Greece

Arend7
Traveller
653 comments

Read www.seat61.com and www.bahn.com for the timetable. What you read on "our" website is propably outdated.

nltrainer
Traveller
1410 comments

Google has misled you-as above, but community.eurail.com is also and has your Qs a plenty answered
Note there are quite a lot of ferries IT-GR, some give discounts to pass holders, some not but even then may be same price or cheaper-and probably lower quality. Starting from NL, my country this was also 1 of the 1st trips I did on rail=long ago. At that time one always used ferry to PATRAS in GR and depending on what you want to visit in GR, this may be better option, even though Ptr has also lost its meter-gauge old trains. Igou is far, far away from any train station and more fit for visit Corfu island.
How many days: you also want to come back tjis slow way to SE?
In THEory you might even be able to do the trip with 2 days, but chance that something goes wrong is >77% then. Overnight fra STO to somewhere IN DE-DE trains are ALWAys late, connect into other IT overnight fra Milano/Bologna to the chosen ferry port. The faster route is via München-Austria->Bologna, via Swiss is longer. IF you also want to take the chance to visit some places on the way, then you also need more traveldays (in+out then will be 2 days). IF you do not stay in STO on day 1 you can start trip fra any SJ stasjonen to reach Nattog fra STO
You have also just missed a good 25% discount on passes for black friday.

Peter
Traveller
9336 comments

Hi Pirkko.
I also replied to your FI post. :)

Here are the extra charges you have to pay in addition to the Interrail ticket.

Stockholm-Copenhagen
X2000 SJ train: 62 SEK reservation fee


Copenhagen-Hamburg:
EC train: free in April, but 30 DKK recommended


Hamburg-Zurich:
Free. Avoid peak times such as Friday and Sunday afternoons.


Zurich-Milan:
Eurocity: 11 EUR seat reservation


Optional route Zurich-Milan:
I recommend taking a detour in Switzerland, including the scenic route of the Glacier and Bernina Express - not on these special tourist trains (as you need a reservation with Interrail), but on local trains, which are free with Interrail and you can hop on and off wherever you like.

I have made a film about this route: https://vimeo.com/1021752182

And a blog: https://raildude.com/blog/view?id=12

No Interrail reservations are required for this route.


Milan-Brindisi:
Depends on your route.
The high speed trains cost from 15 EUR. Intercity from 5 EUR. Regional trains are free.


Brindisi-Igoumenitsa:
If you want to include Thessaloniki, you can take this route.
Otherwise I recommend taking a ferry from Bari, Ancona or Venice to Patras.
From Patras you have a free bus (which replaces the train to Kiato) and a train connection to Athens.
Check for ferries here: https://www.interrail.eu/en/plan-your-trip/tips-and-tricks/trains-europe/ferries/superfast-ferries


Tickets instead of Interrail:
If you know your exact travel dates and have pre-booked your hotels, I recommend you also check out individual train tickets, not Interrail.

For example Stockholm-Hamburg. Seats on the night train from about 50 EUR on sj.se or Snalltaget: https://nachtzug.net/fi/stockholm-hamburg/
Day trains are also available.

Hamburg-Zurich: from 44 EUR on bahn.de

Zurich-Milan: from 26 EUR on lefrecce.it (type Zurigo instead of Zurich)

Milan-Ancona: from 26 EUR on lefrecce.it

Ferry to Greece: compare for example on (Ancona, Bari, Venice to Patras) directferries.com

Patras-Athens: hellenictrain.gr for 17 EUR

If you are not travelling on peak days and book now, you can also do this route for around 200 EUR for single tickets, plus ferry. If you want to make a detour in Switzerland, Interrail tickets could also be a good choice.

Now it is up to you to choose the route you want to travel and do the detailed calculations .... :)
Cheers, Peter :)

Peter
Traveller
9336 comments

I forgot to add:
If you want to take the ferry from Brindisi to Igoumenitsa, as it is day travel and cheap, you can also take the bus from Igoumenitsa to Thessaloniki.
It is a journey of four hours and the ticket price is about 38 EUR. No need to rent a car.

I wrote down all details here:
rail.cc/train/igoumenitsa-to-thessaloniki

Tickets are available here:
www.ktel-thesprotias.gr
Select in Greek language:
Igoumenitsa = ΗΓΟΥΜΕΝΙΤΣΑ_ΚΤΕΛ
Thessaloniki = ΣΤΑΘΜΟΣ ΘΕΣΣΑΛΟΝΙΚΗΣ

Train from Thessaloniki to Athens on hellenictrain.gr for 39 EUR for a single ticket.

Peter :)