When you say Kavala, everyone thinks of Kavala cookies. But the Greek city of Kavala is one of the places worth seeing. Some make their way here for its historic fabric, some for a summer holiday. On our long Greece tour we couldn't help stopping by Kavala again. It was a really lovely outing for us as a family. Here's the Kavala travel guide for you..
Things to Know About Kavala
It's a coastal city worth seeing, located in Greece's East Macedonia and Thrace region. The city of Kavala, which has a long history, offers travellers lots of places to visit. From ancient cities to castles, from lively streets to museums, and then there are Kavala cookies...
In Kavala, under Ottoman rule between 1387 – 1912, almost all the architectural works belong to the Ottoman Empire. The chance of magnificent and beautiful historic buildings appearing before you everywhere in the city is very high. Kavala, which developed rapidly after Suleiman the Magnificent built an aqueduct in the city in the 16th century, is today one of the most important trade centres of northern Greece. The city is the birthplace of Muhammad Ali Pasha of Kavala, the Governor of Egypt who appears in our history books.
During our Greece trip, Kavala is at the top of the most important places in terms of history. With its resemblance to Aegean towns it will impress you a lot. It's a city you can tour very quickly with a good route if your time is limited, but if you have time, enjoying the city is a special pleasure too.
Places to Visit in Kavala
As you know, Greece, just like Turkey, is a very rich country in terms of history, culture and sea. Today many people choose to holiday in Greece because it's close. This year we too planned to spend part of our leave in Greece. With the ease of it being very close to the Turkish border and practical to reach by car, in the lands of our ancestors there are many lovely places that will amaze you, both historic sites and places to swim.
Where Is Kavala?
It's a coastal city in Greece's East Macedonia and Thrace region. Kavala, which has a coast on the Aegean Sea, borders Toska to its south and Sanatorio to its north. It's very close to the island of Thasos. It's 440 km from Istanbul.
When to Go to Kavala?
Like most of Greece, it has a Mediterranean climate. While summers are very hot and dry, winters, as in Edirne, are rainy and cold. You can swim from May, and if the weather's good you can enjoy the beach season until the end of October. The June-August period is the hottest time in Kavala, and indeed in Greece. In our view the ideal season for sightseeing and wandering around is spring/autumn.
How to Get to Kavala?
You can reach the city, 440 km from Istanbul, by your own vehicle in 5-6 hours if there's no traffic at the border. As another alternative, buses departing from Istanbul can be used.
There's no direct flight to Kavala from Istanbul. If you like, you can go by connecting flight via Thessaloniki or Athens.
It's also possible to reach Kavala from the Aegean Sea. There are quite a few ferry services to Kavala, especially from the island of Lemnos.
Our choice was to go abroad by private car. Click here for what you need to do to go abroad!
Where to Stay in Kavala?
As in other cities in Greece, in Kavala there are no big hotels; there are smaller-concept hotels. Most of them are in the city centre and in places close to the beach.
If you want a campsite rather than a hotel, I think Batis Campsite will be very helpful to you. Like the one in Alexandroupoli, it's a lovely campsite right on the beach, and the daily price is 14€ excluding electricity. Our plan included staying here. But after a small change of plan, we decided to keep on travelling without staying in Kavala.
Kavala Airport & Getting Around the City
First of all, I recommend going to Kavala, or rather Greece, by your own vehicle. You may just spend a little extra time at the border crossing. Apart from that, you can be sure you'll have a very enjoyable car journey.
Since I didn't go to Thessaloniki and Athens in Greece I can't say for sure, but in the cities of Alexandroupoli, Xanthi, Komotini and Kavala we didn't come across any parking fees. Since it isn't paid like in other European countries, there's no problem at all when travelling by car. After parking your car you can tour the city on foot very comfortably. You'll hardly even need public transport.
If you're going to the city's other far-off places, you can get there very easily by bus. Instead of the bus you can also choose taxis; taxi prices are very affordable too. The city has 1 international airport. If you decide to fly to Kavala, you'll land at Alexander the Great Airport, 20 kilometres outside the city. It's very easy to reach the city centre by shuttles and buses.
Kavala Cuisine
Greek cuisine, Turkish cuisine's cousin, which makes even the pickiest person aware of the existence of gastronomic pleasure by offering 1000 options when it comes to food, is ready and waiting to make you a happy person.
Not just in Kavala but in most cities you'll visit in Greece, you should taste the fish, vegetable dishes and wonderful Aegean meze that are the essentials of Greek cuisine. Fresh salads, olives and white cheese varieties also generally take their place on the tables.
Fish and seafood are eaten most in the city. Fish fresh from the sea are cleaned right away and prepared to be served. In restaurants you should definitely try the fresh fish, salty foods, mackerel, Gouna, herring, saganaki, mussels and anchovies wrapped in vine leaves.
For dessert you can choose semolina dessert with mastic, a flavour very close to Turkish cuisine. Don't forget to ask for those famous Kavala cookies with your Greek coffee. Although the original cookie has almonds, today you can find cookies in different flavours.
Because we were in the city on a Monday we couldn't visit many places, and we also didn't come across many places selling Kavala cookies. We tasted the cookies and bought some at a small but lovely café on the seafront that also had Turkish tea.
When travelling in Greece, watch out for siesta (afternoon nap) hours. Shops that generally close after 2 o'clock open in the evening, and some don't open at all. You should take care not to go for dinner before 8-9, otherwise you may find many restaurants closed.
Kavala Cookies
When I say Kavala, the first thing that comes to mind is neither the mosque, nor Pargalı, nor the aqueduct. The first thing that comes to mind is coo-kie-eees! Delicious cookies with lots of icing sugar, that crumble in your mouth when you bite, with lots of almonds! Even writing this now my mouth is watering! Luckily there's another pack at home :)
Greek Salad
It has an amazing taste; the olives are pitted, the tomatoes are tasty, plenty of olive oil, cucumber, capers, and the white cheese called feta is wonderful. It's a bit different from our cheeses. Its taste can change depending on the city you eat it in, but I didn't get the flavour and pleasure I got in Alexandroupoli and Xanthi in other cities.
Pumpkin fries - κολοκυθάκια τηγανητά
As you know, Greece's sea-scented taverna tables are very famous; if you sit down somewhere nice, it's almost impossible not to leave the table satisfied. Some dishes are ones we don't often come across in daily life, and some are familiar but taste completely different. For us, top of these is Greek-style fried courgette, that is 'Kolokithakia Tiganita'. Kolokithi/κολοκύθι means courgette. It's at the top of the flavours you can try in Kavala or other Greek cities.
Shopping in Kavala
In Kavala, most of the city centre is made up of the main shopping areas. Platia Eleftheria Street in particular is at the top of the lively streets. There are also shops typical of the Greeks near the harbour.
Right opposite the café where we ate cookies there was a design shop with wonderful handmade products. We definitely recommend going here. Because they're handmade, prices are a bit higher than at other shops. Besides souvenirs you can also buy olive oil, soap and cookies.
Like us, you can do not just daily shopping but household shopping too. How? The answer's clear: 'Lidl'! This shop, which we first discovered in Germany, is similar to shops like Bim and A101 in Turkey. But it's very affordable in price and has very nice products. If we weren't embarrassed, we'd go once a month and do the house's monthly shop here. Lovely pasta sauces, wonderful chocolates, cookies and different spices await you.
By the way, because Greece is in an economic crisis, Greek free shops are heavily discounted.
Do You Need a Visa for Kavala?
Yes, you need a Schengen visa to go to Greece. Travellers who haven't had a Schengen visa before need to come to the consulate in person. The Greek Consulate General definitely does not accept visa applications from travellers with TRNC entry-exit stamps in their passport. Visas are not required for green (special) and grey (service) passports. A visa is required for the burgundy (ordinary) passport.
Cycling in Kavala
The roads to cycle in Greece are among the best in the world. Quiet highways, roads that aren't too steep and the pleasure of riding along the coast are the kind of things that will increase your wish to ride a bike.
The bike is one of the best means of transport for getting to know a city. Cyclists can combine great exercise with their eagerness to explore and build their routes on little-known roads of Greek cities. Besides Athens, you can find bike lanes in many cities (in some municipalities) like Thessaloniki, Volos, Karditsa, Trikala, Larissa, Kavala, Nafplion, Lamia and Messolonghi.
As for cycling in the city; there are small bumps in the city centre, but in general it's a bike-friendly city. Since motorcycles are very widely used, you need to be careful and take care not to make sudden moves.
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