Chalkidiki, shore by shore

Afytos (also spelled Afitos, or Athytos on official lists) is built on the edge of a rock on the east coast of Kassandra, its limestone houses looking out over the Toroneos Gulf like a balcony. The lanes are largely pedestrian and lined with tavernas, and sculptures by Vasilis Pavlis are set around the village.

The church of Agios Dimitrios, from 1859, stands on the central square; the Folklore Museum occupies the 1889 Aletras house and holds Karagiozis shadow puppets by Evgenios Spatharis. Every July and August the Afytos Festival brings open-air concerts, art and dance.

Below the village, Varkes is the sandy beach and holds a Blue Flag for 2026; the central beach has flat rock slabs, and Liosi is a longer stretch with beach bars. The Temple of Zeus Ammon at Kallithea is 3.4 km away.

On the west coast of Chalkidiki, facing the Thermaic Gulf, Vergia is a sandy, shallow and partly organised beach with parking — and a Blue Flag for 2026, as has neighbouring Nea Kallikratia. It is about thirty-five minutes from Thessaloniki Airport, and the sun sets over the sea.

Nea Kallikratia was founded in the early 1920s by refugees from Kallikrateia on the Sea of Marmara; a copy of the “Kore of Kallikrateia” stele stands on its square. Petralona Cave, reopened to visitors in 2024, is a short drive inland.

On the quieter south-west coast of Kassandra, Mola Kalyva has a pebble beach where pine trees reach the shoreline and the sea stays shallow and calm — it holds a Blue Flag for 2026.

It makes an easy base for the beaches of south Kassandra: Nea Skioni is 8 km away, Kalandra and Posidi 9 km, Siviri 12 km and Pefkochori 20 km.

The middle peninsula is greener and less built-up than Kassandra, with pine-covered hills, granite rocks and small coves. From its east coast, Mount Athos stands across the water — pale in the morning, violet at dusk. Villa Amatheia sits on this shore.