UK - Greece by train?

Every time we go to Greece, my wife says "never again" because she really
hates flying. I'm hoping to look into the possibilities of travelling by
train (or other overland means), but I don't really know where to start.

Our ultimate destination would be Thassos, with the nearest town on the
mainland being Kavala. I don't even know how to find out if Kavala has a
rail connection, let alone how to get there.

Any advice will be welcome.

Many thanks.

--
Ian
--

On Thu, 4 Sep 2008 08:34:02 +0100, IanC wrote
(in article <ybMvk.97809$f%6.83157@newsfe09.ams2>):

> Every time we go to Greece, my wife says "never again" because she really
> hates flying. I'm hoping to look into the possibilities of travelling by
> train (or other overland means), but I don't really know where to start.
>
> Our ultimate destination would be Thassos, with the nearest town on the
> mainland being Kavala. I don't even know how to find out if Kavala has a
> rail connection, let alone how to get there.

There is no rail link to Kavala, I'm afraid. The railway line from
Thessaloniki to Alexandropolis runs north of the coast through Serres
and Drama. You would have to take the train to Thessaloniki and a bus
from there to Kavala.

I've never travelled to Greece by rail, but if you have the time I
would really recommend the journey by car. I did this earlier this
year for the third year running since like you, we got totally fed up
with flying. I think the last straw was last time I flew via H/R we
were required at one point to remove our shoes. Since I only had
sandals on my feet, I found myself in bare feet on a cold and dirty
floor, shuffling in a line towards the security check. It felt more
like the beginning of a jail sentence than a holiday.

We treat the car journey down to Italy, and the ferry trip to Greece
as part of the holiday, not trying to break any speed records, but
stopping in nice places on the way. This year we made two islands,
Samothraki and Thassos, our destinations. I was quite captivated by
Samothraki, a very beautiful , largely un-touristed island, with one
of the most atmospheric of ancient sites - the Sanctuary of the Great
Gods - that I have ever seen.

Thassos was interesting as well, but being a UK package holiday
destination with all that that implies, was a bit of a culture-shock
after Samothraki. We spent four days on Thassos which I felt was
enough. The locals on Thassos will tell at every opportunity that it
is a very beautiful island and they are right up to a point. About
one third of the island (around the main town of Thassos in the
north-east) is very green, lush with tree-covered mountains. What
they don't tell you is that in the 80s and 90s the remaining two
thirds was devastated by a series of deliberately started forest
fires from which it is only just beginning to recover.

--
Mike Lane (UK North Yorkshire)
To contact me replace invalid with mike underscore lane

Hi Mike

> There is no rail link to Kavala, I'm afraid. The railway line from
> Thessaloniki to Alexandropolis runs north of the coast through Serres
> and Drama. You would have to take the train to Thessaloniki and a bus
> from there to Kavala.

Since posting, I've discovered that :-( The nearest rail link to Kavala
appears to be Drama, which wouldn't be too bad.

> I've never travelled to Greece by rail, but if you have the time I
> would really recommend the journey by car.

We're not likely to do it by car. I drive a lot with my job, so it would be
a busman's holiday for me (no, I don't drive a bus). My daughter will be 14
next year and I don't think I could stand to be cooped up in a car with her
all that distance (I'm sure the feeling is mutual).

As a matter of interest, how long does it take to drive? .I doubt we would
have the time for that, as my wife only gets 4 weeks holiday and I suspect
we'd need at least 3 weeks to get 2 weeks on Thassos. It might have to wait
until we've retired.

> I was quite captivated by
> Samothraki, a very beautiful , largely un-touristed island, with one
> of the most atmospheric of ancient sites - the Sanctuary of the Great
> Gods - that I have ever seen.

Sounds nice. We may have to take that in, sometime.

> Thassos was interesting as well, but being a UK package holiday
> destination with all that that implies, was a bit of a culture-shock

Thassos is becoming less of a UK destination. This year, only 2 companies
went there (Thomson & Kosmar/XL) and the Kosmar flight went via Skiathos,
suggesting little interest in Thassos. It's more popular with Germans and,
this year, Romanians & Bulgarians. The locals like Germans best, followed by
Brits. They're not keen on the Eastern Europeans as they drive over,
bringing most of their food with them (ie they don't contribute much to the
local economy).

> We spent four days on Thassos which I felt was enough.

I must disagree. We have just returned from our 4th visit to the island,
making 8 weeks in total, and we still want to go back again. We even looked
at the possibility of moving there, but after hearing about the quality of
the Greek education system, any thoughts of that will have to wait until our
daughter has finished her schooling.

> is a very beautiful island and they are right up to a point. About
> one third of the island (around the main town of Thassos in the
> north-east) is very green, lush with tree-covered mountains. What
> they don't tell you is that in the 80s and 90s the remaining two
> thirds was devastated by a series of deliberately started forest
> fires from which it is only just beginning to recover.

I agree with what you're saying, but you can have too many trees. The lack
of large vegetation in some parts makes for an island of contrasts.

> Mike Lane (UK North Yorkshire)
> To contact me replace invalid with mike underscore lane
>

On Thu, 4 Sep 2008 13:56:12 +0100, IanC wrote
(in article <MVQvk.112624$6p1.30009@newsfe19.ams2>):

> Hi Mike
>
>> There is no rail link to Kavala, I'm afraid. The railway line from
>> Thessaloniki to Alexandropolis runs north of the coast through Serres
>> and Drama. You would have to take the train to Thessaloniki and a bus
>> from there to Kavala.
>
> Since posting, I've discovered that :-( The nearest rail link to Kavala
> appears to be Drama, which wouldn't be too bad.
>
Drama is quite a small place with not much going on (in spite of its
name!) You'd be much better off going via Thessaloniki where you
would have regular buses going along the new coast road to
Alexandropolis.



>> I've never travelled to Greece by rail, but if you have the time I
>> would really recommend the journey by car.
>
>
> As a matter of interest, how long does it take to drive?

We do it in a very leisurely way. Four or sometimes five days to
Venice, and then a day on the ferry to Patras.

>> Thassos was interesting as well, but being a UK package holiday
>> destination with all that that implies, was a bit of a culture-shock
>
> Thassos is becoming less of a UK destination. This year,
> only 2 companies went there (Thomson & Kosmar/XL) and the Kosmar
> flight went via Skiathos, suggesting little interest in Thassos.
> It's more popular with Germans and, this year, Romanians &
> Bulgarians. The locals like Germans best, followed by Brits.
> They're not keen on the Eastern Europeans as they drive over,
> bringing most of their food with them (ie they don't contribute
> much to the local economy).

We found there seemed to be quite a community of Serbians on holiday
there at that time. We even saw a menu written in Serbian at one
place!

> We have just returned from our 4th visit to the
> island, making 8 weeks in total, and we still want to go back
> again.

Well we prefer the nomadic kind of holiday on the whole. Four, or
five days at the very most in one place is usually quite enough for
me. I'm always wondering what the next place will be like!

--
Mike Lane (UK North Yorkshire)
To contact me replace invalid with mike underscore lane

> Drama is quite a small place with not much going on (in spite of its
> name!) You'd be much better off going via Thessaloniki where you
> would have regular buses going along the new coast road to
> Alexandropolis.

A couple of years ago we drove from Thassos to visit Philipi and on to the
caves at Alistrati, thoeretically bypassing Drama. Somehow we took a wrong
turn and ended up in the middle of town. We didn't have a proper map, just a
printout from Multimap. That was enough drama as far as I'm concerned!! We
even passed the rail station :-)

>> As a matter of interest, how long does it take to drive?

> We do it in a very leisurely way. Four or sometimes five days to
> Venice, and then a day on the ferry to Patras.

That wouldn't be practical for us. It would mean our entire annual holiday
entitlement going in one holiday if we were to have 2 weeks in Greece :-(

> We found there seemed to be quite a community of Serbians on holiday
> there at that time. We even saw a menu written in Serbian at one
> place!

We didn't notice Serbians in any great number, but I'm going on car
registration plates. Now you mention it, ISTR seeing a menu in Serbian
alongside the Greek, German & English.

> Well we prefer the nomadic kind of holiday on the whole. Four, or
> five days at the very most in one place is usually quite enough for
> me. I'm always wondering what the next place will be like!

We're not very good at travelling light or living out of a suitcase. It
would be a nightmare trying to pack everything up every 4 days!

--
Ian
--

>> Thanks for the pointer. I couldn't find much on the bus, only that they
>> leave hourly from Thessaloniki to Kavala. Have I missed a link,
>> somewhere?
>
> I don't think there is a scedule on the site, no. But I'm sure Google can
> provide som for you :)

I'll try that. There's no rush, though. We've just returned from 2 weeks in
Greece and can't afford the time or money to go again this year.

Missing it already :-(

>> The hotel looks nice.
>
> If all goes according to plan I'll be staying there in October and can
> tell
> you more about it. I am really looking forward to it!

I envy you. Look forward to hearing about it. Are you stopping off there on
your way to Chios?

--
Ian
--

Hi Alexander

"Alexander Arnakis" <invalid@address.none> wrote in message
news:6g2hc4pfp0i02unetre51m6dtq0qoo3s7s@...
> Take the train through Italy to Brindisi, the ferry to Igoumenitsa,


I've just looked at the ferry crossing. My wife gets seasick and she
wouldn't cope with an 8 hour crossing. She sometimes suffers on the 40
minute Keramoti - Limenas crossing!!

> and then the overland busses to Kavala via Ioannina and Thessaloniki.

> There's a train through former Yugoslavia to Thessaloniki, but I
> wouldn't recommend it.


Is there a security issue with the route though FY, or is it something else?

--
Ian
--