
No international trains departing from Greece. — latimes.com
Traveling by train from Greece to locations abroad is no longer possible since TrainOSE, the long-distance railway network, discontinued international service on February 13, 2011. But there are buses that fill the gap.
Travelers in Greece who wish to avoid ferries and planes can still use long-distance buses run by domestic (KTEL) and foreign bus networks, as well as private tour companies. Below are a few known options.
*Article last updated January 2, 2013.
You are encouraged to click the links I gave to get the most current information, as schedules change and I cannot update this article on a daily or weekly basis.
Author’s note
Dates, times and prices are subject to change seasonally — even weekly and monthly — and I only speak four languages and cannot verify all of these routes first hand. Readers can share their experience or leave info and links in any language, growing this page as a resource for other travelers.
Note that no information on international buses from Greece had been compiled in English before this article, and a number of travel forums, commercial websites and Wiki entries have reused information without permission or attribution, so you are not getting confirmation from different sources.
*This post was inspired by a question by Stephen on “KTEL buses in Greece,” which is where you should look if seeking long-distance buses traveling between cities in Greece.
Visas and permits
Be sure you have the proper visa or residence permit (or bebaiosi) before crossing the border to another country. Passports will be checked, and authorities will have no hesitation in kicking you off the bus if you do not have the proper identification and travel documents.
Plane or bus?
Depending on your destination and how far in advance you book tickets, Aegean Airlines may offer flights at prices comparable to bus fares. Take into consideration the time and cost needed to travel to the airport, check in, board, disembark and pick up your luggage, then transport yourself to town.
What’s best for you comes down to personal preference in comparing cost vs. convenience.

Tirana buses — http://www.tirana-airport-transfer.com
Buses
Buses range from modern and comfortable to bumpy and basic, and bus terminals/stations may be anything from a dirt field, local cafe to modern facility. It’s all part of the travel experience.
Translations to English are provided if the link does not offer a version — or failed to work with an online translator — and it was a language I could understand or partially transliterate.
Albania
• Athens (Athine) to Tirana
Departing daily at 8:00 and 9:00.
Bus Station: not listed
Cost: 25 euros, one way
Interlines, Plateia Ag. Dionysou 1, Piraeus, (210) 461-7001, albania.interlines@hotmail.com
or
Departing daily at 20:00
Bus Station: not listed
Cost: 35 euros, one way
Drita Travel, eurodrita@yahoo.com, Facebook page or dritaonline.com (website appears to have a virus; link removed)
• Irakleio, Crete to Tirana
Departing every Friday and Sunday from Irakleio, departing every Tuesday and Thursday from Tirana.
Cost: not listed
KTEL Heraklio-Lassithi (via Alba Trans): www.ktelherlas.gr
• Lamia to Tirana
Departing daily at 19:00
Cost: not listed
Bus Station: Tafgetou Street, Lamia, (22310) 22677
KTEL Fthiotidos: www.ktelfthiotidos.gr
• Thessaloniki (Selanik) to Tirana
Departing daily at 19:00
Cost: 25 euros, one way
Drita Travel, eurodrita@yahoo.com, Facebook page or dritaonline.com (website appears to have a virus; link removed)
virtualtourist.com
Bulgaria
• Irakleio, Crete to Sofia
Departing every Thursday from Irakleio, departing every Saturday from Sofia.
Cost: 67 euros
KTEL Heraklio-Lassithi: www.ktelherlas.gr
• Komotini to Sofia
Departing daily at 7:00
Cost: not listed
Bus Station: G. Mameli 4, Komotini, (25310) 23176
KTEL Rodopis: www.ktelrodopis.gr
TrainOSE advertises a bus from Thessaloniki to Sofia; and there are three known companies running routes to/from the Macedonia Bus Station, which can be reached via local bus #72. It’s a 10-15 min ride to/from town.
• Thessaloniki to Sofia
Departing every day, except Tuesday
Cost: not listed
Departs from the TrainOSE Thessaloniki station
TrainOSE: trainose.gr, +30 (2310) 599100
*This information came from a fellow traveler, Niclas.
• Thessaloniki to Sofia
Departing every Friday at 13:30
Cost: not listed
Bus Station: KTEL Macedonia bus terminal
KTEL Macedonia: ktelmacedonia.gr, +30 (2310) 595491
*This information came direct from KTEL Macedonia via email/phone, not the website
• Thessaloniki (Solun) to Sofia
Departs daily at 1:30 and 15:30. Trip is 5 hours (day) to 6.5 hours (overnight).
Cost: 30 euros, one way; 50 euros, return trip
Bus Station: KTEL Macedonia bus terminal
Union-Ivkoni, www.union-ivkoni.com
• Thessaloniki (Solun) to Sofia
Departing every Tuesday at 16:30
Cost: 25 euros, one way; 38 euros, return trip. Discounts for students, retired persons and children.
Bus Station: KTEL Macedonia bus terminal
MTT: mttsofia.com *MTT also travels to other destinations in Greece, such as Agrinio, Amfissa, Arta, Ioannina, Kalamata, Kalambaka, Karditsa, Katerini, Lamia, Larisa, Nafpaktos, Patra, Serres, Trikala, Volos.
• Other destinations from Greece to Sofia
The Central Bus Station of Sofia says buses depart daily to Athens (Atina) on its website at www.centralnaavtogara.bg, which has an English version. International destinations can be accessed in right upper corner, listing the following cities in Greece:
Agrinio, Amfissa, Arta, Corinth/Korinthos, Drama, Igoumenitsa, Kalamata, Kalambaka, Karditsa, Katerini, Kavala, Kylini, Lamia, Larissa, Megalopoli, Messini, Metsovo, Nafpaktos, Neapoli, Patra, Piraeus, Pyrgos, Serres, Tripoli, Trikala, Veria and Volos.
No reverse schedules are available, but buses usually arrive at and depart from KTEL stations or somewhere nearby in the city of destination. Inquire at the bus terminal or have your hotel/hostel call and ask for timetables and ticket prices.
Croatia
According to official website for Dubrovnik buses, there are no long-distance/international buses to/from Greece; and I could not find any bus companies departing from Greece to Croatia.
Czech Republic
• Thessaloniki to Brno, Prague
Departing every Thursday at 14:30
Cost: 80 euros, one way; 150 euros, return trip
Simeonidis Tours, simeonidistours.gr
FYROM/Macedonia
• Thessaloniki to Skopje
Departing daily at 17:30
Cost: 20 euros, one way; 25 euros, round trip
Simeonidis Tours, simeonidistours.gr
• Thessaloniki to Skopje
Departing daily at 6:00
Cost: 1280 denar or approx 21 euros, one way; 1650 denar or 27 euros, round trip
Skopje Bus Station, sas.com.mk
Germany
• Thessaloniki to Munich, Stuttgart, Frankfurt and other cities
Departing every Wednesday at 13:00
Cost: 100-145 euros, one way; 185-265 euros, round trip. Price depends on length of journey. Discounts for children.
“Touring” central office at Halkokondyli 39, portokalidistours.gr
Hungary
• Athens to Budapest
Departing every Tuesday and Saturday at 8:00
Bus Stop: Lenorman 8, Athens
Cost: 80 euros, one way; 150 euros, return trip
FP Travel, fptravel.gr *Route also stops and picks up or drops off passengers in Lamia, Larissa, Katerini and Thessaloniki on the same days
• Thessaloniki to Budapest
Departing every Thursday and Saturday at 14:30
Cost: 80 euros, one way; 150 euros, return trip
Simeonidis Tours, simeonidistours.gr
Italy
• Thessaloniki to Bologna or Ancona
Departing every Wednesday at 13:00
Cost: 65 euros, one way; 130 euros, round trip. Discounts for children.
“Touring” central office at Halkokondyli 39, portokalidistours.gr
Poland
• Athens to Warsaw
Departing every Thursday at 8:00
Bus Stop: Kondriktonos 10, Athens
Cost: 80 euros, one way; 150 euros, return trip
Siamos Tours, siamostours.gr *Route also travels through Serbia and FYROM/Macedonia
The Voyager website lists buses from Athens to more than 70 cities in Poland and also has routes from Katerini, Lamia, Larissa and Thessaloniki. I used Athens and Thessaloniki to Krakow as examples.
• Athens to Krakow
Departing every Saturday and Monday at 23:00
Bus Stop: Varies by company, click ‘Timetable’ after selecting your schedule
Cost: 95 euros, one way; 170 euros, return trip
Voyager Booking Agent (Uses multiple companies), www.voyager.pl
• Thessaloniki to Krakow
Departing every Sunday and Tuesday at 6:30
Bus Stop: Varies by company, click ‘Timetable’ after selecting your schedule
Cost: 95 euros, one way; 170 euros, return trip
Voyager Booking Agent (Uses multiple companies), www.voyager.pl
Romania
• Thessaloniki to Bucharest
Departing Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 14:00
Cost: 50 euros, one way; 100 euros, return trip
Simeonidis Tours, simeonidistours.gr
• Thessaloniki to Bucharest
Departing Wednesday, Saturday at 14:30
Cost: 60 euros, one way; 120 euros, round trip
Simeonidis Tours, simeonidistours.gr
Serbia
• Athens to Belgrade
Departing every Tuesday and Saturday at 8:00, every Thursday at 14:00
Bus Stop: Lenorman 8, Athens
Cost: 55 euros, one way; 95 euros, round trip.
FP Travel, www.fptravel.gr *Route also stops in Lamia, Velestino, Larissa, Katerini and Thessaloniki to pick up passengers
• Athens to Belgrade/Novi Sad
Departing every Wednesday at 13:00 and every Saturday at 8:00
Bus Stop: Kondriktonos 10, Athens
Cost: 55 euros (Belgrade) and 60 euros (Novi Sad), one way; 95 euros (Belgrade) and 100 euros (Novi Sad), round trip
Siamos Tours, siamostours.gr *Route also stops in Lamia, Larissa, Katerini and Thessaloniki to pick up passengers
• Athens/Larissa to Belgrade
Departing every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 14:00 (Athens) and 19:00 (Larissa)
Bus Stop: not listed
Cost: 55 euros (Larissa) and 60 euros (Athens), one way; 90 euros (Larissa) and 100 euros (Athens), round trip. Discounts for children 2-12 and agents.
Alamanis, alamanis.com
• Thessaloniki to Belgrade (Beograd) and Novi Sad
Departing every Wednesday at 20:15 and Saturday at 15:30.
Cost: 45 euros to Belgrade, 50 euros to Novi Sad one way; 80 euros Belgrade, 85 euros Novi Sad, return trip
Simeonidis Tours, simeonidistours.gr
On the Belgrade bus station website, Greece or Грчка is listed, and I read Serbian well enough to understand Athens (АТИНА), Glyfada (ГЛИФАДА), Evzoni (ЕВЗОНИ), Larisa (ЛАРИСА) and Thessaloniki (СОЛУН) are possible destinations. However, I cannot read the schedule, online translators cannot be used, and I do not know how current the timetables are.
Slovakia
• Thessaloniki to Bratislava
Departing every Thursday at 14:30
Cost: 80 euros, one way; 150 euros, return trip
Simeonidis Tours, simeonidistours.gr
Turkey
KTEL Thessaloniki recommends this company on its website. They are not KTEL buses.
• Athens to Istanbul/Constantinople
Departing daily except Saturday at 16:30. Trip takes 14 hours.
Cost: 60 euros, one way; 110 euros, return trip. There are discounts for students, children aged 2-12 and adults over 65.
Crazy Holidays/Metro Turizm, Aristotelous 10, 1st floor, Thessaloniki, (2310) 237696, crazy-holidays@ips.gr
crazy-holidays.gr
• Thessaloniki to Istanbul/Constantinople
Departing daily at 10:00 and 22:00
Cost: 45 euros, one way; 80 euros, return trip
Crazy Holidays/Metro Turizm, Aristotelous 10, 1st floor, Thessaloniki, (2310) 237696, crazy-holidays@ips.gr
crazy-holidays.gr
And a tour company:
• Thessaloniki to Istanbul/Constantinople
Departing daily at 21:00
Cost: 35 euros, one way; 60 euros, return trip. Discounts for students w/ID and children.
Simeonidis Tours, simeonidistours.gr
KTEL Rodopi has two buses departing for Turkey.
• Komotini to Bursa
Departing every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:15
Cost: not listed
• Komotini to Istanbul/Constantinople
Departing daily at 1:00 and 13:15
Cost: not listed
Bus Station: G. Mameli 4, Komotini, (25310) 23176
KTEL Rodopis: www.ktelrodopis.gr
Rumors
A Greek travel directory and commercial websites claim that OSE replaced train services with buses to Istanbul, Tirana, Filipoupoli, Varna, Vernico, Tarnovo, Koritsa and Sofia. TrainOSE told me this is not true as of July 2011.
No international trains departing Greece
These train routes are no longer running:
- Athens and Thessaloniki to Constantinople/Istanbul
- Thessaloniki to Belgrade
- Thessaloniki to Bucharest
- Thessaloniki to Ormenio and Svilengrad (ended January 31, 2011)
- Thessaloniki to Skopje
- Thessaloniki to Sofia
The official statement said that service to Bulgaria, FYROM/Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Turkey “failed to attract the number of passengers required to keep them going.” What it didn’t mention were reasons for that failure — an 80 percent increase in ticket prices and frequent delays (sabotage, accidents, vandalism), which made long-distance buses a more attractive option, 70 of 185 cars rendered useless by poor maintenance and long-term losses sustained from gross overstaffing.
Sources
– All websites linked above
– Vlad, Dragana, Anonimos, generous readers
– Balkanology, which pointed me in the right direction with helpful links, when researching Serbia and Croatia
– Communication with KTEL Macedonia, KTEL Thessaloniki, TrainOSE Web Team
“In Your Pocket: Tirana”
“Φρένο στις υπηρεσίες κατάκλισης και εστίασης της ΤΡΑΙΝΟΣΕ” — Eleftherotypia
“Το μνημόνιο κόβει και τα δρομολόγια” — Eleftherotypia
“Από σταθμάρχης… νοσοκόμος” — Elefhterotypia
“Το χάσαμε το τρένο…” — Eleftherotypia
“36 εκατ. ευρώ στην τουαλέτα” — Eleftherotypia
“Ψαλίδι σε δρομολόγια του ΟΣΕ” — Eleftherotypia
“Trains from Greece to Bulgaria, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Turkey discontinued” — Twitter
“Ailing Greek rail to halt international trains” (Article removed) — AFP
“Greece’s soon-to-be-sold TrainOSE posts 187.3 million in losses” — Bloomberg
About
Kat is a well-traveled American journalist and author. To learn more, see “About Me.”
- Livingingreece.gr was created in 2007 to present meticulously researched original articles that fill a gap left by traditional media, government portals and commercial websites/forums run by people without credentials.
- @LivinginGreece is a Twitter feed curated from recognized Greek and international news agencies to provide breaking news about Greece, plus real-time updates and insider tips mined from 14 years experience.
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Kat Reply:
July 12th, 2011 at 12:04
Thank you for contributing that information and for the mention here. For the record, I have special insight as an American that is unavoidable, but all laws pertaining to Americans also apply to all non-EU citizens, and half of articles on this website apply to citizens worldwide.