Train and Rail Travel in Thrace Northern Greece (see Greece train map)
Heading East towards the Turkish Border and Asia
If you aren't on the Orient Express and are on Greek Rail remember trains vary and you get what you pay for. So my advice for those of you going to Turkey on the night train from Thessaloniki or Athens - get a sleeper in advance and try to get an express every where and particularly to Constantinople or Istanbul. Prepare for 2 border customs stops and delays and being woken up.
Thrace province only became part of Greece in 1920. The part of the larger region of Thrace (split between Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey) is properly called 'Western Thrace', to distinguish it from 'Eastern Thrace', which is the portion of old Thrace in present day Turkey.
The region has a population of about 400,000, with a topography that resembles that of the Balkans more than that of the rest of Greece. The Rhodope mountains form its northern border with Bulgaria, and which are cut by five major river systems which create broad fertile valleys. The Ottoman railway building through here during the late 19th century was urged by military leaders for strategic purposes (moving troops rapidly), with the rail lines avoiding city centers, where they would be more vulnerable, and also because they were more difficult to establish there due to hilltop locations of cities.
Toxotes is an old Turkish Muslim town with mosques and minarets visible from the train. The ugly concrete apartment blocks were thrown up quickly to house Greek refugees from Asia Minor after the 1922 'katastrofi'. About a third of the population of Thrace is Muslim, with the Muslims consisting of Turks, Pomaks and Gypsies ( the latter now properly referred to as Roma). The Pomaks are Bogomil-Christian Slavs who were forced to convert to Islam during the 16th century; the women wear long black veils. Cities in Thrace are clean and have nice squares and old sectors with half-timbered houses with the second floor enclosed balconies typical of Muslim countries. There are more than 300 mosques in the province, co-existing along with Orthodox churches.
East from Toxotes the line bears slightly north, where the forested slopes of the Rhodope mountains are visible, as well as both Greek and Muslim villages; fields are cultivated with tobacco.
Xanthi
Xanthi (population 40,000) sits on the lower slopes of Mt. Koula at the opening of the Esketze River valley. The rail station is about 2.5km from the center of town. Xanthi's regional importance was enhanced by the coming of the railway in the 19th century, having been previously a summer resort for the area's Turks. This town is the center of the tobacco cultivation; it is also a university town, with a Byzantine citadel (views), a large platia with café and a large cathedral. Its most fascinating feature, however, is its old Turkish quarter on the hill with winding cobbled streets and traditional houses. A folk arts museum occupies one of the older mansions belonging to local tobacco barons. The Saturday morning market is heavily attended by Muslims from the surrounding areas.
To the south is Yenesia , which was the old regional center before the railroad gave Xanthi that role. Yenesia is a farming town with no shining attractions, although its 400-year old mosque, which has been sorely neglected, is one of the oldest in Thrace. The coast near Xanthi is marshy, but there are some beach resorts about 38km from the city around Porto Lagos -- Fanari the most appealing of these, and where there is a campground. The site of ancient Abdera is further along the coast near the present village of Avdira. An important bird sanctuary is in the marshland along the Vistonian Gulf. Live eels are fished for in this area and exported to Central Europe, this being a main industry here.
North of Xanthi towards Bulgaria there is nice mountain scenery and interesting, ethnically mixed towns. The large market village of Ehinos serves the local Pomak community.
Xanthi-Komotini
East of Xanthi are more tobacco fields, and also cotton. The highway parallels the train on the north (left), following the old Via Egnatia route; the sea is visible to the south. Several farm villages ensue, and the nomos of Komotini is entered. There's a Byzantine castle at Polyanthos; near Amaxadhes remains of an old Roman town, which was a fortified station on on the Via Egnatia. Iasmos is a large village (around 3,000 population) on the banks of the Kompsatos River.There a double-arched medieval bridge and a Byzantine church there. Over the Akmar River (after Sostis) is a 75meter long rail bridge, and the silver-capped minaret of Miskos is on your left as the train enters the rail station of Komotini.
Komotini (population around 45,000) is the capital of the nomos (prefecture) of the same name. Around half of the population here is Turkish, and there are many functioning mosques in the city, which sits on the plain only 22km from the Bulgarian border. The OSE rail station is 1.5km from the center of town. The large Turkish quarter behind Platia Ifastou has many small cafes, antique shops, and hawkers selling their wares on the sidewalks. The University of Thrace has a branch here; there is a Turkish secondary school; the Archaeological Museum is very excellent, with artifacts from the Thracian sites of Maronia and Abdera. On entering the town, one can see remains of Byzantine walls. There is also a Pontic community center (called Leski). Accomodation is plentiful.
To the north of this city is the large Nympaia forest, with trails, cafes, and up high, a Byzantine fortress, from which you can see the islands on a clear day.
Komotini - Alexandhroupoli
This line covers a distance of 67km, which heads east and then south from Komotini, passing small villages with a strong Muslim presence, even more so in that city. The closest rail access to the Maronia site is 8km distant. Modern Maronia has a nice square with cafes. The Evros nomos, which is the Turkish border region begins at Mesti; the rail line crosses the east-west highway here. The hills through which the line then passes on the way to Sikorachi is a local boar hunting area; Kirki station the point where tin and silver miners get on the train to go to their mines; the valley of the Iren stream passes through the village of Potamos (which means river/stream) and into the plain down to the outskirts of Alexandhroupoli, first stopping at a station in the midst of rail marshalling yards, the city center station five minutes further on. Passengers must be forewarned not to get off here, but to wait till the train reaches the center station. Through trains heading to northeast destinations to to the two-track 'stub-end' terminal where they change engines.
Alexandhroupoli
This city of around 45,000, which takes its name from the Greek king Alexandros who visited the town after it gained independence from Turkey in 1920 (and not from Megasalexandhros-Alexander the Great). It is known to Turks and Bulgars as Dedeagac, which means 'tree of the holy man', a name which derives from the Dervish colony established here during the 15th century.
It is both port and resort, which began to flourish after the railway from Edirne arrived in 1872, having been a simple fishing village before. Most travellers who come here use it as a gateway to the protected Evros River Delta for bird-watching, expeditions to the 5km deep Cave of Polyphemus near the village of Makris, or to take ferries to the islands of Samothraki and Thassos or to the port of Kavala. This city is also a rail junction, with IC trains to and from Thessaloniki and Athens as well as north-south trains to Greek cities along the Evros River border with Turkey. There are also direct express lines to Istanbul from Thessaloniki with departures from Alexandhroupoli.
There's a colossal lighthouse at the ferry quay. One of the city's interesting features is its Ecclesiastic Art Museum which houses icons and ecclesiastical ornaments saved from Asia Minor. The downtown area has plenty of cafes, restaurants, and rooms.
The Evros River Delta is 11km wide and is located near Loutra Trianoupolis, 20km southeast of the city. It is considered one of Europe's most important wetlands , with close to 250 species of birds, include royal eagles. About a quarter of a million migratory birds overwinter here. It is also a sensitive military area. At the mouth of the delta is a large saltwater lake, Limni Drakonda. The Evros River has its source 500km/310miles to the northwest, near Sofia, Bulgaria.
Alexandhroupol i -Didhimotikho
29km north of Alexandhroupoli is the first stop at Feres (pop. 5,000), which is also the last stop before the highway bridge over the Evros into Turkey. There's a 12th century Byzantine church here with many frescoes from the same period. It was the katholikon of the Monastery of Theotokos Cosmosoterira. Beyond Feres, the lines passes pine forests and lowlands through the village stops of Peplose, Poros, and Vrissoula. Peplos is the point at which the highway bridge crosses the river into Turkey; it is sometimes possible to walk into Turkey from here, or hitch a ride across. More small villages follow, all in sight of the river. The stop for the Dadhia Forest Reserve is at Lykophos. Dadhia is a 35,000 hectare reserve with 36 of Europe's 38 species of raptors. The trees are oaks and pines, roosted in by rare and endangered black vultures and there are migratory routes for wildlife amid the trees. The black vulture (whose numbers have increased since the 1980s) has a wing span of three meters; the black griffon, and the single bearded vulture are among the other rare birds here. More than 200 species of birds have been recorded in this reserve as well as 40 kinds of reptiles and amphibians which are food for eagles and hawks. There is inexpensive accommodation for visitors to this forest: Tel. 25540 32 263.
After the village of Kornofolia, comes the town of Soufli (pop. 5,000), which has been a silk-producing town since Byzantine times. Though silk is still made there, the mulberry trees that the silkworms feed on are gone. In this town there are Turkish wattle and daub houses, once of which has been converted into a Silk Museum. There are also two hotels.
The Mandra stop gives access to some small villages in a wooded valley near the Bulgarian border at Mikro Derio; the rail line follows the river valley. The old wooden station building in Dhikmotikho, the largest town in the area, is now a youth hostel; the new station 1km below the town.
Didhimotikho (pop. 10,000) got its name from the double walls that encircled the town ('didhimos' meaning 'twin'), the town constituting the outer defenses of Konstantinoupouli (Constantinople), capital of the Byzantine Empire. Nearby, remains of the Roman town of Plotinoupolis have been found (some of the finds housed in the museum in Komotini). Before the fall of Konstantinoupoli in 1453, the first European Ottoman capital was in Dhidhimotikho. There is an interesting square here, named for its frog-shaped fountain-Platia Vatrakhos ('vatrakhos' being the Greek word for 'frog'). There is also a folk museum in an old Turkish timber-framed house. A modern cathedral overlooks the town, with the river in front and the cultivated valley behind. From the heights were the cathedral sits one can see parts of the old Byzantine walls. Up the valley along the Erithropotamos River past Kiani, is the beautiful hilltop farming village of Metaxadhes.
Dhidhimotiko-Ormenio
The rail line runs parallel to the international bridge to Turkey at Petradhes; stops at Pythion which has 13th century remains of a Byzantine tower fort and some impressive walls. The town isn't much to see, it's important mainly in its being an international junction with Turkey. Travelling north by rail from Pythion on the Greek side, one stops at Orestiadha (pop, 12,000) which was founded after the 1923 population exchange. Kastanies is a village situated on the wooded bankis of the Ardas River-a very nice place to go for walks and picnics. There is a road border from here through which one can cross into Edirne. Most trains north of Kastanies terminate at Dikea, though a few continue on to Ormenio, where OSE trains exchange cars with Bulgarian State Railways trains.