lordsalisbury1
Traveller
1 comments
Posted 6 years ago
My wife and I are travelling from Budapest to Athens just before Christmas. We would rather go by train than fly, because it is better for the environment, can view the beautiful scenery etc.
However, I can\'t seem to figure out the best way to travel, or if our journey is possible. I thought the best route would be Budapest-Belgrade (overnight), then Belgrade to Thessaloniki, then Thessaloniki to Athens. We\'re leaving on a Friday evening and are booked to arrive in Athens on the Saturday. Approx 5 days later, we have to do the same journey again in reverse.
If we\'re taking the overnight train, we would want/need a private sleeper compartment (both my wife and I are somewhat germaphobic), but can\'t figure out if this is possible or not on the Budapest-Belgrade service. Then it seems, according to the info on this website, that the Belgrade to Thessaloniki train ONLY runs overnight, so we wouldn\'t be able to get from Belgrade to Athens on the same day.
So I\'m a little confused, and I don\'t know if our journey (leaving Budapest on a friday evening, to arrive in Athens sometime on the saturday) is possible by rail. Does anybody have any experience, or any advice they could give? It would be very much appreciated.
Thank you very much, this website is an invaluable resource.
Mimara
Traveller
42 comments
Hello,
unfortunately it is not possible to start your journey on Friday evening and arrive at Athens on Saturday.
The only possibility to go from Beograd to Thessaloniki is night train Hellas, departure at Beograd at 6.10 pm, arrival at Thessaloniki at 10.08 am (next connecting train to Athens is at 3.04 pm with arrival at Athens at 8.24).
To reach this night train at Beograd you have to start from Budapest at least at 7.57 in the morning:
[ux]https://www.mavcsoport.hu/sites/default/files/upload/page/ivo_andric_budapest_-_beograd_-_budapest_v2.pdf[/ux]
Or, if you want to go for sure and have more time to change trains (there can be delays), you can take the night train from Budapest to Beograd the evening before:
[ux]https://www.mavcsoport.hu/sites/default/files/upload/page/beograd_budapest_-_beograd_-_budapest.pdf[/ux]
Both night trains do not have sleeping cars, but only couchette cars with 6 or 4 beds in a compartment. So it is not guaranteed that you get your private compartment. Maybe you can ask the train staff if you can stay alone.
Daniel
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi and welcome to railcc!
...if you have germaphobic tendencies I wouldnt really recommend using the Belgrade - Thessaloniki night train (and you would probably also have issues with the Budapest - Belgrade night train). Both are rather old couchette cars of Macedonian and Serbian Railways respectively and have seen better days - I am perfectly fine with them but I know what to expect.
Unfortunately there isnt really an alternative to taking the night train Belgrade - Thessaloniki; also, as Daniel already mentioned the timetables do not allow travelling as planned (leaving Friday evening and arriving sometime on Saturday).
To cover at least part of the journey by train you might look into a flight from Budapest to Thessaloniki; the latter city is quite nice and there should be cheap flights available with Wizzair: [ux]http://rail.shop/kiwicom[/ux]
Flo
lordsalisbury1
Traveller
1 comments
Thank you very much for responses, it is extremely helpful.
We have decided to fly from Belgrade to Athens on the Saturday, so will get the Budapest-Belgrade overnight train on the Friday. Although we have caught this train before during the day, we\'re a little confused as to how it works at night-time - if you can\'t book your own private compartment, are the compartments separated by gender? I\'m not sure I\'m comfortable leaving my wife on her own for 8 hours.
Really what I\'m asking is, what\'s our best bet (as a germaphobic-ish couple who want to travel together), are we better off booking a \'couchette\' (this is a bunk, I think), or are we better off trying to book two first class seats next to each other? As the price seems reasonable, could we book out an entire compartment and just not use 2 (or 4) of the bunks? I don\'t mind \'roughing it\' as it\'s only for one night, but obviously we\'d like to be as comfortable as possible.
Thank you again for the replies, it\'s greatly appreciated.
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
You can book a whole couchette compartment on your own - that would require four tickets plus four reservations and should be possible to get at Budapest station (go to the international ticket desk, main hall on the left).
I would definitely prefer the option of laying down overnight (even though you have to get up for the border controls) to sitting in the 1st class coach.