Important Greece Train Update

As you may already know Greece is experiencing great disruption across the country. Read about the different strikes that are taking place, to help you arrange your trip. Greece remains one of the most beautiful and fascinating countries to visit in Europe, but it’s important to understand some of the challenges of traveling there at this time.

If you do plan to travel to Greece ensure you’re aware of the current situation of the Greek train network. International trains to and from Greece are temporarily suspended, so it is necessary to make alternative travel arrangements to and from the country – some parts of your journey may be covered by your Eurail pass, but others will not.


Travel between Greece and  Italy

We recommend you take a ferry to travel between Italy and Greece. With your Eurail pass you can get discounted or free ferry crossings between Ancona, Bari, Brindisi and Venice in Italy and Igoumenitsa / Patras in Greece. Read more about Greece Pass Benefits.

Please note: A new port has just opened in Patras, south of the old port. There are regular buses running between both ports.


Travel between Bulgaria and Greece

Bulgarian Railways have stated that they will only operate the Bulgarian section (Bucharest – Sofia) of the international train route Bucharest – Sofia – Thessaloniki (and vice versa). Follow these instructions to enter the nearest train station in Greece from Bulgaria:

  1. Take a train from Sofia to the Bulgarian town of Kulata at the country’s border.
  2. Walk the short distance across the border into Greece.
  3. Once at the Greek customs call for a taxi (there is a phone booth nearby) and ask to be taken to the bus terminal in Serres. It should cost around €25.
  4. From Serres take a bus to Thessaloniki and then connect to Greece’s train network.

There is also a  bus service from Bulgaria to Greece, which is not covered by your Eurail pass. Each day there are several buses between Sofia and Thessaloniki, available from a number of bus companies. Find more information at the Central Bus Station site (select English in the top right corner).

The OSE bus operates the following routes: Sofia – Athens (duration: 15 hours) and Sofia – Thessaloniki (duration: 7½ hours).

Read more about international buses in Greece.


Closed section of Greece train network

  • We’ve been informed that the narrow gauge railway located around Peloponnisos (Patras – Alfios – Kiparissia – Tripolis – Kiato) has been permanently taken out of service.
  • The train line connecting Patras and Kiato on the northern coast is also closed, for construction work. If you’re entering Greece by boat in Patras take a bus to Kiato and from there connect to the Proastiakos train to Athens, or simply take a direct bus from Patras to Athens.
  • These lines in the Peloponnisos area are running: Trainose
    • Olympia-Pirgos-Katakolo
    • Diakopto-Kalavrita

      • To find train times in Greece use the website. The English section does not currently show train times, so you must use Google Chrome to view the travel planner in Greek – this will automatically translate everything and then you can find the train times of most Greek trains. If the planner states that ‘there were routes between … and …’ this means that particular line has now been taken out of service (except for the suburban train Proastiakos between Athens Airport – Athens – Kiato which is mentioned at 'suburban trains Athens').

    Please note: We cannot guarantee that trains shown in the timetable will be run due to the changeable situation within the country.

    We'd like to hear about your experiences of traveling by train within Greece and any tips for other Eurail travelers are welcomed. Please email: experiences@eurail.com. Due to the high volume of emails we receive, unfortunately we cannot reply to your messages.