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FoteiniP
Traveller
2 comments

Posted 1 year ago

Hello,
I am interested in travelling from Greece (if it is possible from Athens) to Paris during December but I cannot find any train to do so. Is there any other country I could go to by train in order to take the train from there and go to Paris?
Thank you in advance

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MisterSteve
Traveller
1092 comments

replied 1 year ago

There are currently no international trains from Greece and nobody seems interested in restarting them. Your options are bus to Bulgaria (Serbia possibly, no guarantee) or the traditional way of ferry to Italy

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FoteiniP
Traveller
2 comments

replied 1 year ago

MisterSteve thank you very much for your reply! Do you know if there is any train/bus that goes from Bulgaria (or Serbia) straight to Paris?

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MisterSteve
Traveller
1092 comments

replied 1 year ago

Have you any idea how long that would be as a bus ride??? There are no direct trains, the schedules of most countries are held at www.bahn.com but the Serbian network is so poor it isn't there. From Sofia (after a long bus ride from Greece) the train journey will take up to 50 hours with between up to 12 different trains needed. Do you have a European passport? If not you will also have visa rules to check.

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FoteiniP
Traveller
2 comments

replied 1 year ago

Thank you very much for letting me know all these information. I will consider all of these. Have a nice evening.

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nltrainer
Traveller
1404 comments

replied 1 year ago

There ARE direct buses still-used to be far more-from Türkiye mostly to DE=Deutschland, passing Bulgaria as there is no other way. Avoids all the changes needed by train and can also often set down at the points the pax want. Total travel time will also be hours shorter as by train-they go on motoray and you do can avoid all the eternal delays and long time between trains.
Info on trains: seat61.com has an overveiw of all overland routes from UK to all EUR countries-and even beyond.
The days of through trains-for guest laborers in Germany, direct from Hellas and TR have long since gone, the classic route via what once was Yugoslavija is in total disrepair.