Day trips from Thassos: the mainland

We name the trips and say what each is. We print no ferry times, crossing durations or prices, because those change every season. Check the day’s sailings before you commit to being on the far side of the water in the evening.

Kavala, and the aqueduct through the middle of it

The obvious one and the good one. Kavala is the port of eastern Macedonia, built around a bay with the old town climbing a headland on one side, and it has something no other Greek city has in quite this way: a monumental aqueduct striding across the middle of it.

The aqueduct, called the Kamares, runs on two tiers of arches straight across a modern street between the old town and the new. It follows a Roman line and was rebuilt in the sixteenth century under Suleiman, and the city uses it as a landmark, a meeting point and a roundabout at once. Walking under it is the moment people remember about Kavala.

Above it, the Panagia quarter climbs the headland to a castle, with lanes of old houses and a view back over the bay. Give it a full day, and eat on the harbour before you sail back.

Philippi, the Roman city inland

A short way inland from Kavala lies Philippi, one of the more substantial archaeological sites in northern Greece: a Roman forum, a theatre, basilicas and the line of the Via Egnatia running through it.

It is the site where a decisive Roman battle was fought and where the earliest Christian community in Europe was founded, which gives it a significance out of proportion to how few visitors it gets compared with the southern sites. Pair it with Kavala on the same day if you have a car, since it sits on the road inland.

The interior of your own island

Not everything worth a day is across the water. A single ring road runs around Thassos with almost all the coast development on it, and the middle of the island is mountain and pine with old villages above the road rather than on it.

Theologos in the south was the island’s capital and is the best of them; Panagia and Potamia sit on the eastern slopes. Stone houses, plane trees, slate roofs and cooler air, and almost nobody. If you have four days on Thassos, one of them belongs up here rather than on the sand.

The beaches you have not reached yet

Also worth counting as a day out, because the ring road is long enough that most people settle into one stretch of coast and never see the rest. Saliara on the north-east coast is the marble beach, where the sand is ground marble and the water reads almost white. Aliki in the south is a twin bay on a headland with an ancient marble quarry and a small sanctuary on it.

Going right round the island in a day is entirely possible and a good way to work out where you want to spend the rest of the week.

What we would actually do with four days

One full day in Kavala, taking in Philippi on the way if you have the car. One day inland in the mountain villages. Two on the coast, working the ring in both directions.

That leaves the island’s own ancient city at Limenas for your arrival or departure day, since it is right by the port. The order for all of it is in the Thassos itinerary.

Where this leaves you

The unusual thing about Thassos is that the mainland is the day trip: Kavala for the aqueduct and the old town, Philippi for a Roman city almost nobody visits, both reachable on a short car ferry. Inland, the island’s own mountain villages are a day that most visitors skip entirely. Check the sailings before you commit to an evening on the far side, and take the car if you have one.

Quick answers

What is the best day trip from Thassos?

Kavala, on the mainland opposite. It is a short crossing, and the city has a monumental aqueduct running on two tiers of arches straight through the middle of it, with an old quarter climbing a headland to a castle above.

Can you visit Philippi from Thassos?

Yes, and it pairs naturally with Kavala on the same day if you have a car, since it sits on the road inland. It is a substantial Roman site with a forum, a theatre and basilicas, and it gets far fewer visitors than the equivalent sites in the south.

Do you need a car for day trips from Thassos?

It helps a great deal. The ferry takes vehicles and the crossing is short, which is exactly why the island fills with cars from northern Greece in summer. Without one, Kavala is straightforward and Philippi is harder.

Is there anything to do inland on Thassos?

Yes, and it is the part most visitors miss. The middle of the island is mountain and pine, with old stone villages above the coast road: Theologos in the south, which was the island’s capital, and Panagia and Potamia on the eastern slopes.