Thomas S
Traveller
26 comments
Posted 16 years ago
So, we're planning our first Interrail-trip, and an integral part of our journey will be catching a train from Thessaloniki to Istanbul. According to this site, theres a daily direct train connecting the two cities - and until recently, when we used pages such as [u]https://rail.cc/en/search-interrail-route[/u] , it showed such a train as well.
However - this evening we sat down and started to make a more detailed itinerary. Upon searching, it looked as if the direct connection from Thessaloniki to Istanbul had vanished - leaving a 25-hour trip via Sofia as the only option. So, our question: has anyone traveled between Thessaloniki and Istanbul recently? Is it just a technical error on the dbahn-page, or has the train been taken out of service?
baobab
Traveller
128 comments
As far as i know there is one night train going straight from Thessaloniki to Istanbul which is really popular so you have to make a reservation early and also a day train which goes from Thessaloniki to the borders then you have to wait and change to the Turkish train.
Both trains are IC so you have to pay a supplement around 6.5 i think..
:arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/search-train-route[/u]
If you want to see the country side of Greece and Turkey and don't make an accurate plan with booking take the day train (although it would cost you a day ) ..
Anyway i should tell once more that for Balkans you can use Balkan Flexi Pass which is like Interrail card but cheaper..
Miro
Traveller
65 comments
I looked to the balkan pass and i think it's not valid for EU residents.. Besides, there are very few countries involved in that pass...
baobab
Traveller
128 comments
[quote]I looked to the balkan pass and i think it's not valid for EU residents.. Besides, there are very few countries involved in that pass...[/quote]
i am an EU resident and its valid ;) and besides its only for Balkans thats why i suggest it to people who want to spent most of their travel dates at Balkans so as not to waste interrail days..
Miro
Traveller
65 comments
Ok, i was looking on the site, because i liked the idea, but it says different things. On one site it says:
Passes can not be used by residents of Bulgaria, Greece, Republic of Macedonia, Serbia & Montenegro, Romania or Turkey. You can't purchase this pass in these countries.
Another site says:
Passes can not be purchased or used by residents of a country for which the pass is valid. Residents of CIS, Turkey, Morocco, Algeria or Tunisia are not eligible to use any of the Eurail Global Passes, Eurail Select Passses or France Railpasses.
Now I can't find the one where it said it wasn't available for EU-residents, but it's not just available for everyone...
baobab
Traveller
128 comments
[quote]Ok, i was looking on the site, because i liked the idea, but it says different things. On one site it says:
Passes can not be used by residents of Bulgaria, Greece, Republic of Macedonia, Serbia & Montenegro, Romania or Turkey. You can't purchase this pass in these countries.
Another site says:
Passes can not be purchased or used by residents of a country for which the pass is valid. Residents of CIS, Turkey, Morocco, Algeria or Tunisia are not eligible to use any of the Eurail Global Passes, Eurail Select Passses or France Railpasses.
Now I can't find the one where it said it wasn't available for EU-residents, but it's not just available for everyone...[/quote]
yeap its Balkan pass which means that it carries all advantages and disadvantages of Balkans :o (low price , medium service and no official description..)
but i can ask once more and reply for sure and official..
Miro
Traveller
65 comments
that would be very nice 8)