INSTANT CALMER

Halkidiki in Greece has a reputation for its superclubs but it is also ideal for a quick beach escape, writes Emilee Tombs

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There are three peninsulas that stretch, finger-like, from Thessaloniki, Greece’s second city, into the Aegean Sea.

Together they make up the region of Halkidiki, and each has its own flavour. Athos is known for its monasteries and subsequently its pilgrimage routes (though only men can enter the monasteries here), Sithonia is wild and family-friendly, with campsites fronting sheltered beaches and backed by pine forests, and Kassandra historically has had a reputation as a party peninsula, home to a clutch of superclubs and upmarket hotels set along a sparkling, calm coastline.

One such hotel, Domes Noruz Kassandra, has recently undergone a renovation, adding fresh allure to a region well known among weekending Thessalonians, but relatively unknown to British and other European travellers. Its position, overlooking the calm, crystal clear waters and soft sand of Pallini Beach, is perhaps its trump card. Two hours by car from the airport and a good 45 minutes from the thumping dance music of most of the larger clubs and resorts, you can totally avoid the party people should you choose to.