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 and Brindisi  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

TRAINOSE, the Greek railway company, operates a bus service with a private Bulgarian bus company from Greece to Bulgaria. This bus service is not covered by your Eurail pass. It operates on the route Thessaloniki – Blagoevgrad – Sofia – Plovdiv. Eurail pass holders can buy discounted tickets for the bus service.

Buses operate from Monday to Friday. Departure from Thessaloniki at 08:00. Arrival in Sofia at 14:00 and Plovdiv at 16:00. Reservations for this bus are compulsory and can be made in Sofia, Plovdiv (Bulgaria) and Thessaloniki (Greece) at the following addresses:

• Sofia: central bus station, booking desk 3. Tel. 00359/2 8133331
  Working hours: Mon-Fr 08:00-18:00 & Sat-Sun 08:00-16:00
• Plovdiv: central square 1. Tel. 00359/899 980 452 & 00359/32 624274
  Working hours: 07:00-18:00 Mon-Fr
• Thessaloniki: main train station (special ticket issuing office for international buses of TRAINOSE).
  Working hours: every day 06:30–14:00

Travel between Turkey and Greece

There are several bus services available between Istanbul and Thessaloniki. The following option isn't covered by your Eurail pass.

KTEL Bus: Thessaloniki – Istanbul

Departs daily at 10:00 and 22:00 from Irenes Street 17, in the centre of Thessaloniki

Approximate cost: €35

Duration: 12 hours

More info

Closed sections of Greece train network

• The narrow gauge railway around Peloponnisos (Patras – Alfios – Kiparissia – Tripolis – Kiato) has apparently been permanently taken out of service. The lines Olympia – Pirgos – Katakolo and Diakopto – Kalavrita are running as normal.
• The line running between Patras and Kiato on the northern coast is also closed, due to construction work. Travelers entering Greece by boat in Patras need to take a (TRAINOSE) bus to Kiato. From there they can travel by train to the SKA station. From the SKA station they can continue their journey by taking a direct train to Pireaus.

To find train times in Greece use the Trainose 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').