Florina

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Florina
<map lat='40.7828839' lng='21.428466796875' zoom='12' view='0' float='right' />
Information
Country:
Flag of Greece
Greece
Population: 16,700
Licence plate: PA
Major roads: E 86
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Florina is a small town in west Macedonia, the very north of Greece, close to the border to North Macedonia.

Hitchhiking out

Every direction

In the middle of the town you can find a roundabout, called Meg. Alexandrou Square. It is the best place in the town to hitch, because all traffic leading to other citys must pass here. From the roundabout it is possible to hitch to the east (Edessa, Thessaloniki, Istanbul) or to the south or west (Kastoria, Ioannina) or even to the north to North Macedonia. To the border with North Macedonia is almost no traffic, it seems that neither the Greeks nor the North Macedonians cross the border often. But you maybe can get a lift to Niki a small village rigth at the border, from there it is possible to walk to Bitola.

Hitchhiker's Experience

Attempted to hitchhike from Florina to Bitola. Had a sign in the Greek script indicating Niki (the border town), but gave up after almost 3 hours in spite of quite a bit of traffic on that road. As there is no local bus to Niki, I had to take a taxi, as I didn't want to be crossing the border on foot after dark. Bargained the taxi down to €15 (18km trip). It was the culmination of a totally fruitless quest to hitchhike in Greece. Crossing the border on foot was absolutely no problem, and I immediately put my Greek experience behind me by getting picked up by the second car that passed me.

Though 2017 was my first visit to Greece, I get the feeling that things may have changed as a result of the migrant crisis from 2015 onwards. - jamesor2