anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments
Posted 6 years ago
My wife and I would like to travel from Thessaloniki to Ljublijana during September 2018. We intend to stop overnight in Skopje and Belgrade during the journey. My question is:- Are trains operating, if so which is the best train? Are they clean and airconditioned? Is there anything important that I need to know?
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi and welcome to railcc!
There is a daily night train from Thessaloniki via Skopje to Belgrade: [ux]https://rail.cc/blog/belgrade-skopje-thessaloniki-train/[/ux]
You could use this train for the first two legs; there are no other international trains on this route.
If you feel a bit more adventurous you could travel from Thessaloniki to Florina (by train), then by taxi to Bitola (may have to change at the border; negotiate a price if you travel all the way through) and finally by train again to Skopje. Will take longer than the direct train. Read here (in German): [ux]https://rail.cc/blog/de/skopje-nach-athen-via-bitola-florina/[/ux]
Then you could also think about adding a stop at Lake Ohrid... :)
From Belgrade to Ljubljana there are two daily trains; one during the day and one overnight.
The night train carries a couchette car on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Trains are not very modern; usually reasonably clean but toilets may not be in the best shape. Air-condition only available on the Belgrade - Ljubljana day train and usually in one of the 2nd class cars on the Thessaloniki - Belgrade train. No air-condition in the couchette cars (but being able to open the windows and listening to the sound of the train is much better anyway...) ;)
Flo