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The Lighthouse: This maritime symbol is located in the busy centre of Alexandroupoli and has come to serve as an emblem of the city. It is close to the harbour and the shops along the waterfront, and was constructed in 1850 by the French Mediterranean Lighthouse and Beacon Company, implementing a contract with the then Turkish administration to facilitate marine access to the Hellespont. The lighthouse is 27m tall and is one of the few manned lighthouses still functioning.

Natural History Museum: The museum is located two kilometres to the east of the city centre, in the verdant Platanotopos area, by the Maistro stream. It uses multimedia and multi-shows to illustrate the natural environment of the region.
Address: Platanotopos Maistrou, tel.: +30 25510 80204, mfia.alexpolis.gr

Ethnological Museum of Thrace: The museum is designed to promote the study of the region of Thrace from the late 17th to the early 20th century, showcasing and promoting the local culture. The layout of the museum, the exhibits, the background music and the various multimedia applications all assist the visitor in understanding the customs, traditions and popular culture of the region. There are more than 2,500 items in the collection, the earliest more than 320 years old, the more recent dating from the beginning of the 20th century. There are local costumes, traditional agricultural tools, valuable exhibits relating to cooking and pastry-making, ecclesiastical artefacts and the equipment used in a dyeing workshop.
Address: 63 14 Maiou Street, Alexandroupoli, www.emthrace.org

Alexandroupoli History and Folklore Museum: This interesting museum on the city’s main street was built with donations by local people and officially opened in November 1995. Apart from the exhibitions of a historical and cultural nature regularly staged at the museum, there are also frequent concerts, book presentations, theatrical performances and lectures.
Address: 335 Dimokratias Avenue, Alexandroupoli, www.ismo.gr, tel.: +30 25510 28296

Traianoupoli: This important town of the Roman era was founded by the Emperor Marcus Ulpius Traianus (Trajan) (98-117 AD) on the route of the famous Via Egnatia, probably because of its healing springs, which are still in use today. At the impressive archaeological site 14km east of Alexandroupoli you will find extensive burial sites, traces of the old fortified walls, and a little church from the Byzantine period, recently excavated. Within the archaeological site is a later structure of unusual type, known as the Hana, which was probably a heated bathhouse. Together with the Imaret in Komotini, this is one of the oldest Ottoman buildings surviving in Greece.

In the footsteps of the Sarakatsani: At the village of Aisymi (23km north of Alexandroupoli) you will find the Sarakatsani Heritage Museum, a remarkable collection of authentic material, including traditional male and female costumes, weaving equipment, decorated tablecloths which were spread on the ground for the nomads’ meals, shepherd’s crooks, distaffs, velentzes (woollen rugs) and old photographs. Not far from the museum in the village of Leptokarya, you should also visit the open-air museum where you can learn more about the way of life of the Sarakatsani, a proud, nomadic people. The Traditional Sarakatsani Settlement constructed by the Sarakatsani Society features the famous circular wooden huts or konakia, the dairy, the livestock pen, the schoolroom, and all the other structures used by a traditional nomadic community.
Address: Aisymi, Alexandroupoli, tel.: 22510 93262

Trips to the Evros countryside: The Evros Delta and Dadia Forest are both national parks of international stature, home to birds, animals and flowers rare in their beauty and the sheer numbers in which they are found. There are guided tours available along paths where you will see prehistoric rock paintings, with animals and birds you would never have imagined living in Greece. According to the Park Information Centre, the tours are arranged depending on the season or number of visitors, in order to minimize disturbance to the rare species. Tours may be on foot, by cycle or in the Information Centre’s minibus. The Centre is 14km east of Alexandroupoli, at a key point for access to the wetlands of the Evros Delta. It has an exhibition area, a screening room, shop, offices and a hostel.
Evros Delta National Park Management Agency, tel.: +30 25510 61000, www.evros-delta.gr

Dadia Forest: Local people believe this is one of the most beautiful national parks anywhere in the world, and visitors usually agree. To familiarize yourself with this vast expanse of green, the best starting point is the Ecotourism Centre 75km from Alexandroupoli, where you can obtain all the information you need about the region. They will point you to the two specially signed trails which lead to the observation post (allow about 2 hours for the walk) or the top of Gribena Hill (about ninety minutes). You can also cycle along these trails, or take a horse ride through the forest, or try a canoe on Lake Tycherou. The Ecotourism Centre has a hostel, canteen, information centre and a permanent exhibition.
Information: Ecotourism Centre, tel.: +30 25540 32209, www.dadia-np.gr

Beaches: Many of the beaches in the Alexandroupoli area have blue flags. They extend from the Hellenic Tourism Organization beach near the city to the Red Rocks beach at Nea Hili. For a more lively beach try Agia Paraskevi, at Makri, with its traditional tavernas. The beach at Kyani Akti is a quiet spot to enjoy the waters of the northern Aegean. Almost all the beaches have organized facilities, and there are beach bars where you can enjoy a coffee right at the water’s edge.

You should make a point of buying some oil and olives, as well as the local cheeses, like mizithra and xerotyri, produced by local farmers at small, traditional dairies. The beekeepers of the surrounding villages make excellent unprocessed flower honey and royal jelly, while the specialties of the region include walnut preserve. You can buy wine at the Horinopoulos Winery, and preserved fruits from the Spiti tou Glykou.

Rich in natural produce, and with a history which leaves its traces in every dish, the cuisine of the Evros region is both fascinating and delicious. The best known dishes include babu, a winter meal of pork intestine stuffed with finely chopped meat, rice, leek, entrails and spices, as well as kavourmas, a richer version of the traditional fried pork recipe tigania. You should sample the kolburek (a form of pie), the kioul (a soup with chicken and flour paste), pork with cabbage, and also the local trahana (frumenty) and langites (crepes made with a light dough and baked on a hot stone). Follow the local people’s example and walk along the romantic waterfront, or the pedestrianized alleys between the waterfront and Dimokratias Avenue, and discover some beautiful little eating places with genuine local food. And don’t forget: the area is famous for its fish and seafood mezedes, which you can also enjoy in the little harbour next to the port.

• Arda Young People’s Festival: The Arda Festival is one of the most important events for young people in the country, indeed in the Balkans. It started 18 years ago in the Commune of Kastanea, as a small musical festival, and has since evolved into a major event drawing thousands of young people from all over the country, and important musicians who perform against the incomparable backdrop of the frontier forest…
• Eleftheria Festival: In mid-May Alexandroupoli holds the Eleftheria Festival, to commemorate the liberation of the city from the Bulgarians. The festival features a whole host of events, and the Waves of Culture programme fills the city with the excitement of the arts all through the summer.
• Alexpo: An interesting trade fair, held under the aegis of the Evros Commercial and Industrial Chamber. Staged every two years, the fair attracts both local participants and business people from the islands of the eastern Aegean and the Balkan states. Also, every second year the city hosts a major Book Festival, held on the waterfront.

Getting to and from the airport

Aegean Airlines flights land at the Democritus Airport, just 7km east of the city. The airport has duty free shops, a restaurant and café, and you will also find a bank and bureau de change, a post office and car rental offices. To get into town you can take local buses nos. 5 or 6. If you want a cab, they operate on a meter and the fares are very reasonable.