Volos Central Market

Volos is a working port on the Pagasetic Gulf at the foot of Mount Pelion, rebuilt after the earthquakes of 1955 as a modern city of broad streets and apartment blocks. The Volos Central Market district is where the city's food culture is easiest to read, a cluster of shops, stalls and small specialist stores, centred around the municipal market and the streets near the harbour. It is a practical place rather than a showpiece in a famous corner of Greece, and its appeal lies in how ordinary and local it is.

The goods on sale reflect Thessaly and the nearby mountain. Fishmongers sell the day's catch from the gulf, butchers and delicatessens offer cured meats, sausages and cheese, and greengrocers stock fruit and vegetables from the plain, with apples, chestnuts and herbs from Pelion in season. Shelves hold olive oil, honey, jars of spoon sweets, dried herbs and local pasta. A Greek speciality is tsipouro, a grape spirit distilled in the region, and the city is known for its tsipouradika, small taverns where the spirit is served with plates of seafood and meze.

Visitors wandering through the market streets will find a lively scene in the morning, when shopkeepers and residents do their daily shopping. Stalls and shops open early and close in the afternoon, with many shutting for part of the day, so mornings are the best time to go. Prices are posted and shoppers often ask to sample cheese or olives before buying. The market is not large, but a stroll through it takes in many of the flavours of the region.

The market is close to the port and the seafront promenade, which makes it easy to combine with a walk along the water, a coffee in one of the cafes and a visit to the Archaeological Museum, a short distance away. The city is also the gateway to Mount Pelion, so many travellers use the market to buy supplies before heading into the hills, for example picking up bread, cheese, fruit and wine for a picnic.

For those interested in Greek culinary traditions, a stop here followed by a meal in one of the nearby tsipouradika is a good way to understand daily life in Volos. The market is easily reached on foot from most central hotels and from the port.