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Wine of Maroneia
30.72 km from the center
About
The wine of Maroneia is tied to one of the most famous episodes in ancient Greek literature: in the Odyssey, Odysseus gets the Cyclops Polyphemus drunk on wine given to him by Maron, a priest of Apollo at Ismaros, and uses the moment to blind him and escape. Homer describes it as exceptionally sweet and fragrant, so strong that it was diluted twenty parts water to one part wine. Today the region's vineyards form part of the 8th Wine Route of Northern Greece, also known as the Route of Dionysus, running from Serres to Rodopi, continuing a winemaking tradition that spans centuries.
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Weather in Alexandroupoli
LiveFrom April to June and from September to October you get warm days, calm sea, and fewer crowds. July and August are hot and busy along the seafront, while winters stay mild but rainy.
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ΠΡΟΤΕΙΝΟΜΕΝΟNEWMakri Olive Oil (PDO)
Makri olive oil consistently ranks among the world's finest extra virgin olive oils. It comes from the area's native olive variety, grown in groves stretching from west of Alexandroupoli, Nea Chili, Dikella and Mesimvria all the way to Maroneia in Rhodope, with some trees as old as 2,000 years. It received PDO status in 2020, prized for its intense fruity aroma, mild bitterness and bold, peppery finish. Leading local producers include the Kyklopas olive mill, built near the cave traditionally linked to Homer's Cyclops, and the family-run Konos. The 2023 wildfires badly damaged the grove, and many trees will need five to ten years to bear fruit again.
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ΠΡΟΤΕΙΝΟΜΕΝΟNEWThracian Trahanas
Evros trahanas stands apart from the rest of Greece: it's soured with durum wheat sourdough rather than milk, and always includes boiled, mashed vegetables, mainly Florina peppers, carrot, potato and yellow squash. Its vegan, fasting-friendly cousin, pumpkin trahanas, is made purely with squash, tomato and peppers with no dairy at all, giving it a deep orange colour and an especially sweet, rich flavour. Tahini or sesame add a complex, layered taste to the other versions. It's served as a soup or in a thicker, 'honeyed' style cooked with Evros sausages, chicken or meat, and is even stirred in small amounts into vegetable dishes to bulk them out. The recipe has passed down through generations for centuries despite being time-consuming to make. Home producers such as Dikaia Gi, Therapeion, Gaia (the Trigono Women's Agrotourism Cooperative), Kipos Ygeias and San Allote still make it the traditional way.
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NEWThracian Kavourmas
Beef or pork slow-cooked in its own fat, a recipe with deep roots in Soufli's culinary tradition. The Tiakas family, running their business in Alexandroupoli since 1950, are widely considered to make the area's best-known and most successful kavourmas, with a careful meat-to-fat ratio and freshly ground spices.
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A syrupy pastry roll of filo, velvety cream and a chocolate coating. It is not a genuinely native sweet: its roots trace back to Constantinople, where it is said to have been created around 100 years ago by a palace pastry chef in honour of Egypt's King Farouk, arriving in Thrace with refugees. In Alexandroupoli it took hold thanks to the old Doré patisserie, whose version was the finest in the city and introduced it to locals - since then it has become almost a local product, closely tied to the city for decades. (Moka Patisserie)
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NEWEvros Sausages
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