Athens to Thessaloniki
 

Hello,
I am travelling to Greece in September and was planning on visiting my grandparents village. The name of the village is Solun. I was told that I would need to take a train from Athens to Thessaloniki then transfer to a bus to Solun. Is this correct? Or would flying to a better option? Any help would be great.

Thanks:-)

I would fly because it is a long train ride. Thessaloniki is a transit hub for northern Greece and I would check with KTEL bus lines.

If you are flying from or transiting through another European airport, there may be flights direct to Thessaloniki.

Someone was telling me the train ride was pretty long but that I would enjoy the scenic route. Maybe the best option would be to fly.

Thank you very much!

Where is this village called Solun? Solun can refer to Thessaloniki itself.

Hmmm... I didn't know this, but Odin is correct. Apparently Solun is the name nationalists from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) call the city of Thessaloniki. Given the sensitivity of Greeks over Macedonia, you may want to do a little more research before travelling to Greece. ;-) :-))
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFsyJKjkf94
http://maktruth.blogspot.co.uk/2008/...-is-solun.html

The name of the "village" is Thessaloniki, and is actually a metropolis.
The Slavs call it Solun, the Turks Selanik, the French Salonique, and the Romans Thessalonica. But the original name is Thessaloniki, capital of Macedonia and second city of Greece.

Thanks everyone. I did find out that the community or village is Mesonisi. I'll have to do a bit more research.

Thanks again

Mesonissi (Μεσονήσι) is a small village that practically belongs to the city of Florina in Western Macedonia.
If your grandparents referred to "Solun" chances are, they were part of a slavic speaking minority that lives in the wider area of Florina.

Trains link Athens and Thessaloniki in 5h, that's centre to centre with no check-in.

Flying will take 4h of train-airport-flight-bus, even if the flight itself is just 1h.

More importantly, the train ride is wonderful, an experience in itself - fabulous scenery through the mountains over dramatic viaducts, several of which were attached by SOE in WW2. Then you go along the Aegean and past Mt Olympus, home of the Greek gods, before arriving in Thessaloniki.

Don't miss it!

www.trainose.gr sells tickets from just €9 if you can work it out. A little help from Google translate. Or just buy at the station if you can't manage online booking.

@ Man_in_seat_61: I just saw this thread while planning my own trip to Greece, and the information you provided is exactly what I needed for that part of my planning -- thanks so much!