Serres

Serres lies on the edge of a broad, fertile plain in Central Macedonia, spread out below the wooded slopes of Mount Vrontous. One of the larger towns of the Greek north, it is an easygoing, workaday place with a long history reaching back to antiquity, though earthquakes and the fires of the early twentieth century swept away much of the old town. What remains repays a wander: the Ottoman Bezesten, a domed former market now used for exhibitions, the wooded hill of Koulas with its ruined Byzantine fortress and sweeping views, and a scatter of Byzantine churches and mosques among the modern streets.

Most travellers, though, use Serres as a base for the remarkable country around it. To the north lies Lake Kerkini, an artificial wetland created for irrigation in the 1930s that has become one of the finest birdwatching sites in Europe. Pelicans, herons, cormorants and countless migrants gather among its reed beds and flooded forests, while water buffalo graze the shallows and traditional flat-bottomed boats glide out at dawn. The lake and the mountains that frame it make superb walking and photography country.

Southeast of the town, near the village of the same name, opens the Cave of Alistrati, one of the largest and most beautiful show caves in Greece. A well-lit path leads for hundreds of metres past towering chambers of stalactites and stalagmites, and a small train carries visitors to the entrance across the dramatic Petres gorge nearby.

Serres is also close to some of the great archaeological sites of the north, including the ancient lion of Amphipolis and the tombs of the region, all within an easy drive.

Spring and autumn are the best seasons, when Kerkini teems with birds and the surrounding hills are green or golden. Summer on the plain can be hot, while winter brings cold, misty mornings that lend the lake a haunting beauty. The town is reached by road, roughly ninety kilometres northeast of Thessaloniki.