Agouri
Traveller
1 comments
Posted 10 years ago
Hello traindudes,
I'm interested in travelling to Prague on August 17th to attend the ECAI conference held there as a Paper of mine got accepted in it.
The thing is, I am generally inexperienced with Interational train travel and I also found out that Greece's train network isn't connected to the international rail grid.
Is such a trip possible without too many train hops or is it too much trouble?
I would prefer a train adventure instead of a plane or my motorcycle. It is, after all, 1500km from here to there, then as many kms to return to Greece.
Let it be noted that I have a EU ID, but no passport, so I'll have to stay strictly within EU countries.
Thank you for your time reading this,
Dimitris
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi Dimitris,
congratulations for your accepted paper! :)
First, you can enter both Macedonia and Serbia with your ID card, no passport needed:
[ux]http://www.mfa.gov.mk/?q=node/319&language=en-gb[/u]
[u]http://www.mfa.gov.rs/en/consular-affairs/entry-serbia/visa-regime/81-consular-foreigners-to-serbia/11478-greece-for-cons[/u]
Regarding the route, it is quite easy:
Since May, there are international trains from Thessaloniki to Skopje/Beograd and Sofia once again.
You should travel to Belgrade first:
[u]https://rail.cc/en/train/thessaloniki-to-belgrade[/u]
Buy a return ticket which should be 54€
Then Beograd to Budapest:
[u]https://rail.cc/en/train/belgrade-to-budapest[/u]
Buy a return ticket for 26€; it is better to not rely on the connection from the Thessaloniki - Beograd night train to the Beograd - Budapest day train; some days it might work, some days in wont and you also need to buy your ticket in Belgrade. So better plan with an overnight stay or take the night train to Budapest.
And finally Budapest to Prague:
[u]https://rail.cc/en/train/budapest-to-prague[/u]
You can buy a return ticket valid for one month locally in Budapest for 100€; or look at [u]https://rail.shop/mav[/ux] for cheaper advance fares.
Flo 8)
Agouri
Traveller
1 comments
Thanks for the quick reply, flo~
I'll study your recommendations and see if the schedule is direct enough. Hopefully I won't be left out at a station for too long in-between trains.
And thank you a second time for doing the research for me, dear. Much appreciated.