A Week In Halkidiki Greece – Afytos Town
Ready to discover a laid-back way of life in Halkidiki Greece, a stunning easy to get to mainland destination? Check out Afytos Town – a perfect base for exploring the peninsula.
Over the years, we’ve visited many Greek islands and mainland Greece! We have made several visits to the capital Athens, and love it.
So for our last mainland trip to Greece, we decided to explore the peninsula of Halkidiki and specifically base ourselves in Afytos Town. With cobbled streets and waterfront restaurants, this is a hidden gem and a stunning European destination.
It’s a perfect place to rent a car and tour around the many stunning beaches.
Based on our in-depth knowledge of exploring Greece and our time in Afytos Town we have created this 7 Days In Halkidiki Guide. We hope it inspires you to discover this Mediterranean gem soon.
Where is Halkidiki?
Halkidiki (known to the Greeks as Chalkidiki) consists of three peninsulas – almost island-like in their own right. They are highlighted in red on the map below.
The most popular area is the first ‘cape’ known as Kassandra. This is where you will find Afytos Townand what a fabulous destination this turned out to be.
How to Get to Halkidiki
Thessaloniki is the second largest city in Greece. It’s the main hub airport to travel into Halkidiki. We flew from London Stansted, about a 3-hour flight.
There are flights from around the UK and in particular Jet 2 offers a wide selection of routes and package holidays from various regional airports. Check flight schedules and deals to Thessaloniki.
Thessaloniki Airport is super clean and efficient. We were through passport control within 30 minutes and with no baggage to collect, it was straight through to arrivals.
🎒TPOP Tip: Book airport transfers via Thessaloniki Taxi Transfers before leaving home. Our 90km (45 mins) journey to Afytos was 55 euros almost half the airline’s transfer quote.
It is also possible to drive to Halkidiki from North Macedonia if you would like a longer road trip adventure.
Read our North Macedonia Post for all the details on how to do this as it’s another under the radar destination in Europe that we love. Visiting Skopje the capital is well worth time to discover.
Hire a car if you want to explore the region on your own. We booked ours via our hotel and daily rates, including full insurance, were 60 euros for a Grade A car. We recommend picking up from the airport – check car rental availability.
Where to Stay in Halkidiki
With rave reviews on websites like Booking.com our recommended Halkidiki hotel has also been featured by the UK’s Jet 2 holidays.
Shopping around for the best hotel deals/packages has always resulted in good deals as prices do vary. Check prices and availability For Your Dates.
Achtis Hotel Review
We arrived at midnight. A high wall, an oak-paneled door, and a simple sign indicated we were there. It had an air of mystery surrounding it as this was all you could see from the road.
Behind this, we found our oasis, a little bit of paradise – The Achtis Hotel.
Comfortable sunbeds, parasols, and sofas spaced out around the hotel offering personal space.
Only 35 rooms meant there was never a queue for anything You enter and exit the hotel via a simple card system. A back exit leads to the village center some 300m away.
Cake and more cake – you ordered coffee, you got cake; you ordered a meal; you got cake! The on-site spa offers some excellent deals – check out deals on arrival or via their website.
Achtis Hotel Facilities
Despite the hour, our host, wonderful Kristina met us with smiles and showed us to our ‘standard’ room. She popped back with drinks and sandwiches –‘You’ll be hungry’!
I’ve never experienced a standard room like it with attention to detail at every turn. You will enjoy luxury toiletries and sleep well in a king-size bed. Relax in one of the large armchairs, on your balcony that overlooks the pool.
A pet hate of mine is poor hotel hairdryers attached to bathroom walls, or fixed to a wall nowhere near a decent mirror. Just as annoying are those with timers that switch off after 30 seconds. You know what I’m referring to here!!
There was no hairdryer in the bathroom – where was it? Opening the chest of drawers (below a large mirror) lay a wonderful sight – a modern hairdryer with a range of power settings – that made me happy!
Staff: this is a family-run hotel passed down through generations. The staff employed here are truly exceptional and take a genuine interest in you. They even have their hotel pets – Mr Simba the dog and Kevin the peacock!
Clean: This hotel is so clean; COVID may have encouraged this but everything was wiped down and spotless.
Food: Delicious breakfasts served from 8-10 am with excellent selections. I love fresh fruit, yogurts; homemade breads; muesli; and eggs – all my favourites. They grow fruits and vegetables in the hotel garden and it was so fresh and tasty.
Things to Do In Afytos
Afytos is a very traditional hilltop village of cobbled streets and stone houses overlooking the Gulf of Toroneos.
Restaurants, bars, tavernas, and souvenir shops dominate this village yet it has a wonderful relaxed feel to it. It never felt too busy although obviously in the evenings lots of people were out strolling around.
Markets are held every Wednesday in Nea Moudania about 30km north of Afytos.
If you like pottering around the souvenir shops, there are lots of things to browse. Olive wood items, painted bowls, soaps, tea-towels, mugs, jewellery, bags, etc.
🎒TPOP Tip: Explore the village in the afternoon when it is quieter.
Where to Eat and Drink
We were completely spoiled for choice for tavernas and restaurants around Halkidiki Greece. It’s value for money here! For example we paid around 40 euros for two delicious main courses; a shared Greek salad and a 500ml carafe of wine. Don’t bother ordering dessert as you’ve guessed it – they bring cake!
The seafood (especially grilled prawns) is wonderful and the local souvlaki is delicious.
Everything tastes so fresh. In peak season, getting a table right on the front can be difficult if you just turn up but you can book in advance. Check OpenTable or ask your hotel to make a reservation for you.
Believe us, there is a great selection of tavernas, so you won’t have a problem finding anywhere to eat. Our favorites are listed below with a link to each of the exact locations to help you find them easily.
- Amazing Seafood – Strouboulis
- Great for Families – Soboro
- Ocean Sunset Views – Christos Taverna
- Sunset Cocktails – Notos Cafe Bar
Ideas for Day Trips From Afytos Town
On a destination like this, it is all too easy just to be lazy and chill by the pool or beach during the day and then wander into the village in the evening. Most days, we did just that and you know what, that’s ok!
However, the traveller in me wanted to see a bit more of the undiscovered Halkidiki peninsula.
Firstly, we hired a car (See Action Rent a Car above) for a day to explore the coastline. Starting in Afytos Town, we headed south travelling through the various resort areas.
Five minutes from Afytos is Kalithea which is popular with tourists. Driving through, it felt busy, larger, and more commercial than Afytos so we kept going.
The coast road runs slightly inland so although you are driving parallel to the sea, you don’t see much of the coastline but it’s still a nice, easy drive.
Our first beach stop was at Chroussou set around a very lovely bay with great swimming and water sports available. It’s a lively spot at weekends but we visited on a Wednesday so it was quieter. Rent Parasols and luxury sunbeds for 20 euros.
Alternatively, bring your towel and enjoy the beach a few yards away from the ‘party’ area. Car parking here is free. I strolled along the beach to where a local fisherman tended to his boat. It was the perfect point to enjoy beautiful views back across the bay.
West Coast of Kassandra
Moving onto the west coast, we drove to the pretty village of Nea Skioni Beach. Here you will find another sandy beach. It also has a lovely promenade to walk along and it’s a good stop for lunch.
The sunbeds are free if you buy a drink from one of the beachside tavernas. Alternatively, just potter around the village – there’s some souvenir shops to browse in – that’s always fun!
Kassandra Peninsula
Continuing on the coast road, we drove on to Possidi Beach. We almost didn’t bother with Possidi as it had been a long day, but I am so glad we did. We discovered a carpark for 3 Euros/day virtually on the beach.
Afterwards, we wandered along this relaxing promenade and enjoyed a refreshment.
🎒TPOP Tip: This is a very Long Beach! Walk to the tip of the sands and you will be rewarded with sea views on both sides.
Our final coastal tour stop was Siviri Beach which was a lovely spot to have a drink and watch the sunset. Like the rest of this coast, It had a very relaxed vibe with some little shops and tavernas along the seafront.
From there it was only 10km back east across the peninsula to Afytos. Visiting different beaches and exploring beyond our hotel was absolutely worth a day or two of our week in Halkidiki.
How to Book A Boat Trip
There’s so much else to do in undiscovered Halkidiki such as local boat trips – the main departure point for this being Nea Fokea.
Our hotel recommended Sven Schneider for sailing trips. Some guests had been and raved about Sailing with Sven.
Which Greek island for All-inclusive with Grown Up Kids?
If you’re traveling with older kids you might consider somewhere like Corfu, Greece which we’ve enjoyed with kids in their 20s. Check our tips and itinerary for this fun Greek Island in Corfu with Grown Up Kids post.
Another Less Crowded Greek Destination
The great thing about coming to Halkidiki Greece is that it’s affordable, generally laid back but you can be as active as you like.
We’re hearing more people are slowly discovering this lesser known spot and it will grow in popularity! So get here before it does and enjoy all the activities in Halkidiki.
If you enjoy less crowded spots, read an alternative experience from our travels in Greece – How to Spend a Week in Lefkada, Greece.
