How to Get Around Samothraki by Bus (2026): Routes, Stops, Times & Fares
How to Get Around Samothraki by Bus (2026 Guide): Routes, Stops, Times & Fares
Samothraki is reached by ferry from Alexandroupoli on the Thracian mainland, and for an island of about 2,600 people it has a surprisingly full bus service: four routes, 11 stops and 54 departures, all run by Samothraki Municipal Bus (Δήμος Σαμοθράκης, the municipality itself) and all radiating from the port at Kamariotissa. If you came for the Sanctuary of the Great Gods, the hot springs at Therma or the walk up the Fonias gorge, the bus reaches all three — with one important catch on the way back.
The Samothraki bus network at a glance
Kamariotissa is the ferry port and the island’s only bus hub. Buses stand by the port authority building, a short walk from where the boat ties up, and all four routes start and finish there. There is no service between outlying villages: every journey runs out from Kamariotissa and back, so Chora to Therma means returning to the port. The mountain interior around Mount Saos, the highest peak in the Aegean, has no buses at all.
A word on who runs what: some third-party listings split the Chora line off as a KTEL working. The municipality’s timetable makes no such distinction, printing all four routes identically, so we list them all under Samothraki Municipal Bus; KTEL Evrou appears only as the information line.
Main Samothraki bus routes
Kamariotissa ↔ Chora: the busiest line, the short climb inland to the island capital, with 20 trips including late-night runs — route details.
Kamariotissa ↔ Palaiopoli ↔ Therma ↔ Fonias: the north-coast line most visitors want, calling at the Sanctuary of the Great Gods at Palaiopoli, Karyotes, Therma, Platia and the Fonias trailhead; also 20 trips — route details.
Kamariotissa ↔ Alonia ↔ Lakkoma ↔ Profitis Ilias: the inland line to the villages of the south, 12 trips — route details.
Kamariotissa ↔ Pachia Ammos: the weekend beach service, two trips and a shorter season than the rest — route details.
Every published departure is on the full Samothraki bus timetable.
Getting from the port
Boats from Alexandroupoli dock at Kamariotissa and the bus stand is right there — useful, because the island’s rooms are spread between Kamariotissa, Chora and the Therma strip. Land in the evening and you are still fine: both main lines run late.
The Sanctuary of the Great Gods, Therma and Fonias
The north-coast line does the sightseeing, and the municipality publishes journey estimates for it from Kamariotissa: roughly 5 minutes to Palaiopoli, 10 to Karyotes, 20 to Therma, 25 to Platia and about 30 for the full run to Fonias. Palaiopoli is the stop for the Sanctuary of the Great Gods, the mystery-cult site that gave the world the Winged Victory of Samothrace; Therma is the base for the hot springs and the waterfall walks; Platia is where the camping is.
The most important thing to know about this line is that the return times are not from Fonias. The timetable says so plainly: return hours are from Platia, one stop back along the road, and no departure time is published from Fonias itself. If you walk up the gorge, plan to be back at Platia rather than at the trailhead. This is the detail that turns a day’s walk into a long hitch home.
Late buses and post-midnight departures
Samothraki runs later than almost any island this size. The Chora line prints a 21:15 up and a 21:25 back with no day restriction; a 22:00 up and 22:10 back on Mondays and Wednesdays only; and, at the end of the day’s list, a 00:15 from Kamariotissa with a 00:25 return from Chora. The north-coast line likewise ends with entries at 00:30 and 01:00. Those post-midnight times belong to the previous service day. Several individual departures carry day rules of their own, so read the line for your bus, not just the column.
Pachia Ammos: weekends, and a shorter season
The Pachia Ammos beach bus runs Saturdays and Sundays only, on a window of its own: 11 July to 23 August 2026, which both starts and finishes earlier than the main programme. Two trips. If Pachia Ammos is why you came, check the calendar before the timetable.
Tickets and fares
We publish no fares for Samothraki because the municipality publishes none, so carry cash in small notes and coins. Widely-copied versions of the timetable say tickets are bought from the driver, but that line does not appear in the municipal document — treat it as likely rather than certain. The programme prints one number for route information, +30 695 184 4472, given as the KTEL Evrou information line for Samothraki services. Tickets are not yet sold online through Greek Island Buses; where an operator does sell through us the price is the same and you board with a QR code.
Check the dates before you travel
Two warnings. First, this programme is valid from 13 July to 30 August 2026 and then stops; the municipality reissues in short windows, so expect a successor at the end of August and treat anything published earlier as out of date. Second, third-party copies are unreliable: the most widely linked mirror restricts the 21:15 and 21:25 Chora runs to Mondays and Wednesdays when they run daily, and omits the 22:00 pair entirely. We follow the municipality. Check the current Samothraki bus timetable before planning around a departure, and see our Samothraki island page for what is worth the ride.