The local economy relies on agriculture, but has been hard hit by the various post-Yugoslavia crises, mainly because locals from over the border no longer come here to shop. This has not had a salutory effect on hotel prices, which remain exorbitant; you're better off staying in Edhessa, Kastoria or by the lakes. If you do end up staying, you'll find the cheapest place to stay is the Ellinis at Pavlou Mela 31 (tel 03850/22 671; €43-58), beyond the museum.

Although it has numerous cafes, bars and fast-food places - mostly on Pavlou Mela - Florina doesn't score highly on restaurants . The best, notwithstanding its location on the grim Soviet-style square beneath the KTEL, is the To Koutouki , open daily for lunch and dinner and serving decent barrelled wine with the usual array of dishes. Another option is Iy Prespa (closed Tues) on Tyrnovou, a side street off Pavlou Mela, but its half-dozen indoor tables soon fill up.

There's no longer any direct bus to Kastoria , and it's easy to see why, as there's little in between other than dense forest and a few crumbling villages, half-deserted since the civil war. There are, however, two daily buses (currently 6.45am & 5pm) to Ayios Yermanos in the Prespa basin, and if Kastoria-bound you could conceivably take these to the Prespa turn-off and hitch the remaining 35km to Kastoria, rather than going all the way around via ghastly Amyndeo.

The road out of Florina snakes up the alpine-looking valley to the 1600-metre Pisodheri saddle, site of one of the livelier villages en route and the Vigla ski lift. PISODHERI village offers the Xenonas Modestios (tel 03850/45 928, fax 45 801; €34-42), a restored traditional inn that's far better value than anything in Florina; you can eat nearby at Kyra Panayiota's simple streamside diner . From here the road follows the headwaters of the Aliakmonas River, the longest and one of the most beautiful in Greece, most of the way to Kastoria.