Originally Posted by KLouis

If you fly ATH-SKG, to the 30 min flight add (from/to city centre) ~40 minutes train, ~20 minutes walk inside airports, ~10 minutes luggage CI, ~10 min security check, ~20 minutes waiting at the gate, ~15 minutes waiting for doors to close and the actual start, ~10 more minutes for the flight, ~10 minutes pick-up of luggage and 30 minutes bus ride to city centre. All of the above add up to 160 minutes. Total of ~195 minutes or 3 hours and 15 minutes, plus the 30 minutes you stated, makes a total of 3 hours and 45 minutes vs 4 hours. As for the BS, add to the train the fact that there are 4 seats per row, a larger aisle, you can see something from the large windows (and not only the sky) even when not seated at the window and, finally, you can walk up and down the aisle easier than on a plane. Planes are much "better" than trains once you're talking about cities that are distanced further away than Athens and Thessaloniki.