Europe Trains Guide Forum

General discussion => Travel plans, routes and timetables => Topic started by: Voodoochile on February 14, 2013, 03:53:55 pm

Title: Athens to Belgrade
Post by: Voodoochile on February 14, 2013, 03:53:55 pm
I am planning on traveling to Greece and Serbia this summer.   Last year I took a flight from Athens to Belgrade but this year I am thinking of doing it differently and trying the train.  Since I am totally ignorant on this topic can anyone give me information on how long it takes, how often the trains run, how much it costs....basically any info will help. 
Title: Re: Athens to Belgrade
Post by: tUt on February 14, 2013, 05:49:50 pm
Well, biggest problem of traveling from Greece by land is that Greek Railways canceled all the international trains few years ago, and it doesn't really look like they will be renewed any time soon, so there is no more direct connections from Thessaloniki to Belgrade twice a day (as it used to be)
Although last year Macedonian Railways had seasonal train Skopje-Thessaloniki-Skopje for a few month, it doesn't mean that the same thing will happen this year. So as of now, let's assume there is no rail connection from Greece at all. If it is the case, then one option is to catch train from Athens to Thessaloniki (from 19 euro), then bus to Skopje (roughly 20 euro) & train from there to Belgrade (20+ euro). Another option is to make a small detour and from Thessaloniki to go by bus to Sofia & then train from Sofia to Belgrade
Title: Re: Athens to Belgrade
Post by: Voodoochile on February 14, 2013, 07:29:03 pm
Thanks for the reply.  I was reading about how the trains were cancelled but it was all old posts so i wasn't sure if it was still true--hence posting on this site.    I guess i will just fly again this year.
Title: Re: Athens to Belgrade
Post by: tUt on February 14, 2013, 07:47:17 pm
I guess i will just fly again this year.
Well, there are some slight chances that situation with rail connection to/from Greece will change, though we'll need to wait till summer to see. At the same time, it makes sense to mention that there are a lot of things & places to see in Macedonia and Bulgaria, so (if you have time) going by land with changes isn't extremely bad option, because you can always make a day/overnight stopover somewhere, kind of break the long trip