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Sirkeci Station (Sirkeci
Gar) is Istanbul's
terminus for trains from Edirne and
Europe. Though officially named Istanbul
Gar, everyone
knows it as Sirkeci (to differentiate
it from Haydarpaşa
Garı on the Asian
shore of the Bosphorus.)
This is where the famed Orient
Express ended its
run from Paris, at the 19th-century
Orientalist station near Seraglio
Point beneath the walls of Topkapı
Palace, right next to Eminönü,
its ferry docks,
and Galata
Bridge.
Whether you take a train or
not, it's worth it just to stroll
through the station and imagine
the famous 19th-century luxury train
pulling into Sirkeci with its eminent
passengers being met by uniformed dragomans (guide-interpreters)
from the great European embassies. More...
There's a short history of the station
on this page of the Turkish
State Railways website.
The Sirkeci
district is becoming
known for its good—and good value—hotels
and restaurants.
More...
Buses and airplanes now
carry more passengers between Istanbul and
Europe than do trains. The conflict
in Bosnia during the 1990s further
reduced train traffic, as the trains
couldn't run through the war zone of
dismembered Yugoslavia.
In March 2012,
regional train service west from Istanbul
(Sirkeci) to
Edirne and
the Bulgarian border at Kapıkule was
limited to Friday, Saturday and Sunday
only as work
is done on the rail line.
In any case,
it's much faster to go to Edirne by bus from
Istanbul's Büyük
Otogar (main bus terminal). More...
The Bosphorus
Express,
the only train between Turkey and Europe,
has also been suspended.
Instead, passengers board buses at
Sirkeci Station and are driven to the
Bulgarian border at Kapıkule, where
they cross to Svilengrad, Bulgaria
and board a Bulgarian train to Eastern
Europe. More...
If you ride trains in
Turkey, they'll most likely not be
from Istanbul, as all intercity trains
from Haydarpaşa
Station on the Asian
shore of the Bosphorus
have been cancelled until
2014 while
the rail line eastward is upgraded
for high-speed
train service to Eskişehir and Ankara.
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