After around five weeks on the road across Turkey with our LR Defender camper, we decided to explore the Greek peninsula of Chalkidiki before returning home to Slovenia. Chalkidiki is known primarily for its three “fingers” that extend into the Aegean Sea, Athos, Sithonia and Kassandra, located in the northern part of the country with the nearest large city called Thessaloniki. On board with our 4-year-old Mila and 1-year-old Leo we stayed a few nights in apartments while we camped the other nights, despite the rather chilly November weather. It was a full off-season period and there were literally no tourists, so this was really not a problem. We were most impressed by the beautiful wild beaches on the green and less urban Sithonia, the middle finger, but we also found some beautiful and interesting spots on Kassandra. Read more about our time in this parts of Greece in this post.
Places: Nea Karvali, “3 fingers” (Atos, Sitonija, Kasandra)
How: with our LR Defender camper
Accommodation: apartment, wild camping
WE TRAVELLED IN GREECE WHEN MILA WAS 4 YEARS OLD AND LEO 1 YEAR OLD. READ MORE ABOUT GREECE WITH KIDS IN THIS POST.
FROM TÜRKIYE TO GREECE | Ipsala / kipi border crossing and our first night in Nea Karvali
We covered a lot of kilometers in Turkey in the last few days and we really needed a break from the long drives, but we still had this one last move towards the Greek border ahead. On this day we stopped in CANAKKALE, did some last Turkish delicacies shopping and checked out the magnificent TROJAN HORSE STATUE for which this seaside city is famous, before crossing the IPSALA / KIPI BORDER back into the EU. The whole procedure took only one hour and it was a breeze compared to the Bulgarian / Turkish border (Andreevo / Kapikule) which we previously crossed three times in the last year. Kalispera Greece! Now the hunt for an OVERNIGHT SPOT began. Greek authorities supposedly tightened the laws on wild camping during that summer season, but we decided to give it a try anyway. After all, it was already mid-November and the main tourist season had long since ended, on top of that all the CAMPSITES WERE CLOSED.
Initially we wanted to stay somewhere on the beach, but we were unable to find a decent spot, mostly due to the heavy rains in the past days and all the mud. So we found a cute location, a studio for the four of us, right on a beach with a balcony overlooking the sea in NEA KARVALI, a known tourist resort town. It was our first night in proper beds with hot shower after 21 days of camping in our car so that felt really good and well deserved. For 60 eur a night we also got a kitchen and parking, so it was a good deal.
Plus points for the beautiful double rainbow and the dreamy sunset with TASOS ISLAND in the background! In Nea Karvali we already got a little taste of what awaited us in the following days. Namely, most of the restaurants, bars and, to our surprise, also the larger shops, were already closed until spring. On the one hand, this is great, because it meant that there would be no tourist crowds anywhere, but on the other hand, it later proved to be very impractical several times.
Our FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF GREECE in this part of the country were a bit mixed. We probably experienced it quite differently because we were coming from Turkey and not flying in directly from home. Therefore we found most of the locals to be somewhat gloomy, reserved, perhaps tired of the summer season, which we can understand very well, while we really had wonderful experiences with the Turks for two consecutive seasons and found them extremely hospitable and friendly. We did find many products in stores in Greece to be significantly cheaper than in Turkey though, so this was an obvious advantage! I know that this was certainly not the case a few years ago, but inflation is currently so high in Turkey that the situation has now reversed. Diesel was much more expensive here though. We also quickly realized that there is soooo much less garbage in Greece. Especially on the beaches, which are really clean. This is unfortunately often a problem in Turkey. In general, we found the beaches to be really beautiful in Chalkidiki.
ATOS, Chalkidiki | limited access and a self-governed monastic community
A large part of this easternmost part of the Halkidiki peninsula, with its mighty, over 2000m high, holy mountain MOUNT ATHOS, is actually a SELF-GOVERNED MONASTIC COMMUNITY in Greece, serving as the spiritual capital of Orthodox Christianity. Thanks to its more than a thousand-year tradition, which dates back to the Byzantine era, it is also included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. There are 20 MONASTERIES, in which around 2000 Greek, Serbian and Bulgarian Orthodox monks are active. WOMEN ARE NOT ALLOWED TO ENTER this part of Atos, but MEN can visit it through a special registration procedure. Only around 100 permits are issued per day though, the vast majority of which are intended for members of the Orthodox faith.
So the easiest way to get a closer look at this part of the Athos is from the sea. Therefore, you can take part in a special BOAT TRIP that sails along the western coast of the peninsula. The start is either in Ouranoupolis or Ormos Panagias. We skipped this trip, as we didn’t think it would be very worthwhile to spend several hours rocking in the sea with our two kids. We only observed the mysterious Mount Athos from afar, as it can also be seen beautifully from the middle finger of Sithonia, where we were headed that day.
SITHONIA, Chalkidiki | the most beautiful beaches and relaxed vibes
SITHONIA is famous for its many beautiful sandy bays surrounded by fragrant pine forests. There are said to be around 100 such beaches on the entire island, of course it is impossible to visit them all. But a few days before, when we finally decided to visit Greece, I had marked on the map the few that we really didn’t want to miss. And the first of them was the beautiful KARYDI BEACH.
November 12th and we are barefoot jumping on the soft white sand, listening to the waves with the wind in our hair, enjoying the warm sun. Not bad! We had this bay all to ourselves. It is surely more crowded here in the season, as the size of the parking lot already indicated, but right now it was pure bliss. Looking back, this was definitely one of the top 3 most beautiful beaches in Chalkidiki.
The “no camping” sign scared us a bit though and we decided not to sleep here. We had a lovely walk on the beach, climbed over some rocks, prepared a picnic for lunch, fed a few stray cats and almost went for a swim. I admit, for me personally, the crystal clear sea was already too cold at this time, although it really sparkled invitingly.
The kids were having a blast and we barely managed to get them back to the car from the beach. But since it was getting dark around 6pm, we had to move on and find a place to camp before nightfall. Nevertheless, we simply had to stop at PARADISE BEACH first. We left the car on top of the cliff and walked along the narrow path towards the sea. It felt a bit strange because we were completely alone again, but as soon as we reached the beautiful bay, we were even more grateful for our “off season” visit to the Chalkidiki peninsula. Look at this beauty in pure peace and tranquility!
It reminded me of the Seychelles for a moment. Really, really, really nice. There was no sign of prohibited camping here, but still we moved a little further to KAVOUROTRIPES BAY just before Platanitsi town. It was a good thing we still had some food and drink supplies, because we didn’t actually find one single open shop, not even a vegetable stand or anything like that on the way.
This bay is also absolutely beautiful and we took advantage of the last few sunny hours of the day before dark to walk and play on the beach.
Besides us, two Poles slept in a van in the “parking lot” among the pine trees. While in Turkey we constantly encountered police cars and they often came to the beaches in the middle of the night (wild camping is allowed in Turkey and all in all it was more about checks for safety reasons than chasing happy campers), here in Greece we didn’t encounter a single one. We were more struggling with the cold nights than police checks. Since we went to bed earlier now because of the earlier sunset, we also got up even earlier in the morning. After coffee and breakfast, we drove on to the southernmost point and the western coast of the Sithonia island that day.
We made our first stop after just a few minutes of driving, at one of the random viewpoints along the main road, from where we had a really nice view of the mighty MOUNT ATHOS in the background. In the nearby town of SARTI, we even found an open STORE with a bakery, so we had a second breakfast on the beach, and then headed towards TIGANIA BEACH.
The latter was very difficult to find, as it is located at the end of a confusing maze of roads that often end abruptly and lead nowhere. It seems that they wanted to build a brand new neighborhood from scratch here, but the project stopped only at the construction of these roads. Our GPS was more confused than ever and in the end we barely managed to get out of this tangle of streets onto the main road.
I had another place marked on the map with a heart icon, the SITHONIA CAPE. I only mark special places that I really want to visit with a heart icon. But unfortunately it didn’t work out this time. This truly idyllic southernmost point of the Sithonia peninsula is only reached by a terrible road, most of which is only possible with a good 4×4. Let’s say that we do have one, but since it had also rained a lot in the past few days, the “road” was supposedly in even worse condition than usual and the locals advised us to walk the last part of the way. But since it would have been quite a long hike anyway, we then skipped it all and decided to come back sometime when the kids get bigger.
We stopped briefly to stretch our legs on the much less spectacular beach of PORTO KOUFO. Later, both kids fell asleep in the car and since the west coast of Sithonia somehow did not offer the most beautiful beaches, we decided to move on to the next “finger”, KASSANDRA.
KASANDRA, Chalkidiki | the most touristy and urban of the “three fingers”
As soon as we turned onto the so-called “first finger” we noticed that there might be a little more life and activity here than in Sithonia. The first impression was a bit deceiving, because it was also quite quiet here, but still. There is no denying that there is much more tourist infrastructure here in terms of restaurants, bars, hotels, etc. In general, we liked it a little less, because we prefer nature, but we still found some nice spots in the next three days. Kiddos woke up and we made our first stop at AFYTOS BEACH. It was an okay beach but that’s all. It served us well for a short walk and a picnic lunch in the sun.
For a change, we treated ourselves to an APARTMENT, which we booked just a few hours before arriving. We first booked for two nights, then we extended it for one more. From here we then went on day trips around the island, before going home we washed all the dirty clothes, cleaned up the car a bit and also had a good night’s sleep in warm beds. Since many accommodation units were already closed, our choice was a bit limited and we quickly decided this place right on the beach in the small town of NEA SKIONI on the west coast.
Here too, many things were already closed, but we still had two shops open for at least a few hours a day, and some life could be heard from a couple of bars. The first evening we also discovered a really cute RESTAURANT ON THE BEACH, not far from the apartment, which we visited several times in the following days. We finally managed to taste the charms of GREEK CUISINE.
My favorite was the grilled octopus and the fried feta cheese with honey and sesame. Is there anything better than a delicious dinner on the beach at sunset, while the kids play surprisingly calmly in the sand while the waitress brings another glass of wine? Ah, we really had to treat ourselves these last days of our trip.
The town seemed lovely and every morning and evening we went for a walk and discovered new corners and interesting details, observed the fishing boats, ran along the beach, stumbled over the cobblestones and admired the lush vegetation. That typical Greek architecture wasn’t as present as we hoped for, but we realized Chalkidiki is a little bit different in this sense.
The next day we headed back to the east side, our main goal being GLAROKAVOS BEACH. The road took us through beautiful olive groves and we were really impressed by the more hilly interior of this finger.
We were a bit bummed we didn’t camp here, because the beach was absolutely beautiful, empty, and there were so many ideal spots in the pine forest right next to it. But oh well, therefore we had a hot shower later on and a warm place to sleep which wasn’t bad at all.
We spent a good part of the day on the beach, preparing a delicious salad, washing it down with Greek beer, while Mila and Leo collected sticks, shells and cones and played in their own way. They were now real professionals in this game with natural materials. We almost got up the courage to go swimming again, but we still didn’t quite manage it. The sea was really cold.
Before returning to our village, we planned a drive to the westernmost point of this finger, to the MONASTERY OF ST. NICHOLAS, so that the kids could sleep in the car for a while. And we still had to find a grocery shop, for which we had to drive an extra 30km, but oh well, in the end we found one. In the evening, we repeated the exercise with a sunset and a glass of wine on “our” beach.
On our last full day on the Chalkidiki peninsula, we explored the WEST COAST. Our first stop was POSSIDI BEACH, which wasn’t exactly a hit, but we were able to enjoy some driving on the sand. We also noticed a few vans with foreign license plates here, apparently spending the night.
A few dozen kilometers further we wanted to reach SANI BEACH, but we got completely lost in the labyrinth of streets that led to private luxury villas, and access to the sea was restricted everywhere by gates. Only at one point could we walk to the beach, if we left the car far away and paid the parking fee. So we decided that we had seen enough beautiful beaches in the last few days and moved on.
Early in the afternoon, we landed back on the beach in front of the apartment, ate lunch there, cleaned up and packed our things, and mentally prepared ourselves for the long journey home, which started very early the next morning.
Our last evening in Greece was a bit emotional, on the one hand we were looking forward to seeing our friends and family after a long time, sleeping in our own beds and eating some Slovene home cooked goodies. We were also looking forward to daycare! But on the other hand we could easily have extended the trip by a few weeks, months (?).
FROM GREECE TO SLOVENIA | long way home
Our six-week road trip ended and we only had about a 14-hour drive home, which took us through North Macedonia, Serbia and Croatia. Although we hesitated for a while whether to make this detour towards Greece or not, we ended up not regretting it at all. We experienced Chalkidiki in complete peace, at times it was even too weirdly peaceful haha, we were also lucky with the weather, although it would have been even more optimal with a few degrees more on the thermometer. We will definitely return to Greece with our Defender and the kids, but probably to some other part of the country next time.
