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How to plan and reserve my travel from Athens to Sofia

  • January 23, 2023
  • 3 replies
  • 398 views

Hello Interrail-Community,

I am currently thinking to buy a Interrail-Ticket after my Erasmus-Semester. But I have problems finding a connection. For example when I want to get from Athens to Sofia at one day, the Trip-Planner for Internal doesn't work at all (also not on different dates or times). How can I find a good connection? And can I be sure that I don't pay extra when I want to do this?

Thanks for you're Help!

3 replies

BrendanDB
Full steam ahead
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  • Full steam ahead
  • 1657 replies
  • January 23, 2023

Best always mention the dates of which you are trying to find the connection.

The Interrail planner is flawed and often wrong, since it doesn’t get updates a lot.

Anyway, best use the planner from Deutsche Bahn, it has correct information for most of Europe is in it. or the local railways planner.

For your specific request, I don’t think there are trains from Athens to Sofia this year. But I’m not well travelled there, someone else might know better. Maybe in Summer there will be a connectoin.

Most other people recommend the bus, although not included in your pass.


  • Author
  • Rail rookie
  • 1 reply
  • January 23, 2023

Thank you for you're quick answer. So this isn't possible to do in one day? Does it has to be a direct connection? Or can I have several stops? And when I do that, do I pay more or something in Addition? At the moment I’m trying to find a connection on the 21st of February.


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  • Full steam ahead
  • 3893 replies
  • January 23, 2023

Maybe perhaps but NOT all the way by train. There is since a yr or 2 a GAP (that means no train over the rusty rails) from last stop in GR till border point=Kulata where BDZ=Bulgar trains run again. 

Best site for info on all this: seat61.com It is very much pro-train so will suggest very cumbersome and time eating train-bus (taxi/walk)-train combo”that lengthen trip time enormously and will perhaps even cost more.

People with a little more sense simply book a BUS from Thessaloniki to Sofia. Around 20€-same has been asked here dozens of times.

To prevent next great idea: the old classic route from GR to DE etc even had through trains once-but that is long gone and over the borders of all the parts of what was Yugoslavija are also NO trains and often not even e buslink.The common route from GR to mid-EUR is by ferry to IT and then TrenItalia.

You may even want to reconsider that pass-or a shorter one, as normal fares untill you reach the ROM-HU trains are quite low. Plus that trains, as not being upgraded for many yrs, tend to be old, rusty, vandalised etc.


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