Edirne to Istanbul

[Watershed]

I plan on taking the Optima Express from Villach to Edirne later this year. It's scheduled to arrive at Edirne just after 6am on the Monday morning, and the daily train to Istanbul leaves at 08:20.

So in theory the connection is fairly safe, but obviously sleeper trains - and particularly ones that have crossed as many borders as the Optima Express - can sometimes be heavily delayed.

As I'll be flying back from Istanbul that evening, my backup plan involves taking a coach instead of the train. I've seen that there's a reasonable selection of departures (08:45, 10:00, 11:00, 13:00) each taking approx 4.5 hours. There would need to be a serious relay of more than 7 hours for me to miss the 13:00 coach, which would be the last one that would guarantee making the flight, so I'm happy with that level of risk.

My question is just whether it would be advisable to buy a ticket for one of these coaches in advance (which would thus be wasted if the connection onto the train is made), or whether there will likely be seats left on the day in case the connection is missed.

Furthermore, is it advisable to have Turkish Lira (in cash) for Edirne/Istanbul, or are cards likely to be accepted? I'm presuming ATMs are available if the former is the case.

And does anyone have any advice on places to see or eat in Edirne in the event of having a lot of time to kill there? I am sure I won't be short on things to see in Istanbul, though it'll undoubtedly be worth a separate visit in its own right.

Finally, would the connection between the Optina Express and Istanbul service likely be safer at Kapikule, where I believe the latter starts? I am aware that it's not an official calling point on the Optima Express, but as a passport check is undertaken from what I've seen on videos of the service, I hardly imagine they could or would try to stop you from bailing once you've had your documents checked.

Thanks in advance!

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

I've been looking at this combination too, but not for this year.
Edirne would seem to be worthy of a day's stay, for the outstanding Selimiye mosque at least - not so sure about the mud-wrestling.
There's also the original Oriental Railway station, now isolated on the wrong side of the Maritza river and repurposed as part of a university campus.
I'd also want some time in Istanbul after all the trouble in getting there, including using some of the impressive new rail infrastructure.

I was also hoping the services through Edirne to Istanbul would improve when the new sections of railway open, but there's no way of telling when that might be.
A day train from Sofia to Istanbul should be possible one day as it's only the distance between London and Edinburgh.
The Istanbul main line arrival station is Halkali in the western suburbs, with metro connections onwards.

Turkey's currency is in freefall, but I don't think they accept EUR, USD etc, so best to have some lire in advance, I think. ATMs are said to be common in cities.
In my experience currency exchange at railway borders in the Balkans (HU-RO-BG and in ex-JU) is non-existent.
This web site looks very helpful, and mentions credit card purchase of tickets, but it is clearly not a simple task.

How to Buy Train Tickets in Turkey

How to buy train tickets in Turkey: Turkish State Railways authorized agents in Istanbul, by Tom Brosnahan

turkeytravelplanner.com

When I looked at coaches to Edirne, the coach station seemed to be out of town at a motorway junction to the south.

 

[dutchflyer]

Have just returned from TR-but in a different area-using those famous coaches to visit several cities with trams on the Asian side.
There mostlikely are far more coaches-otobüs: check obilet.tr. I guess at least hourly-by several companies.
I never had any prob getting a ticket for the next one out-and there always appeared magically someone (even from the competition) to translate/speak /en/ if needed. Speaking deutsch is also quite common. Prices were quite low indeed (overnight from near IST =Izmit/Kocaeli to Antalya for 410 TRL=ca. 16€. They now nearly all hav 2+1 seating and a kind of imitation bizniz-style drinks and some snacks offered.
DO note that in IST its quite a distance from Otogar (busstation) to new airport far out of town. But very recently a new fast metro to there has opened. Check urbanrail.net for that. Perhaps, maybe, the bus makes a stop closer by airport to get a taxi. I also do not know if taxiś would take cards or only cash. But they most certainly will also accept cash € (not GBP), at a not too favorable rate (for you, for them yes: think of 1€=20 TRL, whereas changes would offer 24,xx)
I wish you good luck, but I feel that a plan B will be needed-just for ´in case´.

 

[superalbs]

Uber works in Istanbul, it links to the local taxis, but I'm pretty sure that it accepts card.

 

[WideRanger]

International Credit Cards are accepted very widely in Turkey (but there are occasionally smaller shops that don't accept them). There are lots of ATMs in towns and cities (more than the UK). Look out for ones that don't charge big transaction fees. Ziraat Bank is good if you can find it. If any business offers to take another currency, you know the rate is going to be bad. Much better to use Credit Cards if you can. As mentioned above, the lira has been declining in value recently, so don't take much much cash out at a time...

if you are booking trains on the Turkish Railways website, it can be a bit glitchy, so you may have to try several times.

 

[zero]

I have found anyone who works for themselves in Turkey is happy to take euros or USD cash, as they either want to convert all their lira into euros/USD asap anyway, or they know if they hang to it for a few years it will be worth a lot more in lira!

For ease of calculation people use the nearest round number but you can always refuse if the rate is too far off what you might get at an ATM.

There are also lots of currency exchangers of whom some will give you very close to the spot rate, but finding or going to good ones may take time that you don't have when travelling.

 

[Beebman]

I was in Istanbul recently and I used a taxi company called ADORE Tourism Travel which I chose from recommendations on TripAdvisor. They're probably not the cheapest taxi option for getting to and from IST airport but I found them to be completely reliable. The main reason though why I'd recommend them here is that they accept advance payment by PayPal in EUR, USD or TRL. I paid 50 EUR for the journey from the airport and 45 (with 10% discount) for the return. They're contactable via WhatsApp and they always replied very quickly when I contacted them. Hope that helps maybe?

 

[Alfonso]

The recent simplyrailway YouTube report on the optima express I think mentions passport stuff being done at edirne rather than the actual border where the Sofia and Bucharest yraons have border control

 

[superalbs]

I was in Istanbul recently and I used a taxi company called ADORE Tourism Travel which I chose from recommendations on TripAdvisor. They're probably not the cheapest taxi option for getting to and from IST airport but I found them to be completely reliable. The main reason though why I'd recommend them here is that they accept advance payment by PayPal in EUR, USD or TRL. I paid 50 EUR for the journey from the airport and 45 (with 10% discount) for the return. They're contactable via WhatsApp and they always replied very quickly when I contacted them. Hope that helps maybe?

That is extremely expensive, I paid about £15 for a trip from SAW to western Istanbul.

@Watershed I have heard of delays up to 12 hours on that service, so I wish you luck.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

The express metro (line M11) now reaches the airport (IST) from the east, although you need a double change from the city (M2/M7/M11) until Gayrettepe station opens which will eliminate the M7 change.
I'm told the station at the airport is poorly located for the air terminal.
It costs TRY 9.90 (about 33p) for a 24-hour Istanbulkart, valid on all public transport.

Next year the M11 line will reach Halkali in the west of the city, with an intermediate station at the Olimpiat stadium (too late for Man City!).
The airport on the Asian side (SAW) can be reached from Kadikoy on metro line 4 (many stops).

https://www.metro.istanbul/YolcuHizmetleri/AgHaritalari

 

[WideRanger]

The express metro (line M11) now reaches the airport (IST) from the east, although you need a double change from the city (M2/M7/M11) until Gayrettepe station opens which will eliminate the M7 change.
I'm told the station at the airport is poorly located for the air terminal.
It costs TRY 9.90 (about 33p) for a 24-hour Istanbulkart, valid on all public transport.

Next year the M11 line will reach Halkali in the west of the city, with an intermediate station at the Olimpiat stadium (too late for Man City!).
The airport on the Asian side (SAW) can be reached from Kadikoy on metro line 4 (many stops).

https://www.metro.istanbul/YolcuHizmetleri/AgHaritalari

The TRY9.90 ticket is for one journey on one mode. So not quite the mega bargain, but still very, very cheap. Central Istanbul to Istanbul airport or SAW airport works out around £1 - £1.50 on the metro, at current exchange rates.

The M11 station at Istanbul airport is about 400m to the terminal in a covered walkway on top of the car park (with travelators).

The station at SAW airport is under the terminal, but it's still a bit of a walk (again with travelators).

If you don't want the changes on the Metro, there are coaches to both airports from Taksim and a few other places, roughly every 30 minutes, and costing £2-£3 each way.

 

[superalbs]

Optima Express today was reported around 6 hours late in Bulgaria!

 

[rg177]

Turkish supermarkets, from experience, were pretty cash-heavy but did have a portable card machine to hand. Be warned that the Istanbul-Kart machines are extremely variable for card payments. 95% of them are cash only and I did notice some card readers removed/covered over on others.

The M11 Station to the terminal at IST is a bit of a schlep but it's not exactly difficult. When I did it, it was a ghost town with only a couple of dozen folk waiting for the train.

 

[superalbs]

Just arrived into Edirne a few hours ago on the Optima Express. We got there at 1355, so eight hours late.

Hope it goes well for you @Watershed !

There are still a few seats left on the 1500 bus, but payment at the ticket office on the day is cash only.

 

[Watershed]

Just arrived into Edirne a few hours ago on the Optima Express. We got there at 1355, so eight hours late.

Hope it goes well for you @Watershed !

There are still a few seats left on the 1500 bus, but payment at the ticket office on the day is cash only.

Oh dear! It will be squeaky bum time if I only make the 15:00 bus, as it looks like this doesn't stop at the airport at takes around 4.5 hours. My flight is at 20:15...

I think I'd have to take a taxi or rebook my flight for the next day if that happens. Oh well, at least it'd be covered by travel insurance!