Balkan Flexipass

SiDUDe
Traveller
752 comments

its not that great value - its difficult to travel by train in the balkans, trains are very slow and unreliable, but they are cheap. Better to use busses and buy normal train tickets when its convenient
check here for details: [u]https://rail.cc/de/balkan-flexi-pass[/u]

rnl
Traveller
20 comments

Coincidence! I just logged in to start a thread about the Balkan Flexipass :) (hope it's okay though, it's not exactly interrail-related)
My questions were:
Are residents of European countries eligible for this railpass?
and secondly, can it be bought at any major railway-station in the Balkans? Preferably Istanbul Sirkeci...? Personally, it would be of good value, since long-distance travel on my route through the Balkans can be done by rail. Would be nice to combine with an interrail-pass for further travel in eastern Europe!

rnl
Traveller
20 comments

To answer the original question:
Apparently, how much the railpass will cost depends on where you buy it. There is indeed not much reliable information, but some travel-forums suggest you'll get the best price when buying it in Serbia.
I plan to start travelling from Istanbul and according to the Turkish railway website it costs from 70 to 145 eur (150-300 turkish lira) for 2nd class youth fare, with 5, 10 or 15 travel days over a month.

SiDUDe
Traveller
752 comments

yeah i remeber somewhere saying that as well. where are you getting the prices from? On a couple of websites (notably here [u]https://rail.cc/de/balkan-flexi-pass[/u] , who are usually pretty good about this kind of thing) and elsewhere it mentions there are NO second class balkan flexipass'. Another website also mentioned you cannot buy them in the balkans, since they are not meant for people living there but rather tourists visiting. A 5 day youth ticket costs around £100.

Compare that to this - A ticket Istanbul - Bucarest costs GBP40 if bought in Turkey. This would probably take up 2 days of your pass, and you would still have to pay the couchette/sleeper reservation on top of this for both the flexipass and normal ticket. Now this is a long route, and an expensive one in eastern europe. The route Istanbul - Belgrade is similar if not cheaper) Most journeys would be MUCH cheaper.

It really depends on what you want to be doing - if you really want to explore then the pass makes no sense since you will be doing most of your travelling by bus. If youre just passing through then buying single tickets makes more sense.

Anyone with any more information, please share it!

Simon

rnl
Traveller
20 comments

Yes you're right about buying single tickets vs. railpass if it costs £100. However, according to tcdd.gov.tr/tcdding/avrupa_ing.htm i mentioned, the price is only about £65 2nd class 5/30 travel days, which makes more sense.
Anyway, I mailed the turkish railways about it and they responded...in french (!): Residents of all countries except those covered by the railpass can buy it, and it is available at train stations in the balkans. But still, even the national railway companies don't seem to know much about the railpass so I wouldn't rely on this information only.

Before reading about the balkan flexipass, I was planning to travel in the balkans with the IR pass and continue through central Europe, but after Sidude's post I got confused. If not using the balkan pass, do you guys suggest buying single tickets in the balkans and wait until later with the IR-pass?
Thanks

SiDUDe
Traveller
752 comments

possibly - when i was out there last summer i travelled around without any pass and then started my IR ticket for the jouney from Sofia back to the UK. This worked out well because we made good use of busses rather than trains. Its a difficult question and, to be honest, i dont think there is much in it

steve1990
Traveller
1 comments

i went proper interrail last year but due to the pound messing up was hoping to go sumwhere cheaper, i saw on the serbian train website about 70euro for 10days travel in a mounth, i also saw u can use couchettes with it. i think it would be worthwhile with the travelling we would be doing (sleeping on train sum nites) but i would pefer to buy the ticket before hand. thanks all for answering my questions

rnl
Traveller
20 comments

Just came back from my trip (it was fantastic), so now I'll answer my own question in this thread, for other travellers.

For me, the interrail pass was good value, but only because I travelled from the balkans to western europe and took some night trains there.
Like Sidude said, trains were indeed inexpensive slow. Since i was holding a flexipass, I deliberately chose to get a normal ticket for the daytime balkan trains in order to save travel days, and it was ridiculously cheap. Night-trains weren't dirt cheap (but still inexpensive by western standards), so I reckon the railpass paid off after spending a couple of nights on trains, especially on journeys to and from the region.
And if anyone is planning to take the night train Thessaloniki-Istanbul or vice versa (it seemed quite popular), note that this train only has 2-bed sleeper compartments. I paid 35€ in Istanbul for the reservation.

To sum this mess up regarding the good or bad value of money for railpass-question: It's highly individual, depending on how you travel.

ShoRa
Traveller
29 comments

zeleznicesrbije.com/active/en/home/glavna_navigacija/putnicki_saobracaj/medjunarodni_saobracaj/cene_prevoza_v01.html
On this link you will find most international ticket prices from/to Serbia including Balkan Flexipass.
And about Balkan Flexipass...it's worth the price, for example, 5 days within one month for young travelers in 2nd class cost 51EUR, comparing to which Beograd - Istanbul 2nd clas return ticket costs 88EUR!!!!!!
And one important thing:
BALKAN FLEXIPASS IS ALSO VALID IN ASIAN PART OF TURKEY!!!

ShoRa
Traveller
29 comments

I forgot...Balkan flexipass is valid in Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey

anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments

I recently spoke to abc regarding the day usage of a pass, and actually said to me that journeys that start after a certain time count as one day, but interestingly said that going from Bucharest to Istanbul would only take one day off, despite it leaving Bucharest at midday...!!!

And the pass makes getting from Budapest to Bucharest cheaper. £20 to the Romanian border than the reservation fee from there to Bucharest!

nltrainer
Traveller
1405 comments

This pass is a real bargain;
1.can buy in ANY of the countries participating, at the INTERnational ticket sales points.
2.CAN buy in-only there!-your choice of 1st or 2nd cl.
3.reductions for those <26 and >60
4.can ALSO buy in Budapest-Kelti=east station from the WASTEELS office
5.OUT of this area (except this wasteels) the quoted price is much higher-often double-as what you pay over there.
6.INTERnational tickets in those countries are also reduced by 50% on the listed TCV-tariff as used in the west.
7.still valid-at least this year, in GR, even though no more trains between GR and MAC/BG/TR
there are -as always-catches too:
trains over there are slow, not comfortable, often (VERY!) late. do not have AC, even in sweltering hot summers. But sometiems can be a real surprise in comofrt and price (like in TR)
tehre are hardly supplmts-except the usual for sleepers/couchette or for reservations. you MUST reserve for most long-dist international trains, most night trains and ANY long-dist train in ROM (for 2-5€ and TR-free.