Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TORÓNI AND TRISTINÍKA
Barracuda
Toróni.
Lively beach bar that serves a range of
soft drinks, coffees, beers and snacks, while keeping
everyone entertained with a fair selection of music, mostly
in English.
Daily
11am-1am.
Camping Isa
Tristiníka
T
23750 51235.
Campsite at the
southern end of the beach. Besides tent space in well-
landscaped olive groves, there are also wood chalets (€40)
with all amenities.
May-Sept.
Ethnik
Tristiníka
T
694 43 56 830.
Imaginatively
painted solid wooden beach bar, offering a range of
drinks and snacks, as well as a laidback vibe, aided and
abetted by the cool world sounds.
June to early Sept
10am-2am.
Ì
Haus Sakis
Toróni
T
23750 51261,
W
haus-sakis
.de.
Towards the northernmost end of the seafront, this
place has comfortable rooms and a warm welcome
guaranteed, plus good food and Germ
an b
eer on tap in the
restaurant below. Breakfast included.
€40
Ì
Villa Sithonia
Tristiníka
T
23750 51118.
Lovely,
well-furnished and great-value rooms and more spacious
apartments in two buildings
set in
lush gardens amid olive
groves 500m from the beach.
€25
PARTHENÓNAS
Pension Parthenon
T
23750 72225,
W
parthenonas
-chalkidiki.com.
This beautifully decorated stone house on
high ground above the village centre offers some of the
peninsula's most charming accommod
ation
. All rooms
have kitchens. Buffet breakfast included.
€60
Ì
To Steki tou Meniou
T
694 54 14 052.
Friendly and
very traditional restaurant beside the village square that
dishes up copious amounts of tasty oven recipes for €6-8,
plus grills and occasionally even delicacies like quail.
Daily
11am-midnight.
NIKÍTI
Danai Beach Resort
4km northwest of Nikíti
T
23750
20400,
W
dbr.gr.
Occupying its own patch of beach, this is
one of Greece's most exclusive resorts; the decor mixes
shiny white marble with soft-coloured quality furnishings.
There's a spa, two restaurants,
a ba
r and sports facilities.
Breakfast included. April-Oct.
€435
Ta Tria Skalopatia
T
697 48 30 330.
Family-run taverna
which has partial sea views from its patio and offers
traditional cuisine like shrimp
saganáki
and
papoutsáki
for
around €6-7.
May-mid-Oct 9am-midnight.
4
Secular Athos
From Sithonía a road winds around the coast and up over a ridge to Halkidhikí's third
peninsula, the upper part of which is
secular Athos
. The principal place you'd think to
stop for refreshment is
Pyrgadhíkia
, a ravine-set fishing village jutting out into the
Sigitikós gulf. There's little beach to speak of, although there are some good ones dotted
along the stretch leading towards it. From Pyrgadhíkia the main road heads back
inland, while a turn-off via Gomáti takes you through unspoilt moors to Ierissós at the
neck of the Athos peninsula. This route has no public transport links, however; to
travel between Sithonía and Athos by bus you will have to backtrack via Halkidhikí's
inland capital,
Políyiros
.
Ierissós and around
With its good, long beach and a vast, promontory-flanked gulf,
IERISSÓS
is the most
Greek-patronized of the secular Athos resorts, although the sizeable town itself, built
well back from the shore and with room to expand, is a sterile concrete grid dating
from after a devastating 1932 earthquake. The only hint of pre-touristic life is the vast
boat-building area on the sand, at the back of the wide beach to the south.
The road beyond Ierissós passes through mundane
Néa Ródha
before veering inland
to follow a boggy depression that is the remaining stretch of
Xerxes'
canal
, cut by the
Persian invader in 480 BC to spare his fleet the shipwreck at the tip of Athos that had
befallen the previous expedition eleven years before.
Ammoulianí
Apart from Thássos (see p.412)
AMMOULIANÍ
(
W
visitammouliani.com) is Macedonia's
only inhabited Aegean island, and after decades of eking out an existence from fishing,
the island's population, originally refugees from the Sea of Marmara, has in recent years
had to adjust to an influx of holiday-makers. Like anywhere else in Halkidhikí, it can
get very busy in late July and August, but in early or late summer this low-lying,
scrub- and olive-covered islet can make an idyllic hideaway.
