Compiled by Markos Stephanou and Stelios Jackson for the Hellenic Bookservice, 91, Fortess Road, London.  If you have any queries or suggestions or wish to add your link, please contact Stelios

  MAINLAND GREECE

Macedonia and Thrace

                    Thessaly including Pelion

Epiros

Central and Southern Mainland Greece

Athens                              Central                          Peloponnese

General Books on Mainland Greece

This link will take you to our page of general books on Mainland Greece. Titles specific to an area of Greece are found below the description of that area

Books on  botanical and animal matters can be found by clicking on the "triffid".

Relatively speaking, there is a paucity of good information on the mainland of Greece. This can be taken as a mixed blessing for while it may be difficult to obtain good up-to-date information on these areas, the result can mean that vast areas of the mainland remain "unspoilt"  by the ravages that mass tourism can bring. Not that it's all untouched by the tourist trade; far from it. Tolon and Kalamata in the Peloponnese, Chalkidiki in Northern Greece and little pockets in-between are devoted to the tourist trade.

I have divided the mainland up into five separate parts: Macedonia and Thrace (for Thessaloniki and northern Greece including Chalkidiki etc), Epirus (or Ipiros) for the western part of central Greece (including Parga and Ioannina and up into the Pindos range of mountains), Thessaly or Thessalia (including Larissa and Pilion) and Central/Sothern Greece fot the Peloponnese (including Nauflion (Nauplion), Tolon, Kalamata, the port of Patras) Sterea Ellada and Athens as well as some of the most famous sites in Greece or indeed the world.

Some links

www.vch.co.uk/villas

On returning: In love with Greece? Have a look at Greek-o-File's site.

Greek National Tourist Organisation

MACEDONIA and THRACE   

A couple of links

A very useful site to this area is that of United-Hellas, with information on the hotels as well as practical information on Macedonia

as is Columbus' Travel Guide to Macedonia and Thrace

Walking : Greek Paths   This excellent looking company, bases its walks in Northern Greece. Click the image to enter the site

Monumental paved street crossing the city. Marble columns and built pillars are preserved along the sides of the wide street. One of the columns is covered with inscriptions registering acts of manumissions. The collapsed columns that stood along the sides of the street have been restored.

Macedonia and Thrace cover the far northern area of Greece running from Albania to the west to Turkey to the east with Skopje, otherwise known as 'the former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia' (FYRoM!), and Bulgaria to the north. Places to visit include the three-pronged peninsula known as Chalkidiki (Khalkidiki) normally pronounced Hal-kidh-ikee. The eastern most finger of this peninsula is known as Aghion Oron in Greek and is famous for its 'monks republic', better known in English as Mount Athos. To enter this area you will need to have been invited and to be male, as no female of any species (apparently) is allowed within its confines. The town of Phillipi which historically was important as the place where the apostle Paul reportedly created the first Christian community in Europe, has some terrific late Roman remains stretching back to the 5th and 6th centuries (AD) as well as a 4th century (BC) theatre. Thessaloniki is a far more attractive city than Athens to most people with its own landmark in the 'white tower' which is no longer white and now houses the Byzantine museum. There is an impressive archaeological museum and no shortage of other interesting place to visit. The site of Vergina which was the burial place of Philip II, father of Alexander the Great, is south of Thessaloniki and is one of the great archaeological sites of Greece.

Yahoo's weather page for: Alexandroupolis

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The Companion Guide to Greece by Brian de Jongh. General book to Mainland Greece but it deserves to be included in all areas of these mainland pages as it is by far the most thorough guide to mainland areas.

Kavala (and Philippi): The azure town. Another lovely, glossy guide book, with 192 colour illustrations and 9 maps and plans to the city of Kavala and the site of Philippi.

Salonica and Northern Greece . A Berlitz Guide which is small but nicely formed.

Thessaloniki Museum by Manolis Andronikos (£9.99). A nicely illustrated paperback guide to the archaeological museum. Published in Greece and obviously cheaper over there.

Vergina: The Royal Tombs (£45.00). Beautifully illustrated hardback book of Prof. Manolis Andronicos' excavations at the site of the burial place of Philip II. This is also published in Greece, so as you'd expect it cheaper there.

These maps are published by Road Editions and I can highly recommend them.

as are...

Map of Mount Athos 1-50,000. Excellent. fully indexed map with a brief guide to the area too

Map of Mount Olympos 1-50,000. Another excellent map from "Road Editions", fully indexed with a brief guide too.

THESSALY 

Links to Thessaly:

This a great site to Pelion and environs, with all sorts useful info, for a beautiful area of Greece. Of course it is not quite the only website you'll need, as you can't possibly do without mine, either ;-) SJ

A very useful site to this area is that of United-Hellas, with information on the hotels as well as practical information on Magnesia

House for rent, accommodating up to six people, in Aghios Georgios, on the beautiful Pelion Penisula.

Very much a holiday destination for the Greeks themselves, the area of Thessaly has some of the most beautiful scenery anywhere in Greece or, for that matter, Europe (go on then, the world!). From the stunning 'rocks in the sky' of Meteora, with their monasteries somehow perched upon them to the home of the Gods at Mount Olympus and down the stunning scenery on the Pelion peninsula, this is an area for nature lovers. The nomos capital is Larissa, which has a pleasant mix of museums and restaurants as well as archaeological sites. So does Volos, resting in the underarm of the Pelion Peninsula from where you can board ferries to the Sporadic Islands. I could go on and on about this area but I would be unable to do it justice so I'll leave that to the guide writers.

The Mountains of Greece by Tim Salmon  is a must for anyone interested in serious walking or mountaineering especially one, Mount Pelion.

Meteora: History of the Monasteries and Monasticism by Theocharis M Probatakis. Another splendid photographic book from the publishers "Toubis", though the page quality is not as good as most of their other publications. Pictures of those extraordinary monasteries, perched eagle-like on precipices that defy belief, are here along  with line drawings and icons as well as a rather good history in this 111 page book, to this amazing area.

  Pelion (Volos) The Land of Centaurs; 125 pages with 183 lovely colour photos and 8 maps and plans to a fabulous are of Greece.  

  Map of Southen Pindos 1-50,000. Another excellent "Road edition" map. This one is on the Southern Pindos range and includes index and a brief guide

  Map of Agrafa. 1-50,000. Wonderful detail within this map which has an index which includes a brief guide to the area.

The Unwritten Places by Tim Salmon. Everybody at the Hellenic loved this; a really evocative piece of writing with the author gleefully joining the 'Dhiava', the annual trek made by the Vlach shepherds of northern Epirus, close to the border with Albania. I would recommend this book to anybody interested in everyday life in Greece as it shows the rural life which is sadly disappearing as the children understandably become increasingly reluctant to take up this way of life. Wonderful.

The Mountains of Greece also by Tim Salmon is a must for anyone interested in serious walking or mountaineering especially one, Mount Pelion.

The Companion Guide to Greece by Brian de Jongh.General book to Mainland Greece but it deserves to be included in all areas of these mainland pages as it is by far the most thorough guide to mainland areas

Epiros and Thessaly 1-250,000 (£5.95 Road Edition map). Epiros shares a map with Thessaly which isn't a bad thing as, if you're touring by car, you are very likely to enter both areas anyway.

Map of Southen Pindos 1-50,000. Another excellent "Road edition" map. This one is on the Southern Pindos range and includes index and a brief guide.

General Books on Mainland Greece

Books on the botanical and animal life can be found by clicking on the "triffid".

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