Bulgaria by Train

Bulgaria: To travel by train in Bulgaria, buy your train ticket locally at a train station. For selected domestic routes e-tickets are available via the given booking links. There you also find ticket prices and train schedules.

train types

train connections

popular connections travelled by other users

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Online timetable information, on which you can find relevant, up-to-date connections.

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Bulgaria - Georgia

To travel from Bulgaria to Georgia, first travel by train to Varna. Then by taxi or bus to the port of Varna. Change to the ferry to Poti (Georgia). The journey time is about 54 hours. A ticket starts from Euro 100. In Poti walk from the port to the railway station and continue your travels.

Bulgaria - Greece

Travel from Bulgaria to Greece by direct train on the main line from Sofia to Thessaloniki. The border crossing is at Kulata and Strimon.

This direct train departs from Sofia at 15:00 and arrives in Thessaloniki at 23:30. The ticket fare is 35 BGN (18 EUR). International train tickets are only available at larger railway stations in Bulgaria.

Sofia and Thessaloniki are well connected to the railway networks of Bulgaria and Greece.

Bulgaria - Macedonia

Travel from Bulgaria to North Macedonia by bus, as there is no direct train connection available. If you want to travel by train, you have to travel a detour either via Serbia or Greece.

Travel by train from Bulgaria via Serbia to North Macedonia: travel from Sofia to Niš. And from Niš to Skopje.

Travel by train from Bulgaria via Greece to North Macedonia: travel from Sofia to Thessaloniki. And from Thessaloniki to Skopje.

The train journey will take much longer. Therefore direct bus connections from Sofia to Skopje might be the best choice for you.
The bus ticket fare from Sofia to Skopje is 15 EUR. The journey time is 4:30 hours.

Bulgaria - Romania

Travel from Bulgaria to Romania by train. There are two rail connections between Bulgaria and Romania, both cross the Danube on a large bridge. From Ruse to Giurgiu (where the train from Sofia to Bucharest runs) and from Vidin to Calafat.

The tickets are available at the international ticket windows in larger railway stations in Bulgaria. You can also try to book the train tickets on the websites of the Bulgarian and Romanian railway companies. If it is not possible to book your ticket in one step, buy one ticket from Bulgaria to the border station (for example: Ruse) and from there a second ticket for your travel journey in Romania.

Find exact train schedules and buy your tickets via the given booking links.

Bulgaria - Serbia

Travel from Bulgaria to Serbia on the only available cross-border railway line Kalotina to Dimitrovgrad.

On the travel route from Sofia via Nis to Belgrade you have currently one direct day train in the summer months. Otherwise the train connections required two change of trains. Sometimes an overnight train is offered as well.

The journey time from Sofia to Belgrade by direct day train is 09:15 hours. Train tickets are available from 21 EUR in 2nd class. Buy the ticket locally at the railway station. The departure time in Sofia is 09:15. The arrival time in Belgrade Topcider is 18:30.

If no direct train is available, you have to travel in several steps:
1. Sofia to Niš.
2. Niš to Dimitrovgrad.
3. Dimitrovgrad to Belgrade.

Find the exact schedules via the booking links.

Bulgaria - Turkey

Travel from Bulgaria to Turkey by direct overnight train. The daily overnight train from Sofia to Istanbul has a journey time of 11 hours. Train tickets start from 29 EUR.

Sofia is well connected by train with other Bulgarian cities. If you travel from Varna or Burgas in direction of Istanbul, a direct bus might be the faster travel option for you.

The direct overnight train Sofia to Istanbul departs in Sofia at 18:30 and arrives in Istanbul at 05:30. Buy your train ticket locally at the train station of Sofia or at other larger Bulgarian railway stations. The ticket price is 19 EUR plus a supplement of 10 EUR for a 4-berth couchette or 15 EUR for a 2-bed sleeper. The private sleeper compartment for one single traveller is 28 EUR plus a supplement of 35 EUR. In the middle of the night at the border, you have to get out of the train with all your luggage put it through an X-ray machine.

The arrival station in Istanbul is Halkali is located 25 kilometres outside of the historic city centre. Get by Marmaray suburban train in direction of the city centre, to the old Istanbul Sirkeci railway station. These suburban trains run every 15 minutes with a ticket fare of less than 2 EUR. The journey time is 35 minutes.