elisa_lavandula
Traveller
0 comments
Posted 9 years ago
Hi everyone,
first of all, I've been following some advice on this forum and it has helped me a lot in travelling. As my first post, I have a question where I need some direct help.
I'm planning to go from Berlin to Istanbul (end of July) and I'm pretty excited, it's my first long train travel.
I've been doing some research on the best route to take, but have been left a bit insecure about which one to choose as I can't find trustable information that talks about the current state of this route - only older topics. So I'm sorry to ask questions that have been answered last year - just want to check for this year.
The route I'm planning is: Berlin - Budapest, Budapest - Bucharest, overnight stay in Bucharest, Bucharest - Istanbul (with the bus from Kapikule to Istanbul).
- Can anyone give me information on whether this is a recommended route, and if it is up-to-date?
- If the bus to Istanbul is running from Kapikule, would it be better to go via Sofia and Belgrade?
- Is it correct (and recommendable) that the tickets except Berlin-Budapest can be bought in the stations (at the same price as in Internet presale)?
Any tips or pointers are welcome, and I hope that somebody has up-to-date info on this route.
Thank you all in advance!
Elisa
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi Elisa!
There would be a number of possible ways to get to Istanbul from Budapest: via Belgrade - Sofia; via direct night train to Sofia; via Bucharest. What the best/cheapest route is depends a bit on how your overall travel plans look like (return trip by train, return by plane etc).
There are two night trains to Istanbul: One from Sofia, one from Bucharest; they run together from Dimitovgrad in Bulgaria all the way to Turkey which means that it doesnt really matter whether you travel via Sofia or Bucharest: the replacement bus from Kapikule to Istanbul is the same for both night trains.
Regarding tickets, it is sufficient to buy most tickets locally at the station; for Berlin to Budapest you can support railcc and buy your ticket via our partner link to Deutsche Bahn: [ux]https://rail.shop/bahn[/ux]
For Budapest - Bucharest you can buy a cheaper online ticket at the website of Hungarian Railways: [ux]https://rail.shop/mav[/ux] - the rest of the tickets can be bought locally.
Up to date reports are here: [u]https://rail.cc/en/bucharest-istanbul-night-train/f1639[/u]
Flo 8)