Hanioti

Hanioti is the village on Kassandra that families choose when they want a beach holiday without a car. It sits on the east coast between Polychrono and Pefkochori, on the long strip of sand that runs for kilometres along the Toroneos gulf, and its centre is closed to traffic in the evening: a square with plane trees, ice cream, shops and tavernas that fill from nine o’clock with children still awake.

The beach is the point. Wide, sandy, shallow for a long way out, with sunbeds and beach bars along the village front and quieter stretches towards Polychrono. The water is calm on almost every day of the summer, which is why Hanioti is the first name a Greek family with small children mentions. Behind the beach the village climbs gently into pines, and most of the villas sit on this slope, five to fifteen minutes on foot from the sand.

Eating is easy: grills and fish tavernas on the front and in the square, a bakery for breakfast, two supermarkets, a pharmacy and a doctor in season. Kallithea, twenty minutes away, has the nightlife; Pefkochori next door has the marina and the boats to Sithonia; the Mavrobara lake with its turtles is a short drive above Polychrono. Thessaloniki airport is just over an hour.

Hanioti is busiest in July and August, when the village is lively and parking is a skill; June and September have the same sea, half the people and lower villa prices. The villas below are the ones we manage or have vetted in Hanioti; for a specific week, ask for a shortlist.