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→South to Athens
* 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)
=== North-West to [[Skopje]] ([[North Macedonia]]) ===
[edit] First of all, it appears greek bus stops do have several names. "25 Martiou" is written on the roadsign but on the bus, it's announced differently. I messed up because of that various times so always be sure to ask the driver to signal your stop. Finding the canteen is a bit of trial and error, but still easily possible. In case you don't find the toll station, from the canteen go right (following the "Athen" roadsign) for about 1,5km to find a small (but picturesque) side stop (August 2017).
[edit] Some of these buses don't go all the way to Malgara so you have to get out at one stop in the middle of nowheren before the bus turns back to Thessaloniki and wait for another bus with the same or different number that goes to Malgara. It can be a little confusing so the best way is to tell someone on the bus where you want to go and let them tell you when to get off for the next bus and the station ''ikostis pemptis martiou''. (September 2019)
For those not wanting to take a bus or want to hitch closer to the city (and aren't scared to walk), go to the the A1 motorway going towards Athens. It runs right beside the city centre. Starting from near the train station after walking 2kms you will arrive at the international bus station. From there it's a 6km walk along the motorway to where the E90 highway joins on to the A1 road to Athens. This is a good spot due to the high amount of Turkish trucks coming straight from the border and bypassing the city as well as any traffic coming from the north. Stand at the end of the onramp where there is a shoulder for traffic to pull over and you can get a ride to Larissa or even Athens.
