Florina

Understand

thumb|Sakoulevas river thumb|Neoclassical houses at Sakoulevas river. During the summer months it becomes a busy market town with an economy boosted by summer and, mostly, winter tourism due to the heavy snowfalls and the nearby ski resorts.

The mountains of Verno lie to the southwest and Varnous to the northwest.

Get around

You can easily get around by foot. It is a nice way to see beautiful neoclassical houses.

See

The way that the old and the new city are split by Sakouleva river is unique.

Also, make a visit at Nimphaio village, where you can find the Αrcturos organisation.

Do

If you visit Florina during winter, you should also pay a visit at the Vigla ski resort, which is near the town (20 minutes by car). It has very nice slopes to try if you like skiing or snowboarding, have a ride with a snowmobile or you can just have a coffee at the chalet near the slopes. The prices are €12 during weekdays and €15 during weekend for the daily pass and you can rent the equipment you need.

The most famous event of the city is the bonfires that the citizens start on the streets during Christmas Eve (at midnight of the 23rd of December).

Eat

Florina is known for the big red peppers (Florinis) which are in most cases sweet and in rare cases a little bit spicy. The most common ways to taste them are roasted, blended with tomato as a sauce, stuffed with feta cheese or stuffed with minced meat and rice (gemista). Florina also has a good variety of sweets, the most famous is karidato. You can also find one of the best, if not the best, variety of beans coming from the villages around Prespes lakes (called Prespon king bean or fasolia gigantes Prespon). For street food, Florina has big sandwiches called Glossa.

Drink

You should try sour water (ksino nero) which is natural sparkling water from the village of Florina. You can also try a very good variety of refreshments with fresh juice and sour water such as orangeade, lemonade, gazoza (lime), sour cherry, soda water, cola, strawberry, kiwi, rokino (mixed fruit), apple, gazoza (pear) and tonic water.

You can also try a wide variety of wines produced at a village near Florina called Amyntaio. The most common variety is xinomavro.

Respect

While in Greece, to avoid hostility, be careful to refer to North Macedonia as such (previously as "FYROM" or even "Skopje") or just say the name of the town you have travelled from, as the use of the term "Macedonia" to describe the neighbouring country is a sensitive subject for Greeks.