Book Train Tickets From Istanbul to Sofia
DiscoverByRail can book the Istanbul-Sofia night train, with personal ticket handover at Halkali station before the departure of your train.
Please send an email to tickets@discoverbyrail.com for booking inquiries, specifying date of travel and number of passengers.
If you’re travelling in the opposite direction from Sofia to Istanbul, please see the Sofia-Istanbul train page for more details on how to book tickets.
Ticketing procedure
At DiscoverByRail, we can book tickets for the Istanbul-Sofia train.
As this train cannot be booked online through either the official Bulgarian or Turkish railway websites, our local agent in Istanbul can buy the tickets for you in advance at the station to ensure you get a berth on the night train, as tickets often sell out well in advance.
Your tickets will be handed over to you at Istanbul Halkalı station by our local agent before the departure of your train.
This way, you can make the most of your time in Istanbul without having to visit the ticket office yourself or worry that the train might already be fully booked!
For booking inquiries, just send an email to tickets@discoverbyrail.com, specifying date of travel and number of passengers.
Other stops in Bulgaria
The Istanbul-Sofia night train stops en route at Dimitrovgrad, a major junction station, as well as in the popular Bulgarian tourist destination of Plovdiv.
We can also book this train for travel from Istanbul to Plovdiv, Istanbul to Dimitrovgrad, or any other station it serves.
If you want to travel from Turkey to Bulgaria by train, the Istanbul-Bucharest night train could also be an option, as it stops in popular Bulgarian cities such as Veliko Tarnovo and Ruse on its way to Romania.
See our Istanbul-Bucharest night train page for more information about this connection, including how to book tickets.
About the Istanbul-Sofia night train
The Istanbul-Sofia night train operates daily throughout the year, making it the most popular overland route for rail travellers bound for Bulgaria.
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 departs from Istanbul Halkalı station 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 Istanbul-Sofia night train has both sleepers and couchettes available.
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, although you have to book all four berths in that compartment.
In both sleeper and couchette compartments, pillows, sheets, and blankets are provided. When you travel 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 your night train!
Border crossing
The night train from Istanbul to Sofia crosses the Turkish-Bulgarian border between Kapıkule, the Turkish border post, and Svilengrad, the Bulgarian border post.
When travelling west from Turkey to Bulgaria, you must disembark at Kapıkule to pass through Turkish passport control at a building on the platform, though you may leave your luggage on the train.
Bulgarian customs and immigration checks are carried out on board the train at Svilengrad.
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