Istanbul Travel Forum

Hi,

We need to reach Athens from Istanbul by morning to catch the Olympic Airways flight to Paros around 3pm.

Would anyone know about the day train from Istanbul, leaving Istanbul at 8.30 reaching Thessaloniki at 22.50 and then an Intercity leaves Thessaloniki at 7.30 to reach Athens by 11.37am.

My questions are:

1. What to do the whole night in Thessaloniki? Is there accommodation at the Station or nearby? Do people keep sitting at the Station itself?

2. Is the Greek Intercity on time or usually late?

3. Approximate fare for the journey.

Many thanks for any help,

Regards,

Nitin

I took this trip in March. The day train is awful. No food, dirty bathrooms, hard seats in compartments. When I reached the Istanbul/Athens border, there were only two people left on the train, myself and and one other. We had to wait aboard the train while Athens customs and immigration checked our passports etc. Then we were told to leave the train and go into the train station. We had to purchase seat reservations for the train to Thessaloniki. Then we were told to go outside and wait on the road for a bus. The bus came by about and hour later, we then road the bus for about an hour or hour and a half to another train station where we boarded the train to Thessaloniki. We did not arrive until close to midnight. I was staying at the Holiday Inn which is close to the station. I had purchased advance tickets on Aegean Airways to Athens for close to nothing so I flew. So, I can not help you regarding the train from Thessaloniki to Athens. The train fare from Istanbul to Thessaloniki was really inexpensive, as the old saying goes you get what you pay for, and the train was certainly not worth many dollars. You might want to bite the bullet and fly from Istanbul to Athens. Good luck! I took the ferry from Athens to Paros, nice trip and inexpensive, you might want to consider that. I took the ferry that departed in the morning, there is also a late afternoon departure.

What about catching the night train to Thessaloniki and then the express to Athens? That way you save on accomodation. The train whether it is day or night is awful but at least you don't waste time. The express is OK. I am sorry I cannot provide any other details as I am not at home at the moment but I think this would be a good option for you.