Beaches – Historical & Cultural Destinations An excellent advantage of the city is the fact that it is in relatively reasonable distances from Chalkidiki and Pieria, where a large number of beaches is found.  Chalkidiki is reached by car only, unless you are the owner of a private yacht. The organization of Intercity Buses for Chalkidiki for all three peninsulas (Kassandra, Sithonia, 3rd peninsula) offers a good programme of schedules,

Chalkidiki consists of three peninsulas, called legs (podia), which carry numbers in a numerical order as 1st, 2nd and 3rd.  It is considered as the area with some of the best beaches of Greece, combining green and sea in the same spot. The first peninsula, called Kassandra, offers a large number of excellent beaches with sands of a high quality. It is a highly developed tourist area with many luxury hotels, and entertainment spots. It is the most popular and cosmopolitan of the three peninsulas. 
Due to this extremely high development, the peninsula shows signs of destructions in the environment. 
The most popular beaches are Chanioti, Athytos, Paliouri and Kriopigi.  
The second peninsula, Sithonia, is considered as more “natural”, though there are even here tourist complexes ignoring the protection of environment. 
Here we meet the Porto Karras complex in Marmaras, Gerakini, Sarti, Porto Koufo and many other smaller ports with excellent beaches and green environment. In this peninsula a lot of campings are situated, attracting a large number of tourists from Europe (Lakara, Tripiti, Kavourotrypes). 
In the third peninsula the independent state of Agion Oros is found. 
However there are beaches for the visitors here as well. Among them the most popular, Ouranoupoli. 
The beaches of Pieria, are reached by railway and by car. 
The first most popular beach in the area, is located just outside of the city of Katerini and it is called Paralia Katerini
It offers a large beach with a lot of tourist compexes, restaurants and cafes. There is also a number of music clubs with live entertainment. 
The rest of the beaches are found along the old national road of Thessaloniki – Athens and are Skala Litochorou, Skala Leptokarya, Makrygialos, Platamonas, Agios Panteleimonas and other smaller spots in between of those mentioned.
In smaller distances, using urban transport, of OASTH,  one may not only visit the beaches of Nea Krini (area Kalamaria), but the old summer resorts of Peraia, Agia Triada, Mixaniona and Epanomi as well, where tourist accommodation is available.
The latter were summer resorts for citizens of Thessaloniki, many years ago, where thay maintained private summer houses. 
Due to pollution of Thermaikos that was observed some decades ago, the sea water in these areas presented some problems which were restored through the biological treatment in recent years. 
Today many people visit these beaches to swim in a clean sea where you could see a live population of fish in the water. 
Many cafes, café bars and restaurants are situated next to the beach, offering a great chance for a good walk along the sea line.