I travelled this way in 2014 when there was still a direct train each day from Sofia to Thessaloniki (GR), but those trains no longer run – and indeed the service on all lines in Greece other than the main Thessaloniki (GR)-Athens (GR) route is incredibly limited these days. Kulata (BG) – the last station Bulgarian side – to Sidirokastro is then a border with a missing service – lines exist here, but services do not run.
So I am going to make up time here by taking a Union Ivkoni bus the whole way from Sofia to Thessaloniki, and from there board the InterCity train to Athens – and arrive by the evening.
| Day / Date | Tuesday 26 July |
| Departure | Sofia |
| End | Athens |
| Trains | 1 |
| Rail km | 477.6 |
| Bike legs | 0 |
| Bike km | 0 |
| Borders crossed | BG-GR – Kulata-Sidirokastro |
| Events | Dinner in Athens – more about events en route here |
Data here is indicative. The Google Sheet for the trip is the always-updated definitive version.
On the day itself, live updates will be posted here.
The map below is an image of the route for this day. You can alternatively see access whole route with more controls on umap here.
Images used in this post
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Thessaloniki ’17
November 26, 2017
CC BY 2.0
All other photos taken by Jon Worth, can be re-used under the same terms as the content on this site.