The best thing about my cruise on the Azamara Quest is that I’ve stopped in a lot of ports that I’ve never heard of before; which is unusual for me. Much like the Greek Island of Patmos, the Greek port of Volos and the Turkish port of Dikili-Kavala is no different. I had never heard of this particular port town but was again, very pleasantly surprised. Kavala and Philippi, Greece are two very cool places to visit and are definitely not on the mainstream tourist map.
Kavala is a small port town not too far from the borders of both Bulgaria and Turkey and the gateway to the ancient city of Philippi. It is a very scenic place, typical of the Mediterranean/Aegean Sea port towns, built up on hills so everything looks like it’s built on top of each other. It gives a great effect though and looks awesome.
In Kavala itself there are two main sites to see. The castle; which gives fantastic views of all of Kavala below and out into the Aegean Sea. It costs 2.50 Euros to enter and the climb up to the top of the castle is not for larger people such as myself but somehow I wiggled through the tight stairway to grab some great photos of town.
As you walk down through the delightful old town from the castle you will inevitably come to the Aqueduct; which is another cool site in town. It is very well kept and gives a cool medieval feel to the seaside town. I liked it so much I actually got my hair cut literally underneath the Aqueduct for only 10 Euros and the guy did a great job!
About 20 minutes via taxi from Kavala is Philippi. Philippi was an ancient city on Eastern Macedonia before it was abandoned in the 14th Century after the Ottoman conquest.
Today there are some really cool ruins. The archaeological site is actually quite large and you can entertain yourself here for a while. There are different levels of the site.
In my opinion, the best area to see is the large area below the street. This is where you should go first especially if there are tour groups, as the amphitheater will certainly be packed as you can see!
The lower area of the Octagon and the old columns is pretty awesome and very large in scale. You can get some great pictures. The backdrop of the large Acropolis and mountain add some drama to the feel of Philippi.
I wouldn’t necessarily put Philippi up there with Ephesus or Pergamon for ancient cities but it was certainly cool to visit and I am glad I did for sure. I definitely recommend a day trip, really just an hour or two to see the whole site.
Kavala and Philippi, Greece are very cool places to see and won’t take a ton of time. Azamara definitely stops at cool small ports and opens your mind to places you wouldn’t necessarily go to otherwise, so for that I am grateful. Tomorrow the cruise ends in Istanbul; which is one of my favorite cities so stay tuned for more pictures etc. on my social media handles.
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