Trains Turkey <—> Greece

There are no longer any direct Athens-Istanbul trains. You must change trains at Thessaloniki (map) to travel to or from Athens by train.

The most comfortable way to travel by train between Istanbul and Thessaloniki is on the Dostluk/Filia (Friendship) Express, which departs Thessaloniki (Selanik) and Istanbul late in the evening and arrives in the opposite city the next morning, an 11-hour trip.

The Dostluk/Filia Ekspresi hauls only air-conditioned sleeping cars (no normal passenger cars). It departs from Istanbul's Sirkeci Station. More...

The bus is much faster, and cheaper, but not as comfortable for sleeping.

The only other train from Turkey to Europe is the slow Bosphorus Express (Bosfor Ekspresi) departing Istanbul's Sirkeci Station at 22:00 (10 pm) headed for Sofia, Bulgaria, Belgrad, Serbia, and Bucharest, Romania. It does not go to Greece. More...

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Orient Express locomotive, Istanbul, Turkey

A restored steam locomotive pulls into Sirkeci Station after a nostalgic journey from Europe.