deltic
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I'm hoping to do this trip in September spending a few days in Bucharest and Sofia on the way. Has anyone done this route recently and any suggestions?
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Budapest to Istanbul
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dutchflyer
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No, not recently-but perhaps this may be useful, assuming you want it all on the rails?:
1.Only way is via Romania-via Serbije closed off for trains. NIghttrain Sofia, with 1 couchette car from Bucuresti attached en-route, ends Halkali-only summertime, actual last date unknown by now. As always: check seat61.com for global info. Tickets/bookings for the IST train in practice only possible at the 2 starts. Space does not seem to be in high demand.
2.Route Buc-Sof is since a few yrs not a through train anymore-and direct route in RO till bridge/border/Ruse is still out of use. Change Ruse (said to be short time-with danger to miss) and perhaps somewhere else in BG. Ruse is in my memory quite a nice town and could spend a few hrs-there may still be the overnight to Sofia (check that) as onward route.
3.there are 2 basic routes Bp-Bucu-but 1 is long time out of use for works and hence more demand for other one. Advance booking might be useful, via mav/HU, certainly if you want more as a seat. It is quite a long and frankly rather boring route-break it up somewhere, towns like Brasov or Sibiu are worth it (from touristic point of view-if trains/rails are main interest, others may know more)
1.Only way is via Romania-via Serbije closed off for trains. NIghttrain Sofia, with 1 couchette car from Bucuresti attached en-route, ends Halkali-only summertime, actual last date unknown by now. As always: check seat61.com for global info. Tickets/bookings for the IST train in practice only possible at the 2 starts. Space does not seem to be in high demand.
2.Route Buc-Sof is since a few yrs not a through train anymore-and direct route in RO till bridge/border/Ruse is still out of use. Change Ruse (said to be short time-with danger to miss) and perhaps somewhere else in BG. Ruse is in my memory quite a nice town and could spend a few hrs-there may still be the overnight to Sofia (check that) as onward route.
3.there are 2 basic routes Bp-Bucu-but 1 is long time out of use for works and hence more demand for other one. Advance booking might be useful, via mav/HU, certainly if you want more as a seat. It is quite a long and frankly rather boring route-break it up somewhere, towns like Brasov or Sibiu are worth it (from touristic point of view-if trains/rails are main interest, others may know more)
LNW-GW Joint
Veteran Member
According to European Rail Timetable and the DB planner, the through day Bucharest-Sofia train (461) runs from July 18-Oct 3, Buc dep 1055-Sof arr 2010.
I used this 5 years ago and it was a nice trip - passed a couple of ex-WCML 87s on the way in BG...
I can't find any evidence of the Sofia-Istanbul overnight train running.
In the summer it carries/carried a through coach from Bucharest in train 461, detached at Gorna Orjahovitsa and worked to Dimitrovgrad to attach to the Sofia train.
There also used to be a summer Belgrade-Sofia service, but that too seems to be missing.
Budapest-Belgrade is being upgraded - I think the major work is now north of Novi Sad to Subotica, and has just started in Hungary (Chinese/Russian contractors).
Edirne-Istanbul is also being upgraded and in some places completely rerouted.
The main line terminus is now at Halkali, with the metro system onwards to Sirkeci.
I don't think the metro route to the new IST airport is open yet.
Altogether not promising for a tourist trip.
In RO I enjoyed an overnight in Sighisoara, the best of the medieval fortresses, then on to Brasov and Bucharest.
This involved an EC-standard Budapest-Cluj service (367-Harghita), then a 39-stop local to Sig.
Lovely scenery through Transylvania.
Hopefully the major upgrades on the line via Sighisoara have moved on in 5 years.
You'd have to check the situation with the individual operators.
PS Having checked a bit more, the Sofia-Istanbul service does appear to be operating (see BDZ site).
There are also daily trains from Sofia to Vidin (Romania, connection to Craiova), and to Dimitrovgrad (Serbia).
However Dimitrovgrad-Niš is closed for upgrade so there is a bus with onward train from Niš to Belgrade.
Another route I am interested in is Sofia-Thessaloniki, but that seems to be suspended at the moment (though you can reach the border on the BG side).
I used this 5 years ago and it was a nice trip - passed a couple of ex-WCML 87s on the way in BG...
I can't find any evidence of the Sofia-Istanbul overnight train running.
In the summer it carries/carried a through coach from Bucharest in train 461, detached at Gorna Orjahovitsa and worked to Dimitrovgrad to attach to the Sofia train.
There also used to be a summer Belgrade-Sofia service, but that too seems to be missing.
Budapest-Belgrade is being upgraded - I think the major work is now north of Novi Sad to Subotica, and has just started in Hungary (Chinese/Russian contractors).
Edirne-Istanbul is also being upgraded and in some places completely rerouted.
The main line terminus is now at Halkali, with the metro system onwards to Sirkeci.
I don't think the metro route to the new IST airport is open yet.
Altogether not promising for a tourist trip.
In RO I enjoyed an overnight in Sighisoara, the best of the medieval fortresses, then on to Brasov and Bucharest.
This involved an EC-standard Budapest-Cluj service (367-Harghita), then a 39-stop local to Sig.
Lovely scenery through Transylvania.
Hopefully the major upgrades on the line via Sighisoara have moved on in 5 years.
You'd have to check the situation with the individual operators.
PS Having checked a bit more, the Sofia-Istanbul service does appear to be operating (see BDZ site).
There are also daily trains from Sofia to Vidin (Romania, connection to Craiova), and to Dimitrovgrad (Serbia).
However Dimitrovgrad-Niš is closed for upgrade so there is a bus with onward train from Niš to Belgrade.
Another route I am interested in is Sofia-Thessaloniki, but that seems to be suspended at the moment (though you can reach the border on the BG side).
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BDZ clearly states the period of operation and already did so when they announced the reinstatement:
So I'm not sure why you would say it is unknown.
Again, you might try checking the information first. This is a direct train, which is in the DB planner and on the BDZ website:
It can be fully booked apparently now in summer. You can check availabillity here:
Bilete trafic international
bileteinternationale.cfrcalatori.ro
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Fragezeichnen
Member
I did only part of it in 2019, whilst on the route Kyiv - Bucharest - Sofia - Thessaloniki.
My tip for an interesting day out would be to head from Sofia to Plovdiv, spend the day visiting the roman ruins there, and then hop on the Sofia - Instanbul sleeper when it passes in the evening.
You could also take a trip on the Septemvri - Dobronishte narrow gauge line which runs up into the mountains. Seems like the sleeper stops there too, but I'm not sure how coveniently it connects with the narrow gauge.
This does not mach my experience. I used the it in 2019 and it was a through train(although only in summer, I believe). An hour is allowed for passport checks which is plenty for the short train. The Bucharest - Istanbul sleeper coach is attached to this train, so by definition it must run as a through train if this coach runs(and I think I read that it started running again).
My tip for an interesting day out would be to head from Sofia to Plovdiv, spend the day visiting the roman ruins there, and then hop on the Sofia - Instanbul sleeper when it passes in the evening.
You could also take a trip on the Septemvri - Dobronishte narrow gauge line which runs up into the mountains. Seems like the sleeper stops there too, but I'm not sure how coveniently it connects with the narrow gauge.
This does not mach my experience. I used the it in 2019 and it was a through train(although only in summer, I believe). An hour is allowed for passport checks which is plenty for the short train. The Bucharest - Istanbul sleeper coach is attached to this train, so by definition it must run as a through train if this coach runs(and I think I read that it started running again).
deltic
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I did that in 2015. Brussels - Basel - Zurich - Budapest - Craiova - Vidin - Sofia - Kulata - Strymon - Thessaloniki - Athens. The section Craiova - Vidin - Sofia - Kulata is incredibly scenic and I highly recommend it. Plus you get to ride over this new Danube River rail & road bridge between Calafat and Vidin. When I did it there was an international train between Budapest and Sofia over this route. Now this train is gone but the trip si still possible with trains that connect at Vidin.
I think Simply Railway YouTube channel has a fairly recent video of this journey, then back on the Optima express to Austria...(edit... Thibaut did the Bucharest to Istanbul sleeper in late June 2022, it's in his Twitter feed at https://mobile.twitter.com/Simply_Railway not on YouTube (yet?)
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