Thessaloniki is the second largest city in Greece (after Athens). Even though it is big we didn’t know what to expect from it when we were planning our trip. The only attraction that seemed to come up was the White Tower. So our only real plan when we left the ship that morning was to go find and see it.
How to Get To the White Tower
Seeing the White Tower turned out not to be difficult at all. We could see it from the Thessaloniki port. It is quite visible which is probably why it is considered the symbol of Thessaloniki. Assuming you arrive in the port like we did getting to the tower is as easy as walking towards it. You simply walk along the shore until you get there.
If you come by some other transportation than ship my only suggestion is to make your way to the port or the sea, and then it should be easy to find the White Tower.
From where our ship docked it was only a brief walk, maybe 15 to 20 minutes to get to the tower.
Keep an eye out for the Thessaloniki ambulances. They are Volkswagen micro busses which is always exciting to find.
What You Will See at the White Tower
The White Tower is pretty cool to see from the outside. It is easy to imagine it as part of the defensive force of the ancient city (especially with the pirate ships out in the sea).
You can also go inside the tower for the price of €4. The inside is a museum. You might assume that it is a museum about the White Tower, but you would be wrong. It is a museum about the history of Thessaloniki. As far as we could tell the White Tower itself is never actually discussed.
There is a free audio guide available at the entrance, but you will need to leave ID with them as collateral. The audio guide for English is done in an extremely boring monotone voice, but if you don’t have it you won’t have any idea what is going on (unless you know Greek) because none of the signs are in English.
If the only reason you want to go inside the White Tower is to see the view from the top then don’t bother going into any of the rooms. Just stick to the stairs you start out on and follow them around and up to the top of the tower. The views are great and for us this was definitely the best part.
A word of warning while going through the White Tower, the ceilings are low and you might hit your head if you are not careful. This is especially true of the small passage ways between rooms. Meagan hit her head pretty hard on a beam and that is why this is the only place we visited in Thessaloniki.
Sum Up
The White Tower of Thessaloniki is kind of cool, especially if you like towers. It is not something that I would make a special trip for. If you end up there because of a cruise then make sure you go see it.
We didn’t see much else of the city so we can’t tell you anything about the rest of it. We heard it is mostly a good place to shop and eat.
Something you might be interested in though is that the Thessaloniki port had free WiFi that actually worked. So if you arrive here after being on a cruise ship for several days you might want to check that out.
