Diagram by Greece Trips. Free to reuse with credit - CC BY 4.0.
In the town
- The Acropolis hill, with a surviving tower and walls, and a view over the plain to the mountains.
- The Bezesteni, a fifteenth-century Ottoman covered market of lead-domed vaults in the centre, now the archaeological museum. It is the best building in Serres.
- The old metropolitan church and the ruins left by the town’s destruction in 1913, which the city has kept rather than cleared.
Serres is known domestically for a sweet, akanes, a soft butter-and-rosewater confection sold in the same few shops for generations.
The Alistrati cave
About 25 kilometres east is one of the largest and best-presented caves in Greece: wide galleries, dense stalactites and eccentric helictite formations, on a well-lit walkway about a kilometre long.
Unusually, part of the visit can be done on a small train that runs into the entrance passage, and there is a separate gorge viewing route outside.
Lake Kerkini
North towards Bulgaria lies Kerkini, an artificial wetland that has become one of the most important bird sites in Europe: pelicans, herons, cormorants and a great many migrants, with water buffalo grazing the margins.
Flat-bottomed boats take visitors out at dawn. It is a genuine wildlife destination and the main reason a naturalist would come to this corner of Greece.
Getting there and how long
About an hour and a quarter from Thessaloniki by road, and on the rail line north.
One night, using it for the cave and the lake.
Last checked August 2026. Cave and boat schedules are seasonal - see our editorial policy.
Common questions
What is there to see in Serres itself?
The Byzantine acropolis hill, the Ottoman Bezesteni market hall which houses the archaeological museum, and the older churches in the centre.
What is the Alistrati cave?
A large, well-presented cave about 25 kilometres east of Serres, with a kilometre of lit walkway, a small train into the entrance, and a gorge route outside.
What is Lake Kerkini?
An artificial wetland north of Serres and one of the most important bird sites in Europe, with pelicans, herons and grazing water buffalo. Boats go out at dawn.
What is akanes?
A soft butter-and-rosewater confection that Serres is known for domestically, sold from a few long-established shops.
How far is Serres from Thessaloniki?
About an hour and a quarter by road, and it is on the northern rail line.
Next
Read Thessaloniki, Drama, or Kavala.