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Greece train routes

  • 22 November 2022
  • 9 replies
  • 434 views

Hello, I have a travel plan for February, I have an "unlimited pass" ticket, I want to start my journey from Greece and go from there to Venice, to visit Europe, but when I look at the train times and reservation, I could not see a train departing from or from Greece. . Have train services to Greece stopped? How can I get information about this, I will plan my trip accordingly. My itinerary was as follows

Athens ---> Thessaloniki ---> Skopje ---> Belgrade ---> Zagreb ---> Ljubljana ---> Venice

If there is an easier way to start from Greece and go to Italy or Venice, could you please share with me, this will be my first interrail trip, I don't know much about routes and travel and do I need to make a reservation for each trip in advance or can I get on directly from the station.

Thank you so much everyone

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Best answer by Anonymous 27 November 2022, 11:22

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9 replies

@Husnuyk35 

Hello! Train services in the Balkans and Eastern Europe remain quite problematic at the moment. For this reason, we would recommend that you check this page on our website, Travel disruptions in Europe:

https://www.interrail.eu/en/support/travel-disruptions

I would advise you to check timetables and updates by the railway companies of each country respectively and book via their website or locally at the train station.

If a connection does not appear on the app, try to add this journey manually: 
To add a journey manually, please do the following:
In the timetable section, you may type in some random characters within the "From" field. Because the timetable won't recognize any stations, it will give you the option to add a station manually. Click on this option and you can proceed to enter the journey details manually, and then add it to your pass so as to have the right QR for traveling.

Regarding the ferry from Italy to Greece:

Global Pass holders are entitled to:

International Lines:

  • Free air seats or dormitories (where available) for 1st class Pass holders and free deck passage for 2nd class Pass holders

Domestic Lines:

  • 30% discount on economy class:
    *The 30% discount is applicable only if holders have already completed a crossing in the Adriatic Sea routes with SUPERFAST FERRIES & ANEK LINES

*Please note: Additional surcharges for port taxes and fuel need to be paid extra

Reservation for domestic routes can be booked through the Attica Group (Superfast Ferries, Blue Star Ferries & Hellenic Seaways)
Call center in Athens (Tel. +30 210 8919800)
Email: helpdesk@attica-group.com or callcenter@attica-group.com.

https://benefitsportal.eurail.com/benefits/attica-group-greece-italy-superfast-ferries-in-cooperation-with-anek-lines/


Please also check:

Trains in Greece

https://www.interrail.eu/en/plan-your-trip/tips-and-tricks/trains-europe/trains-country/trains-greece

Pass Benefits Portal : https://benefitsportal.eurail.com/?countries=GR

For trains in Greece, you can check the timetables here: https://www.trainose.gr/en/

Userlevel 7
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One other point, on the way out I booked online and had to falsely state my age on the Superfast webpage as otherwise it insisted on giving me an age-related discount due to my real age which was much less generous that the Inter rail discount. 

That's a known issue with the Superfast website. www.anek.gr doesn't have that problem.

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A good reminder of that, thanks. Unfortunately I didn’t think of that until I was at the ferry terminal buying a ticket for the same day.

 

One other point, on the way out I booked online and had to falsely state my age on the Superfast webpage as otherwise it insisted on giving me an age-related discount due to my real age which was much less generous that the Inter rail discount. 

Userlevel 7
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The Superfast ferry Italy to Greece was at a substantial discount because I had the pass. This was despite having used all the 4 days by the day we were due to get the ferry. Because the pass was still within its validity period, it was accepted.

However on the way back, it appeared that I had to use a travel day to get the discount on the ferry because - I think - the pass treats the first day of validating the pass as a travel day.

It is possible to cancel the first travel day and only let the validity period start, so you can use it for a service that only offers a discount, such as many ferries. To do that, you have to activate your pass before the start date. After activation, you go to My Pass, select the first travel day, tap on Cancel travel day, and answer No when the app asks whether you want to deactivate the pass.

A much more customer-friendly option of course would be not to activate a travel day after activating the pass.

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I went from London to Greece using an interrail 4 days in 30 pass. And then another pass to bring me back a few months later.

 

The Superfast ferry Italy to Greece was at a substantial discount because I had the pass. This was despite having used all the 4 days by the day we were due to get the ferry. Because the pass was still within its validity period, it was accepted.

 

However on the way back, it appeared that I had to use a travel day to get the discount on the ferry because - I think - the pass treats the first day of validating the pass as a travel day.

 

The discount brought the price down to 27 Euros for a journey Bari to Igoumenitsa or Patras without a cabin.

 

 

 

Userlevel 7
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Most of these lines have now only-and only a very few- local trains IN the countries. Check seat61,com for better advice and if really bent on using trains, how to bridge the gaps between the outer ends.

ALL over the rails from TR it is possible via BG/Sofia-transit ROmania-to Budapest/HU and on. All also well detailed in seat61

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There are no trains from Thessaloniki to Skopje, Belgrade and Zagreb.

From Greece to Italy, it's better to take a ferry, e.g. from Patras. There a direct ferry to Venice.

Is the ferry included in my ticket or does it require an additional fee?

The Superfast ferry claims it's included but you still pay an additional fee, which is quite substantial during the high season. You can check on www.superfast.com or www.anek.gr.

There are no trains from Thessaloniki to Skopje, Belgrade and Zagreb.

From Greece to Italy, it's better to take a ferry, e.g. from Patras. There a direct ferry to Venice.

Is the ferry included in my ticket or does it require an additional fee?

Userlevel 7
Badge +9

There are no trains from Thessaloniki to Skopje, Belgrade and Zagreb.

From Greece to Italy, it's better to take a ferry, e.g. from Patras. There a direct ferry to Venice.

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