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Janmix
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Posted 5 years ago

Dear trainees,
does anyone know if it is possible (december 2019) to train from Budapest to Thessaloniki?
That means: does the Budapest-Belgrade (Beograd) train run? did the Hellas express (Belgr.-Thessaloniki) resume its service?
(I plan to take the train from Amsterdam to Athens).
Janmix

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Flo
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replied 5 years ago

Hi Janmix,

it is not really possible to go from Budapest to Thessaloniki by train in December 2019:
- the railway line Budapest - Beograd is still closed (to be more precise the part between Stara Pazova and Novi Sad in Serbia; there are no replacement buses on this section. There is one daily connection from Budapest to Novi Sad by train, from there you have to continue by regular bus.
- the Beograd - Thessaloniki night train ("Hellas") runs only in summer, currently there are no international services between Beograd and Skopje and no trains between Skopje and Thessaloniki either

What you can do:
a) travel this route (Beograd - Skopje - Thessaloniki) and cover all parts with no rail service by bus
b) travel the same route and try to cover as much as possible by train; this would work (roughly) like this: Beograd - Kosovska Mitrovica Sever by train, bus to Prishtina, train to Hani i Elezit and (hopefully) train to Skopje; then train to Bitola, bus/taxi to/across the border to Florina, train to Thessaloniki
c) travel from Budapest via Bucuresti - Ruse - Sofia - Thessaloniki by train
d) take a ferry from Italy to Greece

If you are interested in more details of one of these options let me know.

Flo