THESSALONIKI PUBLIC TRANSPORT

The bus fleet of “Thessaloniki Urban Transport Organization” (OASTH) is the only public transport means available in the city until the first line of Thessaloniki’s Metro will begin operating on November 30, 2024 (keep reading for more). For your best service, you can install on your smartphone the very helpful application of OASTH and gain access to bus itineraries, timetables, locations of bus stops, maps, and announcements, along with live information about the time of arrival of the bus you are interested in at any stop. The app is free and available in English and Greek.

1) Useful Bus Lines

The express bus lines 01X (operating during the day) and 01N (operating during the night), connect Airport “Makedonia” with the historic center of the city, the New Railway Station, and the Bus Terminal “KTEL Makedonia”. Along the way, the 01X and 01N buses stop at several other areas of the city. However, almost half of the bus stops are omitted so that the total duration of the route is minimized.

If after your arrival to Airport “Makedonia” you are going to be traveling towards Chalkidiki by public transport, you first need to take bus 79 from the airport until the Transit Station “IKEA” and then bus 36 until “KTEL Chalkidiki”. From there you can take the long-distance bus to your destination in Chalkidiki. From the Transit Station “IKEA” you can also take several other buses to the city center (a time-consuming alternative choice to the 01X and 01N lines).

To get from the Port of Thessaloniki to Aristotelous Square or to the White Tower, you can take buses 03, 15 or 39. The closest bus stop is on Salaminos street, 150m from the port’s passenger terminal building.

More bus lines that can be useful for the visitors of the city are:

  • Line 45, which connects “KTEL Makedonia” Bus Terminal with the New Railway Station and with the Bus Terminal “KTEL Chalkidiki”,
  •  Line 50, which follows the cultural route of the city (the starting and ending point of the route is the White Tower – click here for more information), and
  • Lines 22 & 23, which are passing through the streets of the Upper Town (some of them are also covered by the line  50). All the vehicles of line 22 are small vans that can pass through the narrow, steep streets of this historic old neighborhood.
Αστικές Συγκοινωνίες Θεσσαλονίκης ΟΑΣΘ

2) Bus Tickets

The cost for a regular OASTH bus ticket is 0.90 euro and it is valid for a single, one-way route. The ticket for the cultural route (line 50) and for the airport (lines 01X and 01N), costs 1.80 euros. There are also tickets that you can use for more than once within a limited time frame, reduced-price tickets, and special cards for unlimited routes. For more information regarding all the available types of tickets and cards, their fares and discounts, click here. Unfortunately, at the moment there are no multi-day travel cards specifically designed for the visitors of the city.

You can purchase your tickets from: 1) the ticket booths of OASTH at various spots around the city (you can find them here), 2) certain traditional Greek kiosks and 3) certain small grocery stores. You can also issue the main types of tickets directly on the bus by using the automatic, coin-operated vending machines (first select your ticket and then insert at least the exact amount of coins – no change is given).

Once you get on a bus, you must directly validate or issue your ticket and keep it throughout the journey. You have to present it only to the ticket inspectors (be sure they carry their special IDs) or to the bus driver if requested. Passengers that do not carry a valid ticket will have to pay a fine equal to 60 times its value.

3) The Upcoming METRO of Thessaloniki

According to the most recent official announcements, Thessaloniki’s Metro will be operating on November 30, 2024 (the last announcement in a series of delays). Its first line will be 9.6km long and it will have 13 stations starting from the New Railway Station at the west and ending at “Nea Elvetia” station at the east. The ticket price will cost around 1 euro. However, during the first week, the access will be free of charge. For more information regarding the progress of the project click here.