Which route would I have taken on a train trip from London to Athens in 1956?

Question

In 1956 , when I was 7, my mother took me on a train trip from Cardiff to her very own and beloved Greece for a visit. I have some very vivid memories of this trip but I can't remember the details of where we would have travelled through. Cities, countries?? How long it took etc etc. I would appreciate ANY information including any useful links that would fill in the gaps in my memory. I've tried searching but can't find anything useful apart from present day travel here http://www.seat61.com/Greece.htm. Please please please help me!!!

Answer 1

Take a look here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriental_Ex...

Answer 2

I f you read "The Orient Express", you will find a lot of the route there, I think. It would have followed the E5.

Answer 3

I have done that trip a decade plus later when I was 17. And your question has brought back a lot of memories that I had long forgotten. Thank you.

Even that I was much older than you when I made it , the trip was also for me a mystery, because I only remember glimpses and fragments of it. But you have made me remember my constant fear not to fall asleep and miss my next connection.

I started off from Victoria station but I don't remember much of the trip to Dover and the consequent crossing of the Channel.

I have a glimpse of me running with a heavy suitcase and a couple of carry ons to get the train from Calais. I remember  going by a lot of scenic parts of North west France on the way to Paris but due to the oncoming night soon those were over too.

The Paris stop is a blank and so is the rest of the journey to Basel, Switzerland where I had to change trains. The trip through the Swiss Alps and cities is a memorable one just because I made that trip a few more times later when I was much older and I  had the peace of mind to enjoy the route.

My next memory from that trip, was me standing on the platform in the Milan station  guarding my luggage in fear of it being stolen. Due to urgent nature's call I  finally had to abandon the heavy suitcase and go to the nearest rest room.

I was lucky and nothing happened to it during that time and when I got back but I had a very long wait for the connecting train. My route must have been different  from yours at this stage, because I travelled down the Italian peninsula to Brindisi.This leg of the journey was the most tiring of all because I had to be on constant alert for my luggage and because the train made every possible stop on the way, with people getting on and off the train all the time.

When I finally got  to Brindisi after a long stop-over on some place not far from Brindisi to get the engine changed, the train station was so far away from the port  that every meter seemed a mile. Although I was supposed to have ample time

to get to the port before departure I just barely made it .

All and all, it was a scarry  two days plus  trip for me and the fact that I made it in time was on account of being young.

Your route must have been different  if you were on the Munich to Athens train that was running daily at those times and it was quite reliable too. The cities betwee must have been Wienna, Ljubliana, Belgrade,Thessaloniki, Athens.

Answer 4

wow that must have been a wonderfull adventure for a 7 year old...it sounds like you took the orient express..but you must have took the last years of that service it wasnt running in the sixties it was taken off for close to 30 years then they bought it back in the ninteys. .BUT never the less from cardiff it would have been the boat to calais in france possibly a bush ride to paris cause it terminated at paris from there would have tavelled through lower germany then through austraia through hungary then in to yougoslavia from the in to bulgaria then in to INSTABUL IT TERMINATED THERE .from there you would have taken  GREEK TRAIN to  THESALONIKI  excanged at thesaloniki and get the train to athens  terminating there  thats if you r mum visted athens  if not then you would have gone from the main terminal in athens and boarded the train that goes in to peloponesus . off course if u got off any where on that line from thesaloniki   all the way doent to peloponisus you would have goten a bus to your finaly destinations? can you rember how many days it took to travel one way? never the less wow

Answer 5

In those days, because of the existence of the Iron Curtain, I think it would have been most common for westerners to travel through Italy and use the Brindisi - Patras ferry. Your route would probably have been London - Dover - Calais (or Folkestone - Boulogne)- Paris (change stations) then either via Basel or Vallorbe through Switzerland to Milan then down to Brindisi (probably via Bologna rather than Rome).

Answer 6

london-paris-basel-milan-venise-beograd

-skopie-thessaloniki-athens