Book Train Tickets From Bucharest & Sofia to Istanbul

DiscoverByRail can book the Bucharest–Istanbul and Sofia–Istanbul international night train, with ticket delivery to your hotel in Bucharest, Sofia, or Istanbul.

Please send an email to tickets@discoverbyrail.com for booking inquiries.

Sofia-Istanbul night train

The Sofia–Istanbul night train departs daily, year-round, making it the most popular overland route among rail travellers heading to Turkey.

This train, known as the “Istanbul-Sofia Ekspresi” in Turkish (Istanbul-Sofia Express), is operated by the Turkish State Railways (TCDD) and runs from Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul, via Edirne and the Kapıkule railway border crossing to Svilengrad, Dimitrovgrad, Plovdiv, and finally the Bulgarian capital, Sofia.

The night train currently departs from Sofia’s central station at 18:45 and arrives at Istanbul Halkalı station the following morning at 09:56 local time.

On the return trip from Istanbul to Sofia, the train departs from Istanbul Halkalı at 20:00 and arrives in Sofia the next morning at 09:48.

The Istanbul-Sofia Express features both sleeper and couchette compartments – see the section on travel classes below for more details.

The Istanbul-Sofia Express waits for departure at the station of Sofia Central. ©DiscoverByRail

Bucharest-Istanbul night train

In the summer season – typically running from mid-June to mid-October (exact dates vary by year) – you can also take a direct night train between the Romanian capital of Bucharest and Istanbul.

The Bucharest–Istanbul night train runs daily during the summer season, leaving Bucharest Gara de Nord at 10:11 and arriving the following morning at 09:56 at Istanbul Halkalı station.

On the return journey, the train leaves Halkalı station at 20:00 and arrives at Bucharest Gara de Nord at 17:32 local time (although it is often delayed, so avoid planning any tight connections at this end!).

It’s a slow but beautiful journey across the Balkan Mountains of Bulgaria.

En route between Bucharest and Istanbul, the train also stops at the popular Bulgarian destination of Veliko Tarnovo, which is well worth a day’s stopover.

The Bucharest–Istanbul night train only features couchettes.

Bucharest to Istanbul outside the summer season

Outside the summer season (from mid-October to mid-June), you can still travel from Bucharest to Istanbul by rail, though it requires a few connections along the way.

By far the easiest and most stress-free option is to travel via Sofia, although this requires spending an extra night in the Bulgarian capital. On day 1, you travel from Bucharest to Sofia (with a change of trains in Ruse), which is a beautiful train journey in its own right. On day 2, you take the Sofia-Istanbul night train as detailed above.

Another option is to travel across Bulgaria by daytime trains on the same route as the summer-seasonal Bucharest-Istanbul night train. This means you’ll need to connect in Ruse, Gorna Orjahovitsa, and Dimitrovgrad, where you will finally board the Sofia-Istanbul Express. The advantage is that you can reach Sofia in a single night’s travel, but the downside is that some of the connections are quite tight, and you won’t have as long a sleep on the night train between Dimitrovgrad and Istanbul compared to taking this train all the way from Sofia to Istanbul.

Travel classes on Turkish night trains

The Sofia-Istanbul night train offers both sleepers and couchettes, while the seasonal Bucharest-Istanbul night train only has couchettes.

A sleeper compartment on a Turkish night train has two berths (one lower and one upper) and can be booked as either a single (if you are travelling alone) or a double (if there are two of you).

These comfortable Turkish sleeper compartments all feature a washbasin and a complimentary minibar stocked with soft drinks and snacks.

Turkish couchette compartments have four berths, with two lower and two upper ones.

On Turkish night trains, you’ll always share a couchette compartment with other passengers of the same sex. If you’re travelling as a mixed-gender group of two, three, or four people, you can still share the same couchette compartment — as long as you book all four berths in that compartment.

In both sleeper and couchette compartments, pillows, sheets, and blankets are provided. However, in a sleeper compartment, your bed will already be made, while in a couchette, you’ll need to make it yourself.

There is one western-style toilet and one Turkish squat-style toilet at the end of each carriage on Turkish night trains.

Since there is no dining car, it’s best to stock up on food and drinks before boarding the night train!

Berth in a sleeper compartment on a Turkish night train. Each sleeper compartment can be booked for sole occupancy if you’re a solo traveller, or as a double in case you travel together with someone else. ©DiscoverByRail

Border crossing

The night trains from Sofia and Bucharest to Istanbul cross the Bulgarian–Turkish border between Svilengrad, the Bulgarian border post, and Kapıkule, the Turkish border post.

Note that when travelling east from Bulgaria to Turkey, you will need to leave the train at Kapıkule with all your luggage for an X-ray scan as part of the customs check, and go through passport control, both located in buildings along the station platform.

When travelling west from Turkey to Bulgaria, you can leave your luggage on board the train, as you only have to go through passport control in this direction.

Since both Bulgaria and Romania joined the Schengen Zone, there are no longer any passport checks at the Romanian-Bulgarian border when taking the Bucharest-Istanbul train.

From London to Istanbul

One of Europe’s classic rail routes is from London to Istanbul, crossing the continent entirely by train. For more details about this epic journey and tailor-made packages, see my London to Istanbul by train page.

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