London to Athens...

[BEP]

So I am flying into London on July 20th with friends... We need to make it to Athens by July 25th. We don't want to fly, just take the trains.

I'm pretty sure that Munich is going to be the first stop. After that I really am not sure. Ljubjana, Slovenia, and Croatia look like the next logical stops after that.

What is it like traveling through the former Yugoslavia? Any great cities to check out/avoid?

Are there other routes I should consider in this quick trek across the continent? We will have much more time to travel after our stay in Greece.

[JOEL_]

Dubrovnik in Croatia is my vote.

[Voj]

LOL sur Dubrovnik is gorgeous (but I like Split better right now ; Dubrovnik is kinda overcrowded in the summer).
I was born in former Yugoslavia so I travel pretty often there. Most places are not dangerous though beeing American (specificallly) is probably not a good idea in Belgrade or south Serbia.

The main problem is that connections are awful. There's once a week a bus going from Dubrovnik to Skopje (20 hours) ; no trains
From Skopje (Macedonia) it's a 12 hours trip to Athena. Don't know if that bus still exists as it is passing through or really nearby Kosovo - which is dangerous and should and should be avoided.
The other earth route is to take a bus from Belgrade to Athena (18 hours). The problem is to go from Croatia to Belgrade. Basically you must come from Zagreb (6 hour coach trip). But if you're in Dubrovnik the route from Dubrovnik to Zagreb is a 12 hours trip.
If you choose to take a bus in Croatia, be warned that all companies are not equivalent. If price is really a small concern (it is +/- 3$ ) comfort is really different. Some companies are broke and can't take the highway. So ask the locals. In the same vein, I'd recommend you to take a Greek bus company if possible, more than a Serbian one.


We travelled not by plane w/ my gf from Dubrovnik to Athena 3 years ago (and vbasically nothing has changed) . The easiest route (and I speak the language - it's my mother tongue - so I could easily study all the plans) is a boat from Dubrovnik to Bari (1 night) and then a boat from Bari to Patras (one night and one morning) then a bus from Patras to Athena (3 hours).
All in all it was pretty cheap - except the Bari-Patras chunk. The major problem we have faced is the fact that if you don't book very early (by now it is probably too late - check it out) you'll have no choice but to sleep on the deck. For one night it is ok (not very fun - esp. on the Greek boats as they compell you to sleep outside ; on teh Croation boat they just let you take whatever place you want) but two nights is really tiring.
If I had to do this trip again I'd surely book earlier to have a cabin or would take the plane. Eventually I'd even take the Belgrade route.
If you don't plan to go through Croatia you have a choice of boats :
- Venezia - Patras (30 hours)
- Ancona - Patras (24 hours)
- Bari - Patras (20 hours)

[BEP]

Thank you for all of the information Voj.

I'm now thinking that this route will be too much to handle for my friends who will be in Europe for their first time.


I guess

Paris > Lyon > Torino > Venezia > Patras

this just seems so boring though [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Maybe I can come up with something better.

[Voj]

[ QUOTE ]
Thank you for all of the information Voj.

I'm now thinking that this route will be too much to handle for my friends who will be in Europe for their first time.


I guess

Paris > Lyon > Torino > Venezia > Patras

this just seems so boring though [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Maybe I can come up with something better.

[/ QUOTE ]

Depends on if you want to visit those cities or not.
Imo,

London > Paris > Lyon > Milano > Venezia > Patras is a better way to do it, not depending if you want to visit those places or not.
Now, if you don't want to visit Venezia (a bit overmegasupercrowded in the summer) it is better to transit via Ancona (and ships sail just far more often)

[Luckyspikes]

If you wants some informations about Lyon, PM me. This is a beautiful city, known for his greatest food and a lot of historical museums.