Ano Poli and the Trigoniou walls

Ano Poli is the Thessaloniki that the 1917 fire never reached: steep cobbled lanes of Ottoman-era houses with overhanging timber floors, tiny Byzantine churches, courtyards of vines and cats, all held inside the massive line of the city's ancient walls. It works as two shoots in one — intimate lane frames in the old quarter, then the panorama from the walls at the Trigoniou Tower, where the whole city tips downhill to the gulf.

Sunset from the Trigoniou terrace is the classic and has become no secret: the low sun crosses the gulf, the city goes from pink to lights, and the wall-top fills with students, tourists and beer sellers into a small nightly festival. For a couple that wants the view without the party, arrive an hour earlier and hold a spot on the wall itself, or shoot the lanes at golden hour and take the panorama in the blue.

Getting up is the practical decision: the climb from the centre is steep and long enough to arrive sweaty, so take a taxi to the tower and walk the session downhill through the lanes — the direction the light and the legs both prefer. Cobbles throughout: flat shoes, and a step of care on the polished sections.