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Trains from Istanbul to
Greece, Bulgaria and
the rest of Europe depart
from
Sirkeci
Station (map;
officially Istanbul Gar ["Istanbul
Station"]) but everyone calls it
Sirkeci Station to distinguish from Haydarpasa
Station on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus).
Sirkeci
Station was Istanbul's
first train station, and served as
the terminus of the famed Orient
Express from
Paris to
Constantinople.
Other than the two
daily trains to Thessaloniki, Greece,
there is only one daily train from
Istanbul (Sirkeci) to Europe via Bulgaria,
and it is not an easy or comfortable
trip. More...
The train is the Bosphorus
Express (Bosfor Ekspresi),
departing each evening at 22:00
(10 pm), and reaching the Turkish-Bulgarian
border at Kapikule (near
Edirne)
at 02:52 am, a journey of nearly
five hours (when frequent minibuses
cover the distance between Istanbul
and Edirne in half the time). After
middle-of-the-night Customs and
Immigration checks at the border,
the train continues its slow progress
all the way to Bucharest, Romania,
arriving in the late afternoon.
At Dimitrovgrad, Bulgaria, several
cars leave the train to become part
of the Balkan
Express which travels
from Dimitrovgrad via Sofia,
Bulgaria and Nis to Belgrade,
Serbia, arriving
in the evening. At Belgrade there are
connections to trains bound for central
and western Europe.
Fares for travel from Istanbul to
European cities are relatively expensive—from
Istanbul to Belgrade can cost TL108,
to Vienna TL255,
more expensive than a discounted
flight—and train
travel in the Balkans is
slow, uncomfortable and in some cases
even dangerous (thieves), so why bother?
Better to take a cheap
flight, or
a ship/ferry, or even an international
bus.
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