Mediterranean Europe is humming with tourists from early May through to the European autumn. Crowds, queues, parking, it can get a bit much. So if you are after that quintessential Greek experience, the combination of ancient history, mouth-watering Mediterranean food, and clear blue water for swimming, northern Greece is worth serious consideration.
Thessaloniki is Greece's second largest city, and it delivers everything you'd want from a Greek city break. Waterside restaurants and bars, incredible archaeological sites, Roman churches and Byzantine architecture. All that city jazz. It's fabulous.
Then there's the natural landscape. Halkidiki is a peninsula shaped like a trident, and it has some of the most beautiful coves and beaches in Greece with a fraction of the crowds you'd find on the islands. The water is that impossible shade of blue that makes you wonder if someone has adjusted the saturation.
For the more adventurous, Mount Olympus is about 90 minutes from Thessaloniki. Perfect for a day trip or an overnighter if you want to take on the summit and say you climbed the home of the Greek gods.
The short version: want a Mediterranean experience with fewer people? Go to northern Greece.
Pictured above: Sithonia Peninsula, Halkidiki. Turquoise waters, ancient coastline, and the occasional pirate ship on the horizon.