Book Train Tickets From Bucharest to Istanbul
DiscoverByRail can book the Bucharest-Istanbul night train, with ticket delivery to your hotel or a personal handover at the station.
Please send an email to tickets@discoverbyrail.com for booking inquiries, specifying your date of travel and the number of passengers.
If you plan to travel in the opposite direction from Istanbul to Bucharest, please see the Istanbul-Bucharest train page for more details on how to book tickets.
Ticketing procedure
At DiscoverByRail, we can book both regular tickets and Eurail or Interrail passholder fares for the Bucharest-Istanbul train.
We can arrange ticket delivery to your Bucharest hotel or a personal handover by our local agent at the station, subject to prior agreement and email confirmation.
This allows you to make the most of your time in Bucharest without needing to visit the ticket office or worry that the train to Istanbul might already be fully booked.
For booking inquiries, just send an email to tickets@discoverbyrail.com, specifying date of travel, the number of passengers, and the exact ticket you require.
Indicative timetable
The Bucharest-Istanbul night train is summer seasonal – typically running from mid-June to mid-October (exact dates vary by year). During this period, the train runs daily.
This is the indicative timetable of the Bucharest-Istanbul night train:
| Station | Arrival | Departure |
| Bucharest Gara de Nord | 10:11 | |
| Ruse | 13:40 | 14:25 |
| Gorna Oryahovitsa | 16:26 | 17:35 |
| Veliko Tarnovo | 17:51 | 17:51 |
| Dimitrovgrad | 21:58 | 23:00 |
| Istanbul Halkalı | 09:56 (the next day) |
Travelling from Bucharest to Istanbul by train outside the summer season
Even outside the summer season, when the direct Bucharest-Istanbul night train does not run, it is still possible to travel by train from Romania to Turkey.
There are two travel options in this case:
Option 1 is to take a morning train from Bucharest to Ruse, connect there to a train for Gorna Oryahovitsa, then change again at Gorna Oryahovitsa for a train to Dimitrovgrad, where you will board the year-round Sofia-Istanbul night train, arriving in Istanbul the following morning.
Option 2 is to travel on day one from Bucharest to Sofia by train, stay overnight in a hotel, and continue the next day on the year-round direct Sofia-Istanbul night train to Turkey, arriving the following morning.
You can find the indicative timetables for both options below:
Option 1: via Dimitrovgrad
| Station | Arrival | Departure |
| Bucharest Gara de Nord | 10:11 | |
| Ruse | 13:40 | |
| Change trains in Ruse | ||
| Ruse | 14:25 | |
| Gorna Oryahovitsa | 16:26 | |
| Change trains in G. Oryahovitsa | ||
| Gorna Oryahovitsa | 17:35 | |
| Veliko Tarnovo | 17:51 | 17:51 |
| Dimitrovgrad | 21:58 | |
| Change trains in Dimitrovgrad | ||
| Dimitrovgrad | 23:00 | |
| Istanbul Halkalı | 09:56 (the next day) |
Option 2: via Sofia
| Station | Arrival | Departure |
| Bucharest Gara de Nord | 10:11 | |
| Ruse | 13:40 | |
| Change trains in Ruse | ||
| Ruse | 14:25 | |
| Sofia | 20:35 | |
| Spend the night in Sofia | ||
| Sofia | 18:45 | |
| Istanbul Halkalı | 09:56 (the next day) |
Which off-season route is best?
At DiscoverByRail, we can also book the Sofia-Istanbul night train for you, whether you are travelling all the way from Sofia to Istanbul, or only from Dimitrovgrad to Istanbul on this train.
Travelling via Dimitrovgrad allows you to reach Istanbul in just one night, whereas the route via Sofia takes two nights.
However, the drawback of travelling via Dimitrovgrad is that it involves several connections and offers only a relatively short night’s sleep on the overnight train to Istanbul.
Even though travelling from Bucharest to Istanbul via Sofia takes two nights, it is a far more stress-free and comfortable journey, allowing you a full night’s sleep in a Sofia hotel and on the night train.
DiscoverByRail therefore recommends travelling from Bucharest to Istanbul via Sofia in the off-season.
If you want us to book Dimitrovgrad-Istanbul tickets, we require at least 10 days’ notice, as these tickets can only be obtained in Bulgaria and must be sent by our local agent in Sofia to our agent in Bucharest, where they will be delivered to your hotel or handed over to you personally at the station.
Send an email to tickets@discoverbyrail.com, and specify the date of travel, the number of passengers, and the exact train you want us to book.
To book the Sofia-Istanbul train and arrange ticket delivery to your hotel in the Bulgarian capital, see our Sofia-Istanbul night train page for booking details.
Ruse or Veliko Tarnovo to Istanbul
The Bucharest-Istanbul night train makes several stops in Bulgaria popular with international travellers, including the city of Ruse and the historic former capital Veliko Tarnovo.
It is also possible to board the Bucharest-Istanbul night train in these cities, and we can book your Ruse-Istanbul or Veliko Tarnovo-Istanbul ticket if you wish.
However, please note that we can only arrange ticket delivery to your hotel in Sofia, to your hotel in Bucharest, or by personal handover at Bucharest Gara de Nord (for Bucharest, we require 10 days’ notice).
Send an email to tickets@discoverbyrail.com with the exact route you want us to book, your travel date, and the number of passengers to enquire about availability.
About the Bucharest-Istanbul night train
The Bucharest-Istanbul night train only features 4-berth couchettes, with each compartment having two upper and two lower berths.
You will share the couchette compartment with passengers of the same sex on Turkish night trains, although mixed-gender groups of two to four people can travel together in the same compartment, provided they book all four berths.
If you are travelling solo and want to have a couchette compartment for private occupancy, you also need to book all four berths.
Bedding, including pillows, sheets, and blankets, is provided.
Each carriage has two toilets at one end – one western-style and one squat-style.
As there is no dining car on these Turkish night trains, it’s a good idea to bring your own food and drinks for the journey.
About the Sofia-Istanbul night train
If you travel off-season between Bucharest and Istanbul on the Sofia-Istanbul night train (whether you take it only from Dimitrovgrad to Istanbul or all the way from Sofia), you can choose between a sleeper or a couchette.
Turkish sleeper compartments have two berths each and can also be booked for single occupancy.
See our Sofia-Istanbul night train page for more information about this train and its onboard facilities.
Border crossing
The train linking Bucharest with Istanbul crosses the border between Bulgaria and Turkey at Svilengrad (the Bulgarian border station) and Kapıkule (the Turkish border station).
Bulgarian passport control is carried out on board the train at Svilengrad.
For Turkish customs and immigration procedures, you will need to get off the train at Kapıkule, taking all your luggage with you for a security scan, customs inspection, and passport control, which are carried out in buildings along the station platform.
Once you’ve cleared customs and immigration, you can board the night train again.
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.
That said, it’s not unusual for Romanian or Bulgarian border officers to carry out a brief on-the-spot inspection of passports on the train as it stops at the border stations of Giurgiu in Romania and Ruse in Bulgaria.
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