Travelling by train in Greece is one of the best ways to see mainland Greece. One of the best modes of transportation, in my opinion, is train travel. Yes, it takes much longer than a plane to reach your destination but in many cases, if you consider the waiting time in airports it is almost the same.
In the UK train travel is extremely popular and accessible even through Europe. The same applies to train travel in Greece.
Many places in mainland Greece can be reached via train, such as Patras and Kalabaka, which gives you the opportunity to also explore and see large parts of Greece that otherwise you wouldn’t be able to unless you drove around.
Taking the train from Thessaloniki to Athens
One of the most popular and cheap ways to travel in Greece is between its two major cities of Athens and Thessaloniki.
We recently did this trip instead of taking a plane and the total time of travel was pretty much the same.
It was also cheaper and much more convenient as you can stretch your legs and enjoy the scenery rather than sit on an airport lounge chair for an hour or two.
Cost of Train travel Greece
The total train travel time from Athens to Thessaloniki is around 4hrs and 20minutes and ticket prices are around 43 euros in second class and 55 euros in first class.
There are several train times per day and some have fewer stops than others so keep this in mind when booking your tickets.
You can book your train tickets on the OSE website here.
The tickets are electronic so you only need to show them once you are on the train to the conductor.
You can also use your interrail pass on these trains if you are backpacking through Europe.
The train experience in Greece
The railway station in Thessaloniki is pretty easy to navigate and it is located in the city centre close to all major hotels and attractions. Much more convenient and faster to reach than the airport.
There are several coffee shops and if you want to get something for the road, I recommend a cold Fredo and a nice snack from Tirkenlis.
Before entering the platform, we did have to show our vaccine certificates, which I had saved on my phone.
We travelled in first-class to Athens which is much more private and comfortable especially if you end up alone for the majority of your trip, which was in our case.
The setup is in a private booth of six seats, three forward-facing and three backward. This doesn’t show on the website so it is a little harder to realise the seating as I thought they are seats similar to the UK trains.
The train also has a cafeteria where you can buy drinks and snacks. You can pay by card or in Euros.
The sandwiches we tried were actually tasty!
While on the train you pass by pretty much all of Greece and you can enjoy the view of Olympus mountain as well as the seaside.
We also passed through some very sad burned-out places due to the major fires that happened in 2020. This was extremely sad as you can see the devastation all over the mountains and the blackness of the trees.
Arrival in Athens via train is at the Larissis train station which is in the city centre of Athens and next to the Athens metro and can take you pretty much anywhere you want. You can also take a taxi to your hotel which is what we did for our convenience with all the luggage we had.
Because the train station is in the city centre it is much easier if your destination is Athens or if you are travelling to the Greek islands via Piraeus port.
If your onward destination is not Greece or if you are flying to any of the islands then definitely it is easier to just fly from Thessaloniki to Athens simply due to the fact you will be saving a trek of almost an hour on the metro to the airport.
It is also more cost-effective.
We had decided to travel by train since it was half the price of flying and also our hotel was in the city centre and only 10minutes from the train station.
Overall we enjoyed our train ride and it was similar in total hours of travel by plane with the difference that it was easier to occupy a toddler with the scenery outside and walking around the train. If you are planning on exploring these two major cities then I highly recommend considering travelling by train in Greece.
Tip: If you are paying and travelling to Greece and your card doesn’t have any foreign exchange fees then consider using a travel card like Revolut or Wise.
I have used Wise in Greece for years and I love it. It is secure, easy and also