Istanbul to Sofia train: how to book / buy a ticket?
Staying in Istanbul and thinking about our next destination, we learn thatthere is a night train connecting Istanbul to Sofia. It’s a journey of 571 km.
The train departs every day from Istanbul at 8 PM, arriving in Sofia at 9:20 AM, a journey of 13 hours and 20 minutes.
The departure is from Halkalı station , about a 40-minute drive from Istanbul’s center.
When we found this out, we were immediately excited about the idea of taking this trip!
However, it’s not possible to book a ticket online; you have to either go in person. Either to the departure station (Halkalı) or to Sirkeci , which has the advantage of being fairly central (a 15-minute walk from the Blue Mosque).
We chose the second option.
Sirkeci station has been out of service since 2013, but it’s iconic for having been the terminus of the Orient Express that linked Paris’s Gare de l’Est to Istanbul.
To do this, you need to go to the “International Tickets” counter, which is open from 10 AM to 8 PM.
The seller spoke a little English, which made communication easier.
Here is the table of timetables and fares, which aren’t very clear (and I’m not sure the fares are up to date).
I had read that there were several categories available; we asked for a private sleeper cabin for the two of us.
We paid (June 2023) 1891.80 TL for two, which is €74.16 at the then-current exchange rate.
Broken down as follows (I figured this out later by studying our ticket):
- 785.6 TL, which seems to correspond to the bedding fee
- 553.1 TL per person for the ticket itself
Tickets are personal (we had to show an ID).
Card payments are accepted. It’s noted that debit cards are not accepted, but I had no issue with mine.
It’s possible to book tickets in advance (we bought our tickets a month before departure).
If you bought your ticket at Sirkeci station, remember that it is NOT the station where the train departs.
Bon voyage!
To find out how the journey goes, check out this article.
