Greece by train
How to travel in Greece by train: information, connections, blog and travel reports. Help in our forum to buy train tickets.
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Greece -
Albania
If you want to travel from Greece to Albania, you have to take a bus. There is no passenger railway connection available between Greece and Albania.
There are direct buses on the route from Thessaloniki (Greece) to Tirana (Albania). Thessaloniki is connected to the railway network of Greece and as well to international destinations.
Greece -
Bulgaria
Travel from Greece to Bulgaria by direct train on the main line from Thessaloniki to Sofia. The border crossing is at Strimon and Kulata.
This direct train departs from Thessaloniki at 05:50 and arrives in Sofia at 14:20. The ticket fare is 18 EUR. International train tickets are only available at larger railway stations in Greece.
Thessaloniki and Sofia are well connected to the railway networks of Greece and Bulgaria. Train tickets for travels inside these countries are available on the websites of the railway companies.
Greece -
Italy
Travel from Greece to Italy by train and ferry. The ferry routes are from Patras via Igoumenitsa to Bari, Ancona, Trieste and Venice. All ferry ports except Igoumenitsa are connected to the railway network.
You have to buy three tickets.
1. A train ticket from your departure railway station in Greece to the ports of Patras or Igoumenitsa. Reach Patras by train from Athens and Igoumenitsa by bus from Thessaloniki.
2. A ferry ticket from Patras or Igoumenitsa to either Bari, Ancona, Trieste or Venice. These routes are served by the ferry companies Minoan Lines and Superfast Ferries. The fastest route is from Patras to Bari with a journey time of 16 hours and ticket fares from 40 EUR. The other routes take up to 24 hours with ticket fares from 45 EUR.
3. A train ticket from Bari, Ancona, Trieste or Venice to your travel destination in Italy.
Find the exact train and ferry schedules and buy your tickets via the given booking links.
Greece -
Macedonia
Travel from Greece to North Macedonia by train. The only available train connection is by the night train from Thessaloniki (Greece) to Skopje (North Macedonia) and on to Belgrade.
2021: This train runs only in the summer months. Between Thessaloniki and the Greek-Macedonian border the train is replaced by buses.
The journey time from Thessaloniki to Skopje is four hours. The departure time in Thessaloniki is 18:50. The arrival time in Skopje is 21:55. The train ticket fare is 13 EUR.
An alternative travel route is by train from Thessaloniki to Florina (Greece). There you cross the border by taxi to Bitola (North Macedonia), from where you continue by train to Skopje.
1) Thessaloniki to Florina: the journey time is 2:40 hours. One train connection daily with departure time in Thessaloniki at 13:20. And the arrival time in Florina is 16:00. The ticket fare is 10 EUR.
2) Florina to Bitola: by taxi. The journey time is one hour plus border control. The distance is 35 kilometres. The taxi fare is 28 EUR.
3) Bitola to Skopje: the journey time is 3:20 hours. Three daily train connections with departure times in Bitola at 03:15 / 12:50 / 18:30. And arrival times in Skopje at 06:40 / 16:15 / 21:50. The ticket fare is 6 EUR.
Greece -
Serbia
Travel from Greece to Serbia by direct overnight train. This train runs on the route from Thessaloniki (Greece) via Skopje (Macedonia) to Belgrade (Serbia). Currently this train connection is only available in the summer months from June to September. Buy tickets for this travel route from 35 EUR at railway stations in Greece.
If this train does not run, you have to travel from Thessaloniki via Sofia (Bulgaria) to Belgrade.
Train tickets to travel to Thessaloniki are available on the website of Greek railways. Train tickets to continue your journey from Belgrade to your travel destination in Serbia are available on the website of Serbian railways or at the railway station.
Greece -
Turkey
Travel from Greece to Turkey by bus. There exists no direct train connection anymore. If you want to travel by train, travel from Thessaloniki to Sofia (Bulgaria) and from there to Istanbul. But it takes a lot more time than by bus.
There are several direct (overnight) bus connections available from the bigger Greek cities (Athens, Thessaloniki, ...) to Istanbul (Turkey). Find bus and train schedules via the booking links provided.
The bus journey time from Thessaloniki to Istanbul is 10 hours. Buy your bus ticket for this travel route from 45 EUR.
To book your ticket, use the following city names to find connections.
Athens = Atina
Thessaloniki = Selanik
Istanbul = Istanbul Avrupa
