12 October Arrival –18 October Departure
Florina (Greece)
Dear all,
We are looking forward to meeting you all in Florina. In this file you will find some important information for your travel arrangements.
Arriving by plane atThessaloniki Airport (SKG):
Bus from Thessaloniki Airport (SKG) to Thessaloniki city center.
As soon as you arrive at the Thessaloniki Airport and exit the arrivals door you will find in 50meters walking distance the bus stop with the number 78. More info here:
This bus takes you from the airport to the central bus and train station. Ticket costs 2 euros (one way) and it would take you around 45 mins to the Train Station and 60 mins to the bus station. It always depends on the traffic at the city center (Keep in mind that there is a Metro under construction for more than 10 years, Greek time management).
Bus from Thessaloniki bus station to Florina
From Thessaloniki Bus station there are several buses every day to Florina. More info here:
Bus timetable from Thessaloniki to FlorinaVia Egnatia / 10.30
2h 10m / 13.00
2h 10m / 19.30
2h 10m
Via Edessa / 07.00*
2h 30m / 15.30
2h 30m
*NOT weekends
Prefer the ones that go via Egnatia Street as they are faster and without many stops.
A bus ticket should be 24 euros (round trip) and 17 euros (round trip) with your student card.
Train from Thessaloniki train station to Florina
In case none of the buses fits your itinerary there is also the option of the train. There are 3 trains per day as seen below:
Train timetable from Thessaloniki to Florina07.14 – 09.47
2h 33m / 12.23 – 14.55
2h 32m / 19.30 – 22.02
2h 32m
Price should be 10 euros one way trip but there are several offers if you buy it online at:
Just a comment not to get surprised:
Don’t expect a train like Irish rail, or TGV, but rather a train like the one we created to go from the Blue room to the Ball room downstairs. It can arrive in 2h,32m but it can take a bit longer depending on the mood of the train engine. It’s a nice route anyway…
Arriving by plane at Skopje Airport:
Bus from Skopje Airport to Skopje center:
When you arrive at Skopje airport you should take the bus that goes to the city of Skopje. Check out here bus from Skopje airport to the city of Skopje:
Bus from Skopje to Bitola:
From Skopje you can travel to Bitola with good connections via Bus. Check the link here: or look at the schedule tables below.
From Bitola to Florina:
Since for the last part of your trip there is no public transport connecting the cities of Bitola and Florina, we will arrange to pick you up from the bus station of Bitola and bring you to Florina. It is a 33km distance from the one city center to the other and we will do it by car.
Accommodation:
Hotel Lingos located in the heart of Florina’s city center is a 3 star Hotel. You will be accommodated in double rooms (Wifi, WC, TV, bathroom, towels and linen facilitiesare included in every room). The working area for our training will be in the Hotel’s main building.
About Florina:
Florina is a small city in mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Florina is a market town with an economy dominated by agriculture, forestry, summer but mostly winter tourism, cross-border trading and the sale of local products such asgrain,grapes, vegetables and the famousFlorina peppers. It also has textile mills and is known for locally manufactured leather handicrafts. However, the most notable industrial activity is the very large Ptolemaida-Florina lignite mine, used in the lignite power plants which cover a large part of Greece’s electric power needs. Florina region in general offers great landscapes, with mountains, lakes, valleys, old forests, rivers and beautiful picturesque villages. The most popular places for daily excursions is the historicNymfaion village, where theEnvironmental Centre ARCTUROSis offering shelter to brown bears from the close mountains;Amyntaio villagewhich is surrounded by wineries that produce the famous Amyntaio Wines; and of course thePrespatwin lakes (with the large one being shared by Greece, Albania, and FYROMacedonia) which was recently added to UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves, with 11 native fish species and the perfect place for bird watching.
The city of Florina offers nice walks or bicycle rides with public bicycles provided by the municipality. There are many nice coffee-houses and restaurants in the pedestrian street in the city centre and by the river. As Greeks have their dinner quite late in the evening, it is easy to find something to eat even until late at night. You can always grab asouvlakifrom the street, at all hours of the day.
Weather:
End of August expect something like 30 degrees during the day which might fall around 15 during the night.
What to prepare and bring with you:
We are going to have an International evening so please feel free to bring with you items that can be useful, from food and drinks to music, traditional costume, pictures, films etc! There will be a very flexible place, tocook, taste, sing, dance and spend some time with locals also!
Maybe I discussed it already with some of you but I write it here for everyone. In our Organization (and hopefully our future social enterprise) we are trying to build an international library free for all young volunteers and locals. Therefore we would really appreciate if you could bring 1 or 2 or more books in your own language that you don’t use any more and that you would like to offer them contributing to our effort. Also write a small note in the first page inside just to inform the reader where this book comes from and who the donator was!
Contact:
For any kind of questions please do not hesitate to contact:
Konstantinos Stergiou
e-mail:
mob: +306974828298 (Viber, What’s app)
Association of Active Youths of Florina (OENEF)