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*"I've also followed the intructions and waited several hundred meters after JetOil. It wasn't railly easy to hitchike in a freezing weather and nobody has stoped for about 2 hours than a turkish truck driver stopped and we've driven to the direction of Malaka.
So what I can highly recommend you is: Go to the truck station in Thessaloniki, where you can also drive by 83. There is certainly some Turkish trucks who drives to the direction of Turkey, but on the border because of the strikes or controls you might have to wait more than 7 hours. There I'd advice you to pass the bridge with a truck from the front of the queue. If it is evening mostly the drivers would sleep in Keşan. So just try to speak to car drivers on the Turkish border. 2012 Arsen
*''I followed the instructions and went to JetOil and got the personnel to help, but it turned out to be quite hard to get a ride going east. Even though a lot of cars and trucks do stop there, the cars appeared to be going local and the trucks were heading towards Athens. After half an hour, I decided to move on and got a short ride to the highway. After 5 minutes a trucker, who was on his way to Iran, stopped for me. So even though I do not recommend thumbing up on the highway, it does work some time. December 2010, Lana''
*''I tried the recommended way of asking around at the JetOil trying to get out of Thessaloniki, with no luck. It seemed all the truckers were either sleeping, local, or going to Athens. Also, they were not that keen on taking hitchhikers anyway. After a few hours, I went to the highway right next to the station (there is an opening in the fence, you just have to look for it), and got a ride halfway to Istanbul within 10 minutes. It surprises me how closed-minded the original post is, being that it is entirely possible, and quite easy to get a ride on the highway. Just a lesson that you should never take anyone's recommendation as absolute truth. I would personally recommend getting the personnel at the station to ask around for you (they were incredibly friendly), and stay within clear sight on the highway in case they get you a ride before you do. February 2011, Jon''
*''First of all: it's not easy at all to hitchhike in Greece btw Thessaloniki. We spent one day and two hours the next day in that area to get a hike in the direction to Turkey. If you take the bus #83 from town be prepared that it '''doesn't''' stop on the highway. We drove to the next station and waited for the bus #86 to drive back. The whole in the fence is an option but a bad one because the cars are driving fast and they have almost no space to stop. We got a hitch at the drive-up, direction Kavala. It is wide and the cars are driving slow. If you come with the bus and go under the highway you'll find it on your left hand side. 250m to walk from the JetOil. Good Luck! July 2011, Timo''
*''In Thessaloniki Kamara you can take bus 83. There is no need to take bus 27 and change to 83. The ride towards the HH point takes about 20 to 30 minutes. The bus will drive on the highway. Stay on the bus until it leaves the highway and continue for about 5 minutes on the local road. Leave the bus when you see a petrol station on your right. Walk for 100 metres until the traffic light where you will find some shade from trees. It is so hot between 12 and 4. 500 metres further from the traffic light is the highway. I first tried there but all the traffic was heading for Thessaloniki. So I went back to the traffic light. The cars are local but there are several trucks going to Turkey. They take the national road to avoid the toll from the highway. Try to get the attention of the trucks. I used a cardboard written Kavala-Turkey. The truck took me to the border and there I slept in the truck with the driver. At the border change to a car. The waiting time for the truck was about 40 minutes. The waiting time for the car was 5 minutes. May 2012. Len''
*''Spent a full day trying to get a ride from the area where bus 27 stops before going over the motorway. Greeks do not stop, slept on top of a derelict building of which there's plenty there. Go to Jetoil as described above, guy with ponytail (late 30ties I think) speaks English and has been helping hitchers out for 20+ years. He knows a substantial amount of the traffic because this petrol station apparently has very loyal customers, meaning he knows which people to ask. Hole in the fence was still there but the police use the cafe as their coffee stakeout and they were there in number all day, so hitching beyond the fence might not be advised. Might still take a substantial amount of time at the Jetoil but I got a ride all the way to Georgia. August 2014. Wouter''
*I took bus 83 all the way to the last station (A small village). From there there is a bus going towards Rentina. Tell the bus driver or the person working at the bus station that you want to get off next to the toll on the highway. (The man at the bus sation was super helpful) The toll is only 15 minutes from the busstation. Jump the fence and stand just afte the toll on the highway.
From the toll it took 5 minutes to get a ride to the Turkish border. August 2015. Liron
* I took bus like other guys, from Kamara Square, in Thessaloniki to Lagkadas. Actually I couldnt catch the gas station in below. But I went to last point (a bus station) at Lagkadas and used a bus which were going to Rentina. You have to buy a ticket for this bus. It was aroun 1-1,5 euro. And you can explain the situation to the man who sells this bus ticket. He will translated it to greek for the bus driver. Because you have to get off at tolls, near the lake. You can continue hitchiking at this point. I know you won't remember me, but I waited less than 2 mins. I get off from Rentina bus, walked 1 min to the tolls and a trucked stopped near me. By the way, I am a Turkish. MAybe he could understand it from my face :) Anyway we went together to border gate. There was a huge truck population for some bordes process. I get off from first truck and started to walk to gate. Greek police men asked something and I answered. They were so cute to me. After passport control you will see duty free and Everest (like resting area) . You cant walk from Greek gate to Turkish gate. You have to use a car. And you can ask to drivers who resting in this area. I could find a driver who were going to Çorlu, Tekirdağ. And I get off at Çorlu. Samet, November 2015
* "We took bus 27 and go to KTEL Macedonia. And walked few minutes to Motorway. We waited 2 or 3 hours under the rain. Two Turkish truck gave up. But They said "You should wait at JetOil, Turkish trucks waiting this station." Turkish Truck Drivers are very good and truthful guys. Dont worry, go and ask them" Ahmet, May 2016
* We (1 girl, 1 guy) went to the BP station, had to change from the 27 to the 83 bus along Lagkada Street. The manager at the station was very friendly and spoke to us when we first arrived; he said that many hitchhikers use this site and come here almost every day to hitch a ride and that someone always ends up giving you a lift. At the BP station there is a seating area and a little market - the place is open 24/7. We put our stuff down and went around asking turkish truck drivers if they were headed to Istanbul, we would also ask normal drivers walking into the market. The manager helped us out a lot here, he taught us how to spot Turkish vs Greek trucks, and even asked drivers if they were headed our way. We ended up with a ride to Kavala with a random Greek guy driving a mercedes. We waited around for approximately 4 hours (Ryan C, Sep 2017).
* We (1 girl, 1, boy) took the bus #83 to the last station. Here we ask for the bus 91A and stop to Analipsi (Ανάληψη). We walked 15min and joined the toll. From the toll we waited 5min, a Turkish truck stoped. The all trip Thessaloniki - toll costed us 2€, but really efficient. (Adrien L, July 2019.)
*For me the best option to reach the bp gas station was to take the bus 83b, it stops 300m further and you just walk 5 minutes back in the direction you came from. For me it was super fast to get a ride till alexandroupoli. You just have to walk around and ask the drivers directly because they are really scared to take you. The guy I went with even wanted to see my passport. So be prepared to convince the people that it’s not a risk if they will take you. (Blanka, September 2019)
*''If you are traveling with a lot of baggage, the driver will probably refuse to take you (which happened to me and my girlfriend, we had one big and one small backpack, two sleeping bags and a tent), as he needs to be informed by the hotel/casino in advance, that there will be some passengers with big bags. What you can do is call one of the casinos/hotels some time before you go and ask them to inform the driver, you might have to lie about going to spend a night at the hotel.'' [http://hitchwiki.org/en/User:DuriTraktorista DuriTraktorista]
*''My girlfriend and me stood at the junction just next to the old paytoll, which seemed to be the best place since cars were going rather slowly. After 10-15 minutes we were picked up by a North Macedonian woman who brought us to the border. A week later I hitchhiked alone from the same spot and was picked up after 40 minutes and got to the junction with Polykastro before which the highway goes into one line for 500 metres. On that spot I thumbed and got to the border after another 40 minutes. December 2011, [[User:Rozwal|Rozwal]]''
*''My friend and I (two guys) stood here for 4 hours and despite many cars passing only one North Macedonian guy stopped but he asked for money. Then we put up our tent in the nearby field and tried our luck the next day. After another 2 hours we got picked up by Albanian workers that took us to Polykastro. There are no petrol stations or shops nearby, so bring food and water just in case! August 2012, [[User:Chaba|Chaba]]''
Alternatively, you can get off [http://goo.gl/maps/aLQTM here] which is reported to be a better place for cars to stop. But there you have a lot of cars going to the West, while if you come the previous stop you will have cars going only towards Polykastro or the border. *''I took bus Bus 81A from KTEL busstation to Agios Athanasios. Got off when it turns from the highway. From there hitched to Polykastro and another ride got me to the border. At the border asked the car in front of me for a ride, which got me to Skopje. Standing on the highway there, it was very quiet, but I was very lucky as an Austrian car passed and got me straight to Belgrade. January 2011, Lana''
Take the bus #27 from the centre to it's final stop, where also other buses stop(you need #85). Then take bus #85(A, B or M) and you're already on your way. Almost any stop of this bus leaves you at a good hitchhiking point, but the nineteenth stop ''21o chiliometro'' (21st kilometre) is on the way to Serres and the Bulgarian border (to Sandansky, Blagoevgrad, Sofia). If you can't explain all this to the driver just ask him to get off at Assirus. It's a village near the motorway. When you ask the locals for the motorway use the german word "autobahn" instead of "motorway" or "highway". The road is E79 and it's not a motorway, especially after the border. These city bus tickets for 2 rides cost 90 cents (that you don't even have to pay) and take you quite some kilometres out of the city towards all destinations.
Update: If you want to get to ''21o chiliometro'' make sure to make that really clear to the busdriver since the bus doesn't stop at every stop nor says the stops out loud.
Try to <b>not</b> end up in Assirus. Hitchhiking out of this village is a pain. And if you are unlucky enough to end up there: Don't ask locals for the highway because they will take you to the old highway. If you want to get to the new highway to Sofia ask for "autobahn".
[Update: getting off at Assirus has not proved a good idea, it's quite difficult to reach the new motorway from there. A kind local took me there on unpaved roads, and after I had to climb over a fence and descend on a rough path...]
[Update: watch out! the ''21o chiliometro'' and probably Assirus spots are not anymore the right spots to go towards Serres and Sofia. There is now the Egnatia highway and nobody drives this way and if he does it takes several hours to arrive to Serres. Also, in the point where the bus stops used to be a petrol station, also no more in use. ]
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{{Infobox Italian Location
|country = Greece
=== East towards Kavala and [[Istanbul]] ([[Turkey|TR]]) {{E|90}} ===
This route is widely perceived to be difficult. If you are lucky it can be easy if you get to a Turkish truck. Take bus #27 from the centre (e.g. Kamara) until the very end of the line. [UPDATE: bus #83 no longer starts where bus #27 finishes. Instead ask your #27 bus driver where to get off for bus #83] Switch to bus #83 and go a few stops until you see the motorway. Get off when you see a JetOil rest area on the other side of the motorway. Just follow the bus and go under the motorway to reach the other side. Once you are there, rally the petrol station personnel to help you (they are very nice!). Show them your Istanbul (or Kavala or whatever) sign and ask them to tell you if they notice someone going to Turkey. Be prepared to convince the paranoid drivers that you are not wanted by the police and show them your passport. Getting a ride can take anything between one minute and five hours. If it just does not work at the petrol station see the options below (thumbing up on the road etc). Also, there should be a toll station (peage) about [http://hitchwiki.org/maps/?place=6374 15 km east of Lagynas], near Analipsi (where bus #83a is supposed to go). When you get to the border you might want to switch to a passenger car because the truck could be stuck in customs for a while.
Attention: The Jetoil rest area is now rebranded to 'BP Oil' in green colour. They told me (July 2016) that they changed the name last year. I met a spanish hitchhiker who was asking me for the Jetoil, by the time we both didn't know that we were already in the right place.
Another option: Bus #83 goes all the way to Lagkadas. If you stay on the bus until it reaches this small town, you can try hitching out in the direction of Kavala, Istanbul, etc.
=== North-West to [[Skopje]] ([[North Macedonia]]) ===
"Don't bother to hitch hike to the border!!!
There is a free bus from the city centre to the border! These buses belong to the casinos you can find at the border just before Gevgelija. You can find theses buses on Tsimiski street. They are easy to recognize (the name of the casino is printed on the bus, and it is written "free shuttle"). The buses leave at 17:00 and 21:00 though, so it might be quicker to hit the road directly, but more comfortable taking the bus. I didn't take it but I was picked up by a guy working at a casino who gave me the information. Another nice information: you can eat and drink for free at the casino!! Apparently you can just show up at the reception, they will give you a card and you can enjoy food and drinks for free!! I did! Anne-laure, may 2013"
Take a bus #8 (or #31?) from Egnatias street in the centre to KTEL (last stop). You can also take bus #45 which goes between KTEL Makedonia and KTEL Halkidiki (you want to go to ''Makedonia''). Then switch to bus #81 which you can find on the upper platform. Afterwards, you can do different things. You can get off at a first bus stop after you drive over the highway Athens-Skopje - [http://g.co/maps/3qj6m here]. Be careful, the first big crossing you going to come to is the crossing with the ring road (you are going to driver underneath it) while only the next on is the one you need (you are going to drive above it). Then you have to walk almost 2km backwards (if you walk fast it takes 20 minutes) and you can hitch on the junction to the highway to Skopje. However, if the bus goes into Agios Athanasios you can better get off and find your way from there (it seems that this bus goes differently depending whether it is #81 or #81A and depending on some external stuff; you can talk to the driver to make sure).
=== South to [[Athens]] ===
=== West to [[Igoumenitsa]] {{E|90}} ===
Go to the train station, which is also the inner-city bus station. From here, take bus 8 KTEL (the KTEL are the blue and white buses) to Makedonia bus station. From there, you can catch the bus #80 to the end of the line, then follow motorway signs walking (approx. 2km) to the [[toll station]]. Or rather than taking bus #80, just walk across the road (roundabout) till you come to an [[on-ramp]] where, according to [[User:Liva|Liva]], is a a pretty good spot to stop cars.
In [[Igoumenitsa]] you can get a ride with trucks over the sea to [[Italy]].
=== North-East to [[Sofia]] ([[Bulgaria|BG]]) ===
Take bus 83 (any of them will get you there, even the express) from Aristotellous Square stop (on Egnatia Street). You want to get off at the Kombo Gerokomeiou exit (Google maps doesnt show the bus stops this far north, but on the opposite side of the highway is a gas station called Derveni Gas S.A.). MAKE SURE you explain to the bus driver you want to get off at this exit. Otherwise, he might not get off the highway here and the next stop is too far to walk back from. Stand on the shoulder of the ramp. There is not a lot of traffic here, so it might take you up to an hour to get a ride, but I think its worth it because most of the cars going as far as Bulgaria will get on the highway here. Good luck!
