Kavala, the lady of east Macedonia

Kavala's location is ideal, looking out to the island of Thassos and close to Thessaloniki, Drama and Serres. For more adventurous travelers, Istanbul is just a four-hour drive away. If you look for the city on a map, you'll see it's in the heart of northern Greece, in an ideal spot for excursions around the region.

Kavala has many of its own attractions, easily noticeable upon arrival. The city is built on a hill that juts out into the sea and even has its own castle. It also has Ottoman monuments and an aqueduct that was built during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century (locals call it the "arch"), as well as many old mansions once owned by rich tobacco merchants inside its densely built urban center.

The people of Kavala are themselves an attraction. The city has a population of around 70,000, many of whom are descendants of refugees uprooted in...