Greece
Greece occupies the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula and has about 10 million people, thousands of islands and the longest coastline on the Mediterranean. Albania, North Macedonia and Bulgaria lie along its northern border and Turkey to the east; Athens is the capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki and Patras. Mountains take up most of the mainland, and sea takes up most of the rest of the country.
Neither of those facts favours railways, which is why Greece has a small network rather than a national one. Hellenic Train runs fast modern services on the main line between Athens and Thessaloniki and a suburban system around the capital; beyond that, the interest lies in a couple of narrow-gauge mountain lines, engineered in the 1890s, that climb where the roads can barely follow. Ferries do the work the railway cannot, so a Greek rail trip is usually a few short, spectacular rides rather than one long one.
Rail journeys in Greece
The Odontotos Rack Railway
Greece's little cog railway grips a toothed rail to haul itself up the sheer Vouraikos Gorge — one of the narrowest rack lines on earth.
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The Pelion Railway
They call it the Moutzouris, the sooty one — a 600 mm mountain railway up Mount Pelion, over stone viaducts and a bridge designed by a painter's father.
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What are the best train journeys in Greece?
Two narrow-gauge mountain lines stand far above the rest. The Odontotos rack railway climbs the dramatic Vouraikos Gorge from Diakofto to Kalavryta, and the Pelion railway — the little "Moutzouris" — winds up Mount Pelion from Ano Lechonia to Milies. Both opened in the 1890s and both are ridden today purely for the scenery. Fast modern trains link Athens and Thessaloniki, but the two little railways are the reason train-lovers come.
What is the Odontotos rack railway?
The Odontotos ("the toothed one") is a rack-and-pinion railway that climbs 22 km up the sheer Vouraikos Gorge from Diakofto, on the Gulf of Corinth, to the mountain town of Kalavryta. Where the slope is too steep for ordinary wheels, a cog under the train bites a third, toothed rail. Opened in 1896 on an unusually narrow 750 mm gauge, it is one of the narrowest rack railways in the world.
Is the Odontotos train running right now?
Check before you travel. The Odontotos was suspended in March 2026 after landslides on the slopes of Mount Chelmos and a backlog of track works; geological studies and preparatory works have been under way, but at the time of writing no firm reopening date had been announced. It is one of Greece's best-loved lines and is expected to return — confirm the current status with the operator, Hellenic Train, before planning a trip.
What is the Pelion "Moutzouris" train?
The Pelion railway is a 600 mm narrow-gauge heritage line on Mount Pelion, near Volos, nicknamed "Moutzouris" — "the smudgy one" — after the soot of its old steam engines. Built in the 1890s under Evaristo de Chirico, father of the painter, it runs today from Ano Lechonia up to the village of Milies, over stone viaducts and a famous curved bridge, on weekends from spring to autumn and daily in high summer.