Greece - Korina Miller [227]
For more buses to Tirana and other towns such as Korça (Korytsa) in Albania (€21, six hours, 9am, 7.30pm and 1.30am), visit Alvavel ( 2310 535 990; Giannitson 31) opposite the station.
TRAIN
Cheaper, often more comfortable and not always slower than the bus, the train goes everywhere in mainland Greece (except Kastoria, Halkidiki, Kavala and Epiros) and to all neighbouring countries (except Albania). Thessaloniki’s train station ( 2310 599 421; Monastiriou) is also more central than the bus station. Get tickets at the station, or from OSE ( 2310 598 120; Aristotelous 18). The station’s helpful information office provides printed timetables.
Trains are regular or intercity (IC or ICE). The latter are substantially more expensive, though not substantially faster. Prices below are for regular trains. Book in advance for Athens (especially for the cheapest trains). For any train, show up in advance to buy tickets since long lines are common.
Domestic
Ten regular trains daily serve Athens (€28, 6¾ hours) via Litohoro (€7, one hour), Larisa (€10, two hours, 12 daily) and Volos (€14, 4½ hours, 11 daily). The Athens intercity is more expensive (IC/ICE €36/48) but not significantly faster (5½ hours).
Some 14 daily trains service Veria (€3.20, one hour) and Edessa (€3.70, 1½ hours); of these, five continue to Amyndeo (for Kastoria bus connections) before terminating at Florina (€6, 2¾ hours), which has bus connections to the Prespa Lakes.
Thessaloniki–Thrace trains reach Orestiada (€16.40, 8½ hours, three daily), via Serres (€7.20, four hours, seven daily), Drama (€8, four hours, seven daily), Xanthi (€9, four hours, five daily), Komotini (€11, 4½ hours, five daily) and Alexandroupoli (€13.60, six hours, three daily).
Thessaloniki’s train station has ill-kept toilets (downstairs), a National Bank of Greece, post office, ATMs, card phones, OTE (telephone office), kiosks, an old restaurant and some snazzy new sweets shops – plus an Orthodox chapel. Self-serve luggage storage lockers start from €3, or try the staffed luggage storage room (€3 per item per day) open until 10pm daily. For the latter, have your ongoing train ticket with you when depositing luggage.
International
One daily workhorse train plies the northern route through the ex–Yugoslav Republics of Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia, serving their respective capitals of Skopje (€13, 4½ hours), Belgrade (€32, 13 hours), Zagreb (€56.20, 20 hours) and finally Ljublana (€60, 24 hours). The 6.50pm train serves Skopje and Belgrade only. Departure times change seasonally, so double-check ahead.
Three daily trains serve Sofia (€17, six hours) via Kilkis in Greece and Blagoevgrad in Bulgaria. Two leave early (6.16am and 5.47am) and the third, which leaves at midnight, continues to Budapest.
Svilengrad and Plovdiv in Bulgarian Thrace are reached via the Thessaloniki–Thrace train route, departing daily at 11.44pm. A weekly, three-day train to Moscow usually runs in summer.
Trains to İstanbul (€30, two daily) transit in Alexandroupoli en route to Pythio, where you change trains before entering Turkey. A direct train, the Filia Dostluk Express, leaves at 8.35pm from Thessaloniki and returns from İstanbul at 8pm (11½ hours). A 2nd-class sleeper car costs €50, a 1st-class one €86.
Getting Around
TO/FROM THE AIRPORT
Bus 78 runs every 30 minutes from the airport west to the main bus station via the train station. From centre to airport by taxi costs €8 to €12.
BUS
Orange articulated buses operate within Thessaloniki, and blue-and-orange buses operate both within the centre and the suburbs. Happily, city buses now have electronic rolling signs listing the next destination, accompanied by a recording repeating the same in Greek and English. Bus 1 connects the bus station and the train station every 10