Beaches
A breathtaking combination of blue and green!
Shaped like Poseidon’s trident, Chalkidiki’s prongs just out into the Aegean Sea. Lush green forests extend all the way to the beachfront where reflections of golden sunlight add sparkling hues to turquoise waters.
Kallithea Beach
Located in Kallithea the buzzing resort of Kassandra. It’s the kind of beach where the bars play upbeat music through speakers all day, and the sun loungers go right down to the water. Come on a fine summer’s day and the sea will be a picture-perfect turquoise hue.
Possidi Beach
While many of Chalkidiki’s best beaches are tucked into gulfs away from the wind and open sea, this beach on a cape at the very southwest of the Kassandra Peninsula is right on the Aegean. The size and location of the beach have kept amenities to a minimum so you’ll need to pack a picnic and a parasol. Possidi is a triangular sandbank, with currents converging at the tip to form some large waves. On many days the wind, currents and depth of the water on the east side aren’t suited to younger children, but there’s no denying the natural splendor of the location. When the weather is clear the water on the west side is tranquil, pristine, and fine for kids to play in.
Nea Potidea Canal
On the Kassandra Peninsula, the small harbour town of Nea Potidea is near the narrowest point of the Potidea isthmus that binds the peninsula to the mainland. This position was chosen for an ancient engineering project that is still navigable: A 1,250-metre canal linking the Toroneos Gulf in the east with the Thermaic Gulf in the west. Built either by the Macedonian King Cassander in the 4th century BC, or by the Romans 200 years later, the canal promoted trade by saving a long voyage around the peninsula. It was also a useful way of defending the city from attackers by land from the north. Forty metres wide and eight metres deep, the canal was updated twice in the 20th century, in 1930 and 1970 when the bridge was built.
Kalogria Beach
On the Sithonia Peninsula facing the Toroneos Gulf, Kalogria Beach is a half-kilometre curve of fine golden sand. The water is what brings the crowds to Kalogria because you have to go out a long way before it starts to get deep, so couldn’t be better for swimming, snorkelling, paddle-boarding or just drifting on an air mattress. In places the beach can get narrow, but it’s long enough that there’s room for everyone and has a constant backdrop of evergreen trees.
Agios Ioannis Beach
Off the main road that trails down the west coast of Sithonia, Agios Ionnnis is a beach that has escaped the tourist rush and doesn’t fill up until the height of summer. It sits a couple of kilometres from the resort of Nikiti, where a gentle green hillside dappled with poplar trees meets the shore. On the east end, by the main road is a pair of beach bars renting out sun loungers and parasols and offering full service. Agios Ioannis has a wide tranche of white sand and the sort of shallow, transparent surf that people travel thousands of miles for.
Sani Marina
We’ve journeyed to traditional villages and seen traces of Ancient Greece, but there’s also a modern side to Chalkidiki. This place is at Kassandra’s new Sani Marina. At the end of a 50-metre canal, the oval-shaped marina is bordered by gardens, fashion boutiques, patisseries, and restaurants. You can walk the quay, wonder at the luxury yachts berthed just a few metres away and soak up the rarefied scene at a cafe or restaurant table.