Book Train Tickets From Sofia to Istanbul
DiscoverByRail can book the Sofia-Istanbul night train, with ticket delivery to your hotel or the station in Sofia or Istanbul.
Please send an email to tickets@discoverbyrail.com for booking inquiries.
At DiscoverByRail, we can book both regular tickets and Eurail or Interrail passholder fares for the Sofia-Istanbul train, as well as for the Bucharest-Istanbul night train.
If you wish to book tickets from Sofia to Istanbul, we can arrange delivery to your Sofia hotel.
For travel in the opposite direction, from Istanbul to Sofia, tickets will be handed over by our local agent at Istanbul Halkalı station before the train’s departure.
The Sofia–Istanbul night train stops en route in the popular Bulgarian tourist destination of Plovdiv, as well as in Dimitrovgrad, a major junction station. We can also book this train for travel from Plovdiv to Istanbul or from Dimitrovgrad to Istanbul (or vice versa). However, please note that ticket handover is only possible in Sofia or Istanbul.
If you want to travel from Bulgaria to Turkey, the seasonal Bucharest-Istanbul night train might also be an option, as this train stops in popular Bulgarian cities such as Ruse and Veliko Tarnovo en route to Turkey. For this train, ticket handover is possible in Bucharest, Istanbul, or Sofia. See our Bucharest-Istanbul night train page for more details.
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.
Travel classes on Turkish night trains
The Sofia-Istanbul night train offers both sleepers and 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!
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.
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