From Greece to Oslo?

MisterSteve
Traveller
1091 comments

The first problem is that there are no international trains out of Greece and no signs of them restarting. On top of that the services in Serbia are very disurupted as well. Which only really leaves going via Bulgaria with bus ride from northern Greece. But even when there were international trains the favoured route for many was via a ferry to Italy. It's interesting that Hellenic Train is owned by Trenitalia of Italy and by not resuming international trains via Thessaloniki extra passengers will travel via Italy..

So first find a ferry, probably from Patras. And then use the german rail planner at bahn.com/en to find train times. Schedules outside Germany are pretty accurate although Italy is always late in announcing changes, the seasonal timetable chnage is in early December. The best option from Brindisi to Oslo is currently about 41 hours and uses 6 different trains but can take longer and use more trains. The journey is hampered by a quite poor service between Sweden and Norway so you might consider a ferry from Denmark or Kiel in Germany. Flexible train tickets will cost more than a flight, discounted train tickets will have to be bought in sections. If this is a return journey in a short period an Interrail pass might be value.

OldRail
Traveller
1 comments

Even in the "good old days" the Hellas Express connecting Athens to Hamburg via then Serbia was a terrible train! Dirty, slow, late, etc.
The better way to get from Greece to Oslo would be either via Patras, as mentioned above or, my favorite, take the bus to Igoumenitsa and the ferry to Brindisi. The ferry ride will be shorter than from Patras, and the trip up Italy, through Switzerland and Germany to Scandanavia is fantastically picturesque.
Kalo taxidi!