robz39
Traveller
1 comments
Posted 12 years ago
Hi there,
My partner and I are planning on travelling from Split to Istanbul in late July. We are trying to figure out costs and availability of trains/transport options for this leg. I keep finding conflicting advice on prices and availability. The itinerary looks something like:
1) Split - Sarajevo (on one of the three daily buses)
2) Sarajevo
3) Sarajevo (1135hrs) - Belgrade (2009hrs) on the train
4) Belgrade
5) Belgrade (1747hrs) - Sofia (0804hrs) on the Sleeper Train (day time in Sofia), then Sofia (1915hrs) - Istanbul (1235hrs) on the Sleeper Train
Has anyone out there done this itinerary and can give us some advice on it? Do those times look correct? Should we book tickets in advance? Will a EURail Global Pass cover any leg of this journey? Anyone have any indication of prices for each leg of this journey?
Can we book the ticket from Belgrade straight through to Sofia, but stop for a day in Sofia, or do we need to book them as separate tickets??
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Rob and Sibyl
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hej Rob and Sibyl,
sorry for replying late, here's some info for your trip:
Split - Sarajevo: Three buses leaving at 0700, 0930, 1600, arriving in Sarajevo at 1400, 1730, 2230.
Sarajevo - Beograd: :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/train/sarajevo-to-belgrade[/u]
Beograd - Sofia: :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/train/belgrade-to-sofia[/u]
Sofia - Istanbul: [u]https://rail.cc/en/train/sofia-to-istanbul[/u]
No need to book tickets in advance. You can book all tickets before departure at the station. Serbian railways offer a special price to Sarajevo for 16,80 pP, a similar offer should be available for the opposite direction as well.
Beograd - Istanbul is 81,80€, you can break the journey in Sofia. For the prices of sleeper/couchette supplements have a look at the above links.
Due to construction works in Turkey there are no trains running through to Istanbul at the moment. From Kapikule, the border station you have to change to a bus. If this sounds too uncomfortable you can choose a bus as well for the Sofia - Istanbul leg.
Flo 8)
nltrainer
Traveller
1416 comments
do not bother with Eurial for this-a big waste of money
2.between SJ and BGr there are also much faster hourly buses-from the Serb part of SJ.
3.Do be aware that most trains in Serbije arr with delays -a few hrs is not umcommon.
unless you are a dedicated trainlover of course-just to point out sensible alternatives.
IF you still want train: Do NOT buy BG-Ist in 1 go-that price is WAY too much (the quote from machines in west-europe for full fare international)-wait till there and get at least 50% local discount-or even less with buying in segments-to/fro SF.
Flow/Peter;in the countries that sell/take Balkan Flexi ALL CIV/SISC-prices are 50% lower as you see in the west-eur tariff.
robz39
Traveller
1 comments
Than you all so much for your input. Its great to get some up-to-date input and know we're not completely off track. Will look into your suggestions and hope they pan out - besides, that's half the adventure! I will let you know how we get on!
Thanks again.
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Yeah, nltrainer is right, Beograd - Istanbul is more like 40-50€ one way...plus supplement for sleeper/couchette accomodation.
Anyway, I cannot agree with the many hours delays in Serbia, the situation has got better during the last months. :)