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Ktel Chalkidiki timetable. How to get from Thessaloniki airport to Chalkidiki

Ktel Chalkidiki timetable. How to get from Thessaloniki airport to Chalkidiki

22.12.2023

So, on the morning of the fourth day of our vacation, at exactly 7.50 we stood at the KTEL stop. From the very beginning, we were kept company by someone’s owner’s dog (he was wearing a collar, which means he was the owner’s dog), who shared our breakfast box with us. Well, to be more precise, he completely devoured my breakfast :). In general, the dog and I became very close friends. He did not leave my feet, did not let me get bored and was the last one whose eyes accompanied us to Thessaloniki:)

According to the schedule, the bus left for Thessaloniki exactly at 8.00.

Naturally (for the Greeks it is natural, for us the state is close to disappointment and panic) the bus was late for half an hour. As they say, we didn’t even expect it, but we still hoped. Moreover, the local population began to catch up after eight. Greeks, one word.

In the end, we still go. Hooray!!!

We boarded quickly and bought tickets directly from the driver. Everything, as the Internet said, 13 € per person and you are in Thessaloniki.

We covered the 100 km route in exactly two hours. On the way, the bus was loaded to capacity and no longer took standing passengers. On the way, an idea came up: immediately upon arrival in Thessaloniki, at the bus station, buy tickets for the return trip, so as not to be nervous, we’ll leave or not, but calmly explore the city.

And so they did. When purchasing tickets, we asked the cashier how to get to the center. It's simple, bus number 45, every 20 minutes. Amazing!

In fact, it turned out that the 45th bus runs very rarely, almost once an hour. But we never found a timetable for its movement either at the KTEL station or at the stops in the center. But everywhere there were illuminated boards, which displayed information about which bus, which route to wait for and in how many minutes. Convenient, if not for Greece :) Greek buses were either late or departed earlier, but somewhere close to the indicated time :) It takes more than one day to get used to such a dynamic schedule.

The price of a bus fare greatly depends on the travel time and the number of transfers, as well as on where the ticket is bought - one price on the bus, another at city kiosks, and ranges from one to two euros.

We bought tickets on the bus from a special machine that does not give change. This caused some difficulties.

Firstly, all the explanations on the machine were in Greek. Explanations in English were found only on the way back, when we had already figured everything out. We solved this problem by simple observation, carefully observing the local population. First, we select the type of ticket - the tyts button - the required amount is displayed on the tiny screen, then we drop the coins - the machine indicates the missing amount as coins arrive, when the deficiency is 0.00, the machine prints a ticket. Everything is very simple, but... The machine does not give change. Crap!

We have exactly 2.20 - the price of two tickets. But it’s impossible to buy two tickets at once, only one at a time, which means a ticket for 1.10 will cost us 2.00. Here problem number two arose, where to change coins on a moving bus. That's right, people!

The Greeks did not disappoint in this regard and at the first “cry for help” they came to the rescue. Remembering a similar situation in Singapore, no one cared about our problems. No, without surrender - your problems.

The bus to the center took about forty minutes. As we approached the central stops, the Greeks on the bus became alarmed when they realized that we were gradually passing by all the sights. In short, we were literally pushed out of the bus in the very center near the Church of Panagia Chalkeon.

This is how our acquaintance with Thessaloniki began.

Church of Panagia Chalkeon

The Church of Panagia Chalkeon was closed, but the appearance of the temple and its position relative to the surface of the earth literally caught the eye. The exposed red-brown brickwork was too colorful and unusual for my Kiev Orthodox eye, accustomed to plastered even the most ancient cathedrals. The second thing that attracted and amazed was the thorough digging of the temple into the ground. Perhaps there is some logical explanation for this. Well, there is an ancient, ancient temple....

Roman Agora

On the way to the Church of St. Demetrius we found the ruins of the old Roman Agora. The Greeks discovered these remains in 1960, and we only discovered them today, and then by accident :) Probably, in Greece, where you don’t dig, you will discover some ancient ruins.

We did not enter the city territory. Everything is clearly visible from above. Temples, theater, market square, craft workshops, baths:) There was life, it turns out, at the beginning of our era! :) We walked around the perimeter (luckily access to the Agora from above is absolutely free), looked, took photographs and moved on.

I used to think that the Roman Forum was only in Rome, but it turns out it is also in Thessaloniki :)

Church of St. Demetrius

The Temple of St. Demetrius is the main temple of Thessaloniki, the temple of the patron saint of the city Demetrius of Thessalonica, the temple built on the site of his death, the temple in which his relics are kept, and in the underground part there is a kritpa, where St. Demetrius suffered great martyrdom.

You know, what is most surprising is that a temple with such an incredibly long history, despite being early Christian, is absolutely devoid of any grandeur. I don’t know, if we had approached the temple from the main entrance, everything would have seemed completely different. But we approached it from the back side :)

Ancient stonework, red brickwork, brick stones of different colors, or rather shades and sizes, laid out in intricate arched shapes, slightly crumbling walls and temple supports - all this, it seemed to me, exposed the defenselessness of the temple, its simplicity and openness.

The interior decoration of the temple was also surprising. No baroque bombast, no icons in the ornate frames of the iconostasis, no sculptures, no flowers. Even the rows of wooden bench chairs looked modest and laconic. Everything is simple, if not for the candelabra chandeliers and one and a half meter candles.

To be completely honest, this temple lacked a knowledgeable and versed person in religion. Well, the shrine with the relics of St. Demetrius, everything is clear with it, it’s hard not to find the ciborium () when people circle around it like bees. But questions arose with the rest of the “curiosities” of this temple. What are crayfish, why are they here, and why exactly are they here. Just questions. So I just took pictures in the hope of later figuring out who was who or what. But even Wikipedia did not answer all my questions. It's a pity.

In general, the temple surprises from the first to the last minute. I especially want to talk about the last minute. Having examined every nook and cranny of the temple (the left side, I must say, is the most interesting), I finally got to the altar. The altar gilding does not surprise anyone, but the marble chair of the bishop's chair amazes with its amazing lace lightness. But even with this surprise, I could have calmly left the temple, if not for the bench chairs... But all I did was just look at the temple from a different point, from the altar...

Guys, I have never seen such a riot of monotonous carved beauty, arranged in a strict geometric order, in my life. Remember, at the very beginning, I wrote about modest and laconic bench chairs... How deceiving the first impression can be! Now it’s a shame to even call these chairs benches.

Having left the holy monastery, past the old men sitting on the parapet, we headed to the very heart of Thessaloniki, to the central square - Aristotle Square.

Speaking of old people. If in provincial towns old people gather in the open areas of local cafes at a table with a single bottle of water, in cities they simply gather on benches and follow any passerby with their X-ray gaze (just like our grandmothers at the entrances).

Aristotle Square and embankment

On Aristotle Square my déjà vu awoke. I saw this square somewhere and I definitely was here. Shoot me, I feel like I was here, although I’ve never been here :) And then it dawned on me. Aristotle Square reminds me of Tunisia's main square, Place Habib Bourguiba. The same vaulted galleries, the same colonnades, arches, decorative elements and palm trees. The only difference is street coffee shops and restaurants, they are everywhere here.

We took a peek at the city market. You didn’t have to go far, if you were facing the sea, you just needed to turn right... We decided to come back here if there was time. Well, in the meantime, we notice a brisk, almost undisguised (if we noticed, it means they are not really hiding) trade in cigarettes.

Before reaching the embankment, we find ourselves in training for the local population in providing first aid - performing artificial respiration and closed cardiac massage. And let me tell you, this event is not for show. Several tents with detailed individual instructions, albeit in Greek, and real “sufferers” mannequins. And also with training mannequins and intensive care vehicles open for viewing and installation by “sufferers”. In short, it's interesting.

There was nothing special about the embankment, but it revealed the secret of how garbage is removed from the sea surface. Interesting, I’ve never seen such a tool before, just a tractor on the water.

And also, as always at the seashore, a whole bunch of fishermen, in the hope of catching their goldfish, string their bait on hooks.

Of course, cyclists, of course tourists, and, of course, coffee shops, restaurants, shops.

White Tower

I didn't understand the white tower. A regular old lookout tower. I still don’t understand what its most important attraction is. Well, the Turks built three such towers to strengthen the many-kilometer fortress wall. Well, the guardhouse and prison have been located here for almost the last two centuries. Well, they painted it white, as a sign of purification, after they drove out the Turks. AND? It's worth it alone. And if we ignore the fact that it houses an exposition of the city’s history and art museum, then the tower stands here solely for one photograph. We took a photo and moved on. I’m certainly wrong, after all, it’s a historical building and a big deal, but... I didn’t touch it, sorry!

There is an observation deck at the top of the tower. We didn’t climb it; it seemed to us, frankly, that there was no view from there. The houses standing right on the embankment are taller and block the entire view of the city. And the sea bay is clearly visible from the embankment. Price for visiting the tower - 3€

Rotunda

This round structure, which does not want to fit entirely into the frame of the photographic lens, is one of the first Christian churches in the world! Just imagine, one of the first!!! Moreover, like most Christian churches in Thessaloniki, the Rotunda happened to be a Muslim mosque. This means that the frescoes are covered with plaster, the mosaic is destroyed and the temple, although the walls are intact, can be said to be destroyed, and there is a minaret nearby.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, when the Turks were expelled, the Rotunda became a monument-museum. It’s strange why they didn’t return the temple to Christians, since St. Demetrius was returned? By that time, the marble cladding of the walls was lost and the wonderful marble mosaics were barely preserved. No one can accurately determine the age of the mosaics; it is believed that they appeared when the mausoleum (and I forgot to say, the Rotunda was built as a mausoleum of Emperor Galerius, who was never buried here) was turned into a Christian temple (III-IV centuries AD)

Today it is a monument-building-museum. You go inside, there are only walls. He walked around in a circle, examined the details and left.

Just a few steps from the Rotunda we found the Arch of Galerius, which was erected by Emperor Galerius, or rather, erected on his orders, in honor of Galerius’ victory over the Persians. In other words, Gelerius erected a typical Arc de Triomphe. As expected, the arch is decorated with scenes from epoch-making battles with the Persians. Of course, very few such scenes have survived to this day, but if you have time, you can familiarize yourself with the details.

We didn't have time for details. I saw enough of all kinds of baked goods in the windows of street cafes, and besides, I was starting to experience coffee withdrawal. In short, I urgently needed to feed my “want!” :)

After a light snack, we decided to devote our time to some light shopping. But to our surprise, we discovered that most of the stores were already finishing their work. Guys, it wasn’t even three o’clock in the afternoon! Who works like that?!

Well, since there is no shopping, we just went for a walk around the city, people-watching, cathedrals (which, by the way, were also closed), monuments, houses, go to the market, in the end, since we have time :)

Monastery of St. Theodora the Myrrh-Streaming Thessalonica

And then we found ourselves in a temple of amazing beauty. By the way, at its entrance stood a policeman in full protective gear, even with a shield. But, God knows, I don’t know what that temple was called. Everything is written in Greek, and not a word in English. I guess that it was Theodora’s monastery, if I correctly deciphered the “formula” above the entrance.

You will laugh, but as a mathematician, I was not very comfortable at first in Thessaloniki. This Greek language of theirs just drove me crazy. Each inscription plunged me into a slight stupor - I involuntarily tried to understand what kind of formula was in front of me, why I didn’t know it, and why it was so difficult for me to decipher it. Sigmas, deltas, epsilons, lambdas, sums, errors, angular accelerations... Lord, and I’m not an advanced physicist yet, but I just passed by. Then, of course, I got used to it, there was no equal sign in the “formulas” :)

So about the temple with security. As it turned out already at home in Kyiv, it was, indeed, a monastery, and a male one at that. And he really was called by the name of Theodora. Its full name sounded like the monastery of St. Theodora the Myrrh-Streaming Thessalonian (Thessalonian). In the courtyard of the monastery there is a church in which the relics of St. Theodora the Myrrh-Streaming and St. David of Thessalonica are kept.

The Turks, having captured Thessaloniki, plundered the monastery and destroyed the relics of St. Theodora. By the way, in those days the monastery was for women and the Turks conscientiously copied and numbered all the nuns. Surprisingly, the holy monastery avoided the fate of becoming a mosque and remained an active Christian temple throughout the Turkish occupation.

When and why the monastery became a men's monastery remains a mystery. The same mystery remains the question of when and why the monastery ceased to exist. The only thing that is known is that today the monastery does not operate, and spiritual delegations stay in the restored premises from time to time.

A very beautiful place that we found completely by accident!

In the same way, by chance, we discovered the Church of St. Sophia. We didn’t get inside the cathedral; unfortunately, it was closed. They say that this temple is an exact copy of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. But we weren’t there, so I’m not saying anything.

Thessaloniki Market

Our walk around Thessaloniki ended at the market, or rather in the market quarter. Unlike shops, the market did not stop its work for a minute. What's not there! But there is nothing that we don’t have :) Here, even “Louis Vuitton” bags (in quotes not because of the name, but because the bags are like that) are sold openly. And this is an EU country?! Fuck!

Road Thessaloniki - Neos Marmaras

The return trip to Neos Marmaras hammered the final nail into our possible desire to live in disorganized Greece.

It all started with freshly squeezed orange juice with floating fruit flies, bought in a cafe at the KTEL station.

Then the Greek woman tried to tell us that in Greece seats are not numbered from left to right, but on the contrary, like we took her place. And we don’t really care how everything is numbered here, we sat down in our seats, and the numbers on the tickets coincide with the numbers above the seats. She calmed down, but did not apologize. Nevermind:

There was more to come. Can a normal person, who has traveled a distance of 100 km on the same transport, along the same route in 2 hours, assume that the return journey will take him three and a half hours?! That's horrible!

Our route can be described in words - a kilometer forward, five in a circle in the opposite direction. It feels like the evening route of our bus was designed to go around all the cities and towns of the coastal and coastal part of Halkidiki, and then Sithonia. It seems like we’ve gone around Sithonia in a circle. And if we drove during daylight hours, we would be able to see and examine the entire peninsula in detail. And so, we admired the pitch darkness outside the window and sometimes the lights of small villages and men in bars and restaurants.

In Neos Marmaras, night awaited us and the football team was training at the stadium. Naturally, we were almost late for dinner. We literally ran into the restaurant through the closing gates :)

P.S. According to established tradition, about the price of the issue for one person:
380€ - flight-hotel-premium-allinclusive package
Additional costs associated with travel to Thessaloniki:
26€ - KTEL bus on the route Neos Marmaras - Thessaloniki - Neos Marmaras,
2.20€ - train on public transport in Thessaloniki,
4.50&euron - cappuccino, tea and feta pie.
ALL! Just an attraction of unprecedented generosity;)

If you are flying to one of the resorts of the Greek trident - the Chalkidiki region, then you will definitely need information on how to get from Thessaloniki airport to the center of Thessaloniki and the main Greek beach resorts: Nea Kallikratia, Nea Potidea, Sani, Neos Marmaras and others.

Before traveling to Thessaloniki, write down the exact address of your hotel or apartment in Thessaloniki, download a city map and a public transport map to your smartphone.

Brief information about the airport in Thessaloniki

Macedonia Airport in Thessaloniki is located 17 km south of. It is the main airport in northern Greece and is a hub for the following airlines: Aegean Airlines, Astra Airlines, Ellinair and the low-cost airline Ryanair.

From Russia, regular direct flights to Thessaloniki fly from Moscow. The cost of an air ticket from Moscow to Thessaloniki for a regular flight is 150 Euros in two directions, and the travel time is just over 3 hours. In summer, charter flights from dozens of Russian cities are added to regular flights. From Ukraine, a regular flight to Thessaloniki flies from Kyiv. An air ticket Kyiv – Thessaloniki will cost you 100 Euros in two directions, travel time is 2 hours 15 minutes.

Thessaloniki Airport Terminal

Thessaloniki Airport has only one terminal of three floors. The first floor is the arrivals hall, divided into two sections: for international flights/flights outside the Schengen area and for domestic flights/flights from the Schengen area. The second floor is the departure hall, where there are also retail areas and bars. There are many ATMs on this floor. On the top floor there are 2 restaurants and several bars overlooking the runways. Below you can see a map of the airport in Thessaloniki.

At Thessaloniki airport you can buy traditional Greek products, cigarettes, jewelry, and clothing. You can also pack your luggage here.

A few kilometers from the airport there are hotels Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki at a price of 122 Euros per day for a double room and Hotel Nikopolis at a price of 98 Euros per night for a double room.

How to get from Thessaloniki airport to the city center?

There are three ways to get from Thessaloniki airport to the city center or to Greek resorts: by city buses with transfers, by taxi or by rented car. Let's look at each of these methods in more detail.

Bus from Thessaloniki Airport to the city center

Buses from Thessaloniki Airport are usually new and air-conditioned, but very often overcrowded. The buses are operated by the transport company O.A.S.TH.

There are direct buses from Macedonia Airport to the center of Thessaloniki. You won’t be able to get from Macedonia Airport to the Greek resorts in Halkidiki by direct bus: you will need to change at a bus station located on the outskirts of Thessaloniki. Between the airport and the KTEL Halkidiki bus station in Thessaloniki, city buses No. 78, No. 78A and No. 78N run through the city center. Bus station address:ΚΤΕΛ ΧΑΛΚΙΔΙΚΗΣ A, Pilea 555 35.

Bus route No. 78 runs twice an hour during the daytime - from 05:00 to 22:00 from the airport to KTEL station and from 05:50 to 23:00 from KTEL station to Thessaloniki airport.
Bus route No. 78N runs in the evening and at night. The route runs every half hour from 23:30 to 05:30 from the airport to KTEL station and from 22:30 to 04:30 from KTEL station to Thessaloniki airport.
Bus route No. 78A departs only once a day at 05:00 in the direction from the KTEL bus station to Thessaloniki airport.

The total travel time from the airport to the center of Thessaloniki is approximately 30-40 minutes. Tickets can be purchased from a vending machine on the bus. Please note that the machine does not give change. The cost of a ticket for one trip from Thessaloniki Airport for an adult is 2 Euros, for students and pensioners – 1 Euro, for children under 6 years of age the journey is free. The ticket must be validated, otherwise it will be invalid in the yellow composter.

Along the route of buses from the airport, you can get off in the city center - at Aristotle Square(Platia Aristotelous) and on Thessaloniko main railway station in (Neos Sidirodromikos Stathmos).

Bus from Thessaloniki airport to Greek resorts in Halkidiki

If your destination is not the center of Thessaloniki, but another Greek resort town, then you will need to take a bus to the KTEL bus station in Thessaloniki and change there to a bus to your resort in Halkidiki. Find out the number of your bus and its schedule at the ticket office at the KTEL bus station, where you can immediately buy a ticket. You can check the bus schedule to your resort in advance on the KTEL Chakidikis bus station website.

At the same time, you don’t have to drive through the city center on route No. 78 and make loops. In this case, you will need to take bus No. 79 at the airport and take it to the A. S. IKEA stop (Anatolikos Stathmos IKEA), then transfer to bus No. 36/36A/36B to the KTEL Chalkidikis stop. Travel on buses on this route will cost you 1 Euro for an adult and 0.5 Euro for a child.

Greek resorts on the trident of Halkidiki are spread across its three “fingers”: the peninsulas of Kassandra, Sithonia and Athos. If your resort is located on the closest “finger” to Thessaloniki - Kassandra, you want to save money, and you are not bothered by bus delays of an hour, then it makes sense to travel to your resort by bus. If you are traveling with children, and you need to go to the “fingers” far from Thessaloniki - Sithonia or Athos, I recommend ordering a taxi transfer.

I have given the distance to the main Greek resorts and the cost of travel to them from the KTEL bus station one way in the table below.

Please note that many buses, especially long-distance buses, operate only a few times a day, so it is best to check the website in advance for schedules. Prices can also change, as happened in the summer of 2016 due to an increase in the VAT rate.

Bus from Thessaloniki Airport to other cities in Greece

If your destination is not on the Halkidiki peninsula, then to travel to another Greek city from Thessaloniki (for example, Athens, Larissa, Lefkada) by bus you will need to travel from Thessaloniki airport to Thessaloniki central bus station (not to be confused with the bus stationKTEL Chalkidikis!).

Thessaloniki Central Bus Station – Macedonia Intercity Bus Station (KTEL Macedonia)– located at Giannitson 244, Thessaloniki 546 28. Buses also depart from this bus station to other countries: Bulgaria (Sofia, Bansko), Turkey (Istanbul), Macedonia (Skopje), Czech Republic and even Germany. You can learn more about the available international bus routes and see their prices on the official website of the Macedonia bus station, available in English.

The KTEL Macedonia bus station is located 2.5 km from the main railway station in Thessaloniki (Neos Sidirodromikos Stathmos), where routes No. 78 and No. 78N stop.

How and where to buy a bus ticket at Thessaloniki airport?

The national currency of Greece is the Euro. As I already said, bus tickets are sold in special machines inside the buses. The machine on the bus does not give change, so have small coins ready.

In Thessaloniki itself, bus tickets can also be purchased at ticket offices at bus stops.

Taxi from Thessaloniki airport

The taxi rank at Thessaloniki Airport is located at the exit from the arrivals area. Depending on traffic conditions, the journey from the airport to the center of Thessaloniki will take you 35-40 minutes.

Some features of taxis in Greece:

When traveling at night (from 00:00 to 05:00), taxi fares increase by 30%.
The driver must turn on the meter. Keep an eye on this when getting into a taxi.
Payment in a taxi is only possible in cash, which you should stock up on in advance.
According to Greek law, one taxi car can transport a maximum of 4 people at a time, including children.
Greek taxi drivers do not know English or know it very poorly, so write down the exact address of your destination in Greek on a piece of paper in advance.

How to get to Thessaloniki Airport

When traveling from the center of Thessaloniki to the airport, depending on the time of day, you will need to take bus No. 78 or No. 78N and get to the Airport Macedonia stop. You can take this bus at the stop at Aristotle Square, the main railway station of Thessaloniki, or at the KTEL Chalkidikis bus station.

When traveling to Thessaloniki airport from a Greek beach resort, it will be most convenient to order a taxi transfer, otherwise you will first have to go from your hotel to the bus station in your city, then go to the KTEL Chalkidikis bus station, and then wait for a bus to the airport.

The Greek city of Thessaloniki (Θεσσαλονίκη) is a cultural center and one of the liveliest cities in Greece. It is called the heart of Macedonia, so it is not surprising that the city's airport and central bus station (KTEL) are named "Macedonia".

Macedonia International Airport ("Macedonia" Airport - Thessaloniki SKG) is located near the city center, fifteen kilometers away and has only one terminal. By 2021, as Fraport Greece promises, a new airport terminal will be built.

Website of the Macedonia airport in Thessaloniki, display: skg-airport.gr

Telephone number of Macedonia Airport in Thessaloniki: +30 2310 985000

How to get from Thessaloniki airport to the bus station, to the city center:

Currently, you can get from the airport to KTEL Macedonia and the city center by taxi and bus.

A taxi to the city center costs about 30 euros

Express X1 is a bus that departs from the airport and travels through the center of Thessaloniki, its final stop being KTEL Macedonia. A bus ticket costs 2 euros ( data for 2019)

Express bus schedule X1 from Macedonia airport:

6:05 06:35 06:55

08:00 08:25 08:55

13:05 13:30 13:55

16:10 16:30 16:55

21:05 21:25 21:55

From KTEL Macedonia to the airport, see the X1 bus schedule here: oasth.gr

Express bus stops X1:› ? ‎ ΜΠΑΛΤΑ, Τ.Σ. Κ.Τ.Ε.Λ.

If you are passing through Thessaloniki, then a good option to see the city is bus tourist route No. 50. The bus stop is located at the White Tower (one of the main attractions of the city). When traveling on the X1 express, you need to get off at the Dimarchiaco Megaron stop (Δημαρχιακό Μέγαρο). The cost of a trip on a tourist bus is 2 euros. The guide on the bus will show you the main attractions; he speaks English and Greek. The bus will take you to the Vlatadon Monastery (ask the driver to tell you where is the best place to get off), which is located in Ano Poli; you can also get to the monastery by city bus No. 23.

City buses that go to KTEL "Macedonia" are buses No. 8, No. 12, No. 31

How to get from Macedonia Airport to KTEL Halkidiki:

From the Halkidiki bus station (Κ.Τ.Ε.Λ. Χαλκιδικής), buses depart to anywhere in the Halkidiki peninsula along the national road Thessaloniki - N. Moudania.

To get from Thessaloniki Airport to the desired bus station, at the stop next to the exit from the airport, you need to take bus No. 79 and go to the ΙΚΕΑ stop, there change to bus No. 36.

A taxi fare will cost about 25 euros.

Bus number 45 goes from the Macedonia bus station to the Halkidiki bus station.

¶ How to get from Athens airport to the city center, port, bus station, read.

Intercity bus service in Greece organized quite unusually. Transportation between Greek cities is subject to the KTEL syndicate, which is an association of joint-stock companies founded in each region of the country by private bus owners, but under state management in a single network. The activities of KTEL are regulated by Greek laws No. 2119/1952, 102/1973 and 2163/2001. Thus, regional KTELs play by the same rules under government supervision, but are independent legal entities and independently regulate bus transportation to their regions. Those. KTEL of a certain region operates bus routes: a) within its region; b) to Athens and/or Thessaloniki; c) occasionally to the centers of neighboring regions.

Therefore, at the bus stations of Athens and Thessaloniki, where buses from all over the country come, there is no single ticket sales office, but you need to look for the KTEL ticket office of that particular region Greece where you need to go. Accordingly, to board the bus you must again look for the platform of the KTEL you need. It is not surprising that in large cities there may be several bus stations where KTEL of different regions are based.

For example, there are 3 bus stations in Athens:

basic KTEL at Kifisou Avenue 100 (serves all routes except the regions of Attica, Thessaly and Sterea Hellas)
KTEL on Lyosion street (serves the island of Euboea (Chalkis), the region of Phocis (Delphi), the region of Phthiotis (Lamia, Kamena Vourla), the region of Boeotia (Thebes, Arachova), the region of Magnesia (Volos), the region of Karditsa, the region of Larisa, the region of Trikala)
KTEL Attica, which serves routes in the Attica region, and also, together with KTEL Thessaloniki, provides connections between the two Greek capitals

Please note that the X93 express bus from Athens International Airport passes through KTEL Lyosion and KTEL Kifisou (terminus), but does not pass through KTEL Attica.

There are 2 bus stations in Patras: KTEL Achaia and KTEL Etoloakarnania region, however, they are located next to each other and to the port.

A few years ago there were 6 or 7 different KTELs in Thessaloniki until they opened a common bus station KTEL "Macedonia", which is located in the north of the city. The bus station has a website in English with a convenient interactive map. Today in Greece this is actually the only modern bus station with the appropriate infrastructure and a high-quality informative website.

The Macedonia bus station is connected to Thessaloniki airport by bus routes No. 78 (express) and 78N (night, with all stops). Please note that the new bus station has united under its roof all bus companies except KTEL Halkidiki, which is located closer to the airport near the IKEA hypermarket. Travel from the airport by bus No. 79 with a transfer to No. 36 at the IKEA stop. KTEL Macedonia and KTEL Chalkidiki are connected by city bus route No. 45, which runs every 20 minutes.

Due to the mountainous terrain Greece Railway communication in the country is underdeveloped, so the main burden of passenger transportation falls on the KTEL bus companies. The longest bus routes in Greece are operated by KTEL of the Evros region: Alexandroupoli - Athens (850 km by land), as well as KTEL of Heraklion in Crete: Heraklion - Thessaloniki and Ioannina (by ferry via Piraeus). Communication between major cities is quite frequent, the bus fleet of Greek KTELs has become noticeably younger in recent years, and roads are also being updated. Therefore, traveling in a modern, comfortable bus with air conditioning and tinted windows will not cause much trouble.

The old buses remain only on intraregional routes. If you are planning a trip between sparsely populated areas, then know that there are no bus stations in villages; there buses stop near coffee shops (aka cafes), tickets can be purchased either from their owners directly on the spot, or from conductors (on buses connecting large cities, there are no conductors). On local routes, buses travel extremely rarely, two or three times a day, so try to check in advance the departure time of the bus from the places that you are going to include in your trip.

To avoid unnecessary troubles, bus tickets must be purchased in advance, at least 20 minutes in advance, and be sure to keep in mind that Greek drivers often set off earlier than the time indicated on the schedule. It would also be a good idea to check with the driver the final destination of the route, because the information on the waybills for some flights may be incorrect. Upon departure, you can buy a return ticket with an open date. Unfortunately, the online ticket sales system has only recently begun to be implemented. Therefore, not all regional KTELs in Greece can yet offer electronic ticket systems. Of course, you can book a ticket for a Greek bus in advance at all bus stations, but to do this you need to personally appear at the KTEL ticket office. For guidance on bus ticket prices: for example, at the beginning of 2016. bus ticket between Athens and Thessaloniki(distance 550 km) cost 43 euros, round trip 63 euros.

On large greek islands you can buy comfortable Bus tours(both from KTEL itself and from local travel agencies), which will take you to a variety of historical and archaeological sites, beautiful beaches and other places for entertainment or active recreation. Typically, such tours include all possible amenities plus the services of a guide, and save you from a lot of hassle when moving between cities on your own.

Once upon a time in Greece there was a single KTEL website, but now you can only find a list of websites and telephone numbers of regional bus stations there. This situation arose after the events of 2006, when various telephone companies specializing in paid information unauthorized used bus website data to sell their services over the phone. Therefore, all information about schedules and prices has been removed from the KTEL website.

Therefore, we tried to collect information about those regional KTELs that have their own websites on the Internet. Unfortunately, not all bus companies in Greece have their own portals online and not all sites provide information in English. In the latter cases, use electronic translators, such as Google's language toolbar. In general, the picture is that the more developed the region of Greece in terms of tourism, the more likely it is that the local KTEL has a website in English.

So, we present to you information about Greek bus schedule KTEL

KTEL (Bus stations) of the EPIR region

KTEL Ioannina (Ioannina)

The site is in Greek and English, but not all the content of the site is translated into English.

KTEL Arta (Arta)

Website only in Greek

KTEL Preveza (Preveza)

Website

KTEL Thesprotia (Igoumenitsa)

The website is in Greek, but there is an online ticket page in English.