Chalkidiki

Chalkidiki or Halkidiki as some know it is a three-pronged peninsula, located in Northern Greece, roughly in the center of Macedonia. To the North it shares borders with the prefecture of Thessaloniki the country's second largest city. To the South, East and West Chalkidiki juts into the Aegean Sea. The main peninsula terminates in three smaller ones, namely Kassandra, Sithonia and Mount Athos, well known as the Holy Mountain(an independent administrative district). Boundless blue … endless sandy beaches and beautiful shores in over 550 km , awarded with many blue flags .Deep green … fragrant pine trees embracing the waves , a smell of resin and salt sea air. A unique combination in the Aegean! Halkidiki , a fertile place, rich in flora and animal life , colours and scents , fertility and harmony. Silvery olive groves, golden fields of grain and endless vineyards produce rich harvests.

Olympiada

Olympiada is on the north-east point of Chalkidiki. Tradition says that Olympiada was named after king Alexander's mother, Olympiada. Olympiada is on the Strimonikos Gulf and it's distance to Thessaloniki is about 80 km of easy driving. The new Egnatia motorway, is the largest and newest motorway in Greece, and connects Olympiada to many cities as well as to countries in the north borders of Greece such as Bulgaria, Romania etc. 1 km to the East of Olympiada you will find the village Stagira, the home town of the great philosopher Aristotle. Olympiada is built at the side of a natural harbor. It is surrounded by a lot of magnificent beaches, green mountains and forests.

Beaches in Olympiada

Olympiada has some of the most amazing beaches in Chalkidiki. Every year the municipality of Aristotelis (where the village of Olympiada belongs) won many blue flags. A blue flag is an award taken for high quality sandy beaches and clear water.

The nearest beach from Yasoo Holidays (2 minutes walk) is inside the Olympiada village. This is the most suitable for children as it deepens gradually and has many shops around, taverns etc.

Many other organised beaches are nearby with beach bars, umbrellas, sport facilities etc. In the area of Olympiada (from 1 minute to 10 minutes car drive from Yasoo Holidays) there are about 10-15 beautiful beaches. Some of them are organised providing facilities like bars and tavernas while others are more "natural" with fewer people and more private.

Follow this link for a leaflet about beaches most near Olympiada.

Selected Short visits 

While you are making your holidays you can make a number of very interesting short visits.

Ancient Stageira.

Ancient Stagira is located approximately 700 m. N.E. of the current settlement of Olympiada. Birthplace of Aristoteles, the greatest philosopher of ancient times and the teacher of Alexander the Great. The city was founded in ca. 655 B.C. by colonists from Andros. After the Persian Wars it joined the First Athenian League, in 424 B.C. it rebelled against it, and during the Peloponnesian War became an ally of the Spartans against Athens. Later, the city joined the Chalkidian League and in 348 B.C. it was captured by king Philip II. Tradition has it that the inhabitants of Stageira tranferred Aristotle's relics to the city, buried it there, and founded a festival in his honour, called the "Aristoteleia".

The Kapros (the locals call it Kafkanas) Island

Kapros / Kafkanas island is viewed from Olympiada beach as it is only 1 mile away. Olympias, mother of Alexander the Great, was exiled here in 316 BC by her rival Cassander after Alexander's death. Olympiada's name has its roots into this legend.

Aristotle’s Walk

Aristotle’s Walk,’ the first of eight historically-based walks in the Greek peninsula of Chalkidiki, was presented to the public by the Mount Athos Area Organization, a tourism promotion group in northern Greece. The trail of Aristotle, as Greek Travel Pages (GTP) website reports, starts from the EU-recognized Natura 2000 network at Aristotle’s Grove and the Ottoman-era mines and ends at the ancient Stageira in Olympiada, his motherland. The trail’s distance is 22 kilometers and includes plenty of shade paths of the Aristotelian Mountain and dominates the sea, the Akanthian and Strymonic Gulfs. The trail was introduced and promoted to walkers as an ‘environmental tour and historical walk.

The Holomontas forest.

Under the name Holomontas is known a large forest in Central and Northern Halkidiki. You can make excellent walks in the routes of Holomontas and find many beautiful small traditional Greek villages as well as great tavernas. 

The island of Ammouliani. 

Ammouliani is the only inhabited island with a permanent population (approx 600 residents) in Halkidiki. It is situated in the gulf of Mount Athos, at a distance of approx.40 kilometres from Olympiada (Tripiti) and is connected to the mainland with a ferry boat service with the opposite coast of Tripiti. The itineraries of the boats are in regular time intervals throughout the day. It has an extent of 4,5 kilometres. There are lots of hills and small valleys on the island which have blended in with the olive trees and low vegetation but there are no systematic cultures so the ecosystem remains untouched. The coasts present a variety of small shaped creeks with splendid sandy beaches. Weather conditions are not characterized by intense and we should remark that although an island, there are no strong winds especially during the summertime.The residents occupy themselves mainly with fishing and tourism.

Mount Athos. 

Mount Athos (Greek: Όρος Άθως, Oros Athos) is a mountain on the peninsula of the same name in Macedonia, of northern Greece, called in Greek Agion Oros (Άγιον Όρος, transliterated often as Hagion Oros), or in English, "Holy Mountain". In Classical times, the peninsula was called Aktí (Ακτή) (sometimes Acte or Akte). Politically it is known in Greece as the Autonomous Monastic State of the Holy Mountain. This World Heritage Site is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople..

Visit to Aristotele's Park. 

Aristotle's park is located in the village of Stagira. The Theme park is located in a most outstanding area with a marvellous view towards the gulf of Ierissos and the whole peninsula of Athos. When the weather is clear you can see some of the monasteries on Mount Athos using the telescopes there. It also includes a series of other instruments which when used properly will show the phenomena of nature. All of this is dedicated to the famous philosopher and his work called "the Natural". More...

Other activities

Sailing. We can organise a sailing cruise for you and your friends if you ask well in advance. We can organise longer trips up to 3 days providing you with a certified skipper.

Underwater Fishing. We can organise your underwater fishing adventure if you ask well in adavance.

Night life

The village of Olympiada has many beautiful restaurants, bars, coffee shops next to the sea to enjoy a large variety of food and drinks. There are also beach bars for after midnight life.