristic three smaller peninsulas, namely Kassandra, Sithonia and Mount Athos, resembles a trident piercing the Aegean Sea.
The natural marvels of Chalkidiki are just a stride from the bustle of Thessaloniki and even closer from the “Macedonia” airport. Both Kassandra and Sithonia are connected to Thessaloniki by a network of fast new roads that extend around their coastlines. Buses also run frequently to all the larger resorts. Mount Athos is known in Greece as the Autonomous Monastic State of the Holy Mountain. This World Heritage Site is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within Greece. Access to Mount Athos is allowed only to men.
The whole peninsula of Chalkidiki caters to tourism and its deluxe hotels and resorts offer a complete range of facilities, from fully equipped conference halls with state of the art technical support systems, to a wide selection of recreational services that go a long way to making every visit a highly memorable occasion.
Pieria is situated on the south western edge of Central Macedonia. The realm of mythology for ancient Greeks, it runs along the golden southern shores of the Thermaikos Bay. Defining the land boundaries to the west and rising about 3.000 metres from the sea, stands the massive bulk of the Gods residence, Mt. Olympus. A forty-five-minute drive from the International Airport of Thessaloniki will take you to the popular resorts of the Olympian coast and Leptokaria. If Athens is your first port of cal,l you should head north along the main motorway and railway line towards the capital of Macedonia. Once you‘ve gone through the pass of Mt. Olympus guarded by the byzantine castle of Platamonas, you will enter Pieria, the southernmost part of Macedonia. The diverse scenery of Pieria, together with its high-standard tourist infrastructure, offers a variety of choices for organizing conferences, both in summer and in winter. Its fully equipped hotels, which are continuously upgrading their range of amenities, have succeeded in placing Pieria amongst the leading contenders for business and leisure combined
The prefecture of Evros is the gateway of Europe and derives its name from the river Evros, famous for its Delta that constitutes the border between Greece and Turkey. Evros is also connected with Bulgaria in the north. The most important cities of this prefecture are Orestiada, Didimotiho and Alexandroupoli, modern and spacious, important commercial and transport centre of Northern Greece as well as the most important harbour of Thrace. Numerous hotels with conferences centres provide all the necessary amenities and technological facilities for congresses and corporate meetings guaranteeing the success of any type of event.