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Florina: The Winter Fairyland in Northern Greece

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Florina, Greece is the perfect winter destination for travelers looking for authentic Greek cities with lovely, historic architecture. Credit: Alexandros/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 2.0

Florina, Greece’s northwesternmost city, is known for its stunning architecture and beautiful views that make it the perfect destination for winter vacations.

The city has a population of approximately twenty thousand people who live in the town itself with fifteen thousand additional residents on the outskirts.

What makes Florina unique, however, is not just its remote and mountainous geographic position but its beauty and incomparable character.

Traditional architecture

A stroll along the streets of Florina’s city center transfers you back in time to an era when Greek cities had a more aesthetically-pleasing appearance before the massive redevelopment of the 1950s and the 1960s which transformed the urban landscape of Greece forever.

Most of the cities in northern Greece have fortunately managed to maintain their traditional architecture to a certain extent, but Florina is one of those locales where the past is still truly alive.

Walking along the city’s downtown streets sometimes makes you feel as if you’re walking through a movie studio rather than a modern Greek city.

Its unique Macedonian identity, natural Balkan charm, and long history behind the city’s legends are just some of the elements that make this place so attractive.

Florina, one of the coldest cities in Greece

All these aspects, combined with the local microclimate, which more closely resembles that of Britain or Scandinavia rather than Greece, create a ”must-visit” destination which must truly be experienced for oneself.

Florina has always been one of Greece’s coldest inhabited places, and it is definitely its coldest major city.

Temperatures often drop below -10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit), and snow is more often seen here than anywhere else in the country.

Florina also holds Greece’s all-time record-low temperature of -29°C (-20 F), which was recorded just a few years ago.

When it doesn’t snow, however, Florina is normally covered in thick fog, created by clouds which become trapped above the city due to the mountain ranges surrounding it.

Thick forests begin right at the every edges of the city, and its beautiful river, the Sakoulevas, passes through the town’s very center, creating a lovely, picturesque waterway crossed by a number of bridges.

Christmas is definitely Florina’s peak tourist season since it offers its fortunate visitors a wide range of options for wintertime fun.

From a weekend city-break to a week of mountainous adventures and skiing at the nearby ski resorts, Florina can undoubtedly be called Greece’s hidden winter treasure.

No wonder Florina’s inhabitants are known all over Greece for their hospitality as well as their justifiable pride in their beautiful hometown.

The next time you find yourself in Greece during the winter, Florina is worth a visit.

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