If you want to experience Mt Olympus and its beautiful surrounds you will first have to make your way to the picturesque little village of Litochoro. The easiest way to reach Litochoro from Thessaloniki is by car, which takes just over an hour. However, the streets in Litochoro are rather narrow and everything is within walking distance, which means you won’t need your car while you’re there. So unless Mt Olympus is part of your larger road trip of Greece, we recommend taking public transport to reach the Mountain of the Gods.
Bus: KTEL (Greece’s national bus service) services Litochoro, and the bus will drop you off right in the centre of the village. Buses from Thessaloniki to Litochoro leave from the Macedonia Intercity Bus Station, which is 5km west of Thessaloniki’s city centre, and cost approximately 10 EUR. It involves a connection at Katerini Bus Station, where you have to change buses.
To get to KTEL Intercity Bus Station in Thessaloniki, you can catch the number 12 bus, which runs from the centre of Thessaloniki to the bus station. It departs every 10 minutes or so from several stops in town, and costs 1 EUR. See Thessaloniki to KTEL Bus Station Timetable for more information, including the exact bus stop locations.
In order to buy a ticket on the bus, you need to have exactly 1 EUR as the ticket machine doesn’t give change and it won’t let you buy more than one ticket at a time. You can only buy the Thessaloniki to Litochoro bus ticket once you reach the Intercity Bus Station.
Train: The closest train station to Mt Olympus is Litochoro train station, which is 6km east of Litochoro and situated next to the ocean. Trains head from Thessaloniki’s main train station to Katerini, where you will need to switch to another train to get to Litochoro. It’s a 5 minute drive from Litochoro train station to the village and the taxi costs about 9 EUR.
Read more on Mt Olympus: Prionia to Litochoro E4 Trail
