London to Turkey . . .

Above:  The incredible Haghia Sofia, Istanbul, a church then a mosque and now a museum.  It's 10 minutes walk from Istanbul's Sirkeci station, where you arrive by train from London, Paris, Vienna and Budapest..

Istanbul is perhaps Europe's most exotic city, where east really does meet west.  Can you still travel from London or Paris to Istanbul by train?  Of course!  The train journey is both feasible and an adventure.  It's safe and comfortable, too, if you book a sleeper.  The journey takes 3 nights (as it always has), and departures from London are daily all year.  Naturally, a London-Istanbul train journey will cost more than the air fare, as it's a 3-day adventure, rediscovering some of the mystery, intrigue and romance of long-distance sleeping-car travel across Europe into the Balkans.  This page is a step-by-step guide to planning, booking & making a train journey from the UK to Istanbul, with schedules, fares, what the journey is like, and how to arrange tickets.

On this page:

London-Brussels-Vienna-Budapest-Bucharest-Istanbul:  Train times, fares, how to buy tickets.  This is the suggested route.

London-Brussels-Vienna-Belgrade-Sofia-Istanbul:  Train times, fares, how to buy tickets

London-Paris-Vienna-Belgrade/Bucharest-Istanbul:  Train times, fares, how to buy tickets

London-Paris-Ancona or Brindisi-ferry-Turkey:  Alternative route by ferry from Italy

London-Paris-Athens-Thessaloniki-Istanbul:  Alternative route via northern Greece

Hotels in Istanbul - including the famous Pera Palas Hotel

On other pages:

Train travel within Turkey:  Istanbul to Ankara, Konya, Pamukkale, Izmir & Eastern Turkey.

Istanbul-Aleppo-Damascus-Jordan by train

Istanbul-Tehran by train

Istanbul-Thessaloniki-Athens by train

Istanbul-Cyprus by train+ferry

Buying UK train tickets to connect with Eurostar   Taking bikes   Dogs   Luggage   General information

Route map:

Sponsored links:

The route suggested here is probably the most comfortable, practical and affordable rail route from London to Istanbul.  It involves taking Eurostar to Brussels and the excellent City Night Line hotel train from Cologne to Vienna, which has cheap fares available, then a connecting train to Budapest.  Safe and comfortable sleeping-cars are available for onward travel to Bucharest & Istanbul.  Though with things now much improved in Serbia and Macedonia there's not much in it between this route and the more traditional route via Belgrade shown further down this page, so choose whichever suits you best.  If you'd prefer to go via Paris rather than Brussels, click here.

Train times London ► Istanbul

• Day 1:  Travel from London to Brussels by Eurostar, leaving London St Pancras at 13:00 (12:57 Fridays & Sundays), arriving Brussels Midi 16:03.

• Day 1:  Travel from Brussels to Cologne by high-speed Thalys train, leaving Brussels Midi at 17:25, arriving in Cologne Hauptbahnhof at 19:45.

• Alternatively, if you'd prefer a safer connection in Cologne (and perhaps time to climb Cologne cathedral towers and have a meal), you can leave London earlier, at 10:00, changing in Brussels to arrive Cologne at 15:45.

• Day 1:  Travel from Cologne to Vienna on the excellent City Night Line hotel train 'Donau Kurier', leaving Cologne Hauptbahnhof at 20:06 and arriving in Vienna Westbahnhof at 08:35.  The 'Donau Kurier' has sleeping-cars (1 & 2 berth deluxe with shower, 1, 2 or 4 berth standard sleepers with washbasin), couchettes (4 & 6 berth compartments), reclining seats & a bar-restaurant car, see the photos & information below.  The train travels along the famous Rhine Valley between Koblenz and Frankfurt, so if you are in a sleeper and your compartment happens to be on the left-hand side of the train, switch off the lights and watch the Rhine pass by, mountains and castles lit by moonlight, while sipping a glass of Riesling.  Wonderful!

• Day 2:  Travel from Vienna to Budapest on the air-conditioned InterCity train 'Avala', leaving Vienna Westbahnhof at 09:52 and arriving in Budapest Keleti station at 12:53.  This train has a restaurant car serving snacks, drinks and affordable complete meals - treat yourself to an early lunch..!  Look out for the crossing of the Danube just before you arrive in Budapest.  3D virtual tour of 'Avala' 2nd class, 3D virtual tour of 'Avala' restaurant.

• Day 2:  Travel from Budapest to Bucharest overnight on the EuroNight sleeper train 'Ister', leaving Budapest Keleti station at 17:45 and arriving at Bucharest (Nord station) at 08:43 next morning.  The Ister has modernised air-conditioned sleeping-cars with safe, comfortable and carpeted 1- 2- & 3-bed rooms with washbasin (recommended option, the bedrooms convert to private sitting rooms for evening/morning use, and there's even a shower at the end of the corridor), 6-bunk couchettes (basic bunks), a restaurant car for dinner and ordinary seats (not recommended).

• Day 3:  Travel from Bucharest to Istanbul on the 'Bosphor', leaving Bucharest (Nord) daily at 12:15 and arriving at Istanbul (Sirkeci station) at 08:00 next day (day 4 from London, assuming you don't stop off anywhere).  The Bosfor has a modernised air-conditioned sleeping-car with safe, comfortable and carpeted 1- 2- & 3-bed compartments with washbasin (a sleeper is the recommended option - bedrooms convert to private sitting rooms for day use, and there's even a shower at the end of the corridor), and 6-bunk couchettes (basic sleeping accommodation).  There is no buffet or restaurant car on this train, so take plenty of food and bottled water, and your own supply of beer or wine!

What's the journey like?  Travelling in the comfort  and security of the sleeping-car, this is a pleasant and enjoyable journey.  A couple of hours after leaving Bucharest the train crosses the Danube from Romania into Bulgaria on a very long steel bridge (2.5 km, the longest steel bridge in Europe!), then for most of the rest of the day it meanders through pleasant river valleys past small Bulgarian villages.  The Turkish frontier at Kapikule is reached very late at night (01:25), and here you will need to briefly leave the train to buy a Turkish visa and get your passport stamped - see the visa information below.  You'll soon be back in bed, but make sure you're awake for the dramatic entry into Istanbul, through the impressive Byzantine Walls of Theodosius and along the Bosphorus right underneath the walls of the Topkapi Palace, into Istanbul's historic Sirkeci station (built in 1888) in the heart of the city, walking distance from all the sights.  By sleeping-car into Sirkeci station is the traditional way to arrive - why not hop into a taxi to the famous and equally traditional Pera Palas Hotel?  Expect an arrival an hour or two late.  Relax and enjoy the ride...  Map of Istanbul.

• Note:  There used to be a direct Hungarian couchette car from Budapest to Istanbul, shunted from train to train in Bucharest and taking 2 nights attached to the same trains shown here, but this was permanently withdrawn from December 2007.  This is no great loss, as a bed in a sleeping-car is the recommended option east of Budapest, for both comfort & security, and a bed in a 3-bed sleeper hardly costs much more than a mere couchette in a very basic 6-bunk couchette compartment.

On board the City Night Line hotel train from Cologne to Vienna...

The City Night Line 'Donau Kurier' is a travelling hotel, with bar-restaurant-reception car, distinctive double-decker sleeping-cars with 1 & 2-bed deluxe sleepers with private shower & toilet, 1, 2 & 4 bed standard sleepers with washbasin, single-deck couchette cars with 4 & 6 berth compartments, and reclining seats.  A wonderful way to travel..!  The sleeper berths come fully made up with sheets and duvets.  All sleeper passengers get mineral water in the evening and a light breakfast served in their compartment next morning, deluxe sleeper passengers also get a complimentary glass of wine in the evening.  Towels and toiletries are provided, including shampoo and shower gel in the deluxe sleeper.  Couchette passengers get mineral water, each couchette is provided with clean sheets, blanket and pillow.  The bar-restaurant is open to all passengers, and it's normally open to about 2am.  If you like, you can book a table for dinner in the restaurant car before you travel, by emailing service@citynightline.ch or using the online form at www.bahn.de/citynightline.

				3-D panorama, City Night Line 2-berth deluxe sleeper 3-D panorama, double-deck sleeper corridor City Night Line sleeper, couchette & seat numbering plans City Night Line website: www.bahn.de/citynightline.
One of the impressive double-deck sleeping-cars in the new City Night Line red & white livery...		A table for dinner in the train's bar-restaurant.  There's also a bar serving drinks & snacks.

Deluxe sleeper: Compact rooms on top deck, 1 or 2 berths, table & chairs, shower & toilet.  3-D panorama.		Standard sleeper:  Very compact 1 or 2 berth rooms with washbasin.  Mainly lower deck.		4-berth couchettes:  Ideal for families.  Much more space per person than 6-berth, so worth the extra few euros.		6-berth couchettes:  Shown here with middle bunks lowered to form sofa.  Very economical, far better than a seat.		Reclining seats:  The cheapest way to travel, but a couchette is a far better option.

On board the EuroCity train from Vienna to Budapest - what's the Vienna-Budapest EuroCity train like..?

On board the sleeping-car from Budapest to Bucharest & from Bucharest to Istanbul...

Travelling in the comfort & security of a sleeper is the recommended option.  The sleeping-cars on the Budapest-Bucharest and Bucharest-Istanbul trains are operated by CFR (Romanian Railways) and bought second-hand from German Railways.  Each compartment can be used for 1, 2 or 3-person occupancy, and each room converts from a bedroom with washbasin at night to a private sitting room with sofa and coffee table by day.  There's even a shower at the end of the corridor, although temperature and water pressure could be better!  Compartments are single-sex, unless all berths in the compartment are occupied by people travelling together.  All rooms have both a normal lock on the door, and a security lock which CANNOT be opened from outside (even with a staff key), so you'll be both safe and snug!  More information about travelling in sleepers.

Above:  The Bucharest-Istanbul sleeping-car, seen here at Giurgiu on the Bulgarian/Romanian frontier...		A bedroom at night...  Set up here as a single-berth with middle & top berths unused.		A private sitting room by day, with sofa & table...

After crossing the Danube into Bulgaria, the Bosfor spends a lazy afternoon meandering along pleasant river valleys like this.  Relax in your private sleeper, pour yourself a beer or glass of wine (remember to bring your own food & drink!), read away the hours & enjoy the trip...  Photos above courtesy of Kester Dampney

Above:  The 'Bosfor' express in the green countryside of Bulgaria...		After midnight, under the arclights at Kapikule on the Turkish frontier...  You need to get off the train for a few minutes here to buy your Turkish visa then have your passport stamped.  You'll be in Istanbul by morning...		In the last minutes of the journey, the train swishes through the Walls of Theodosius (above) at the very edge of the city, and arrives in Istanbul's Sirkeci station a stone's throw from the Bosphorus.  Photo courtesy of Kester Dampney

Train times Istanbul ► London

• Day 1:  Travel from Istanbul to Bucharest on the 'Bosphor', leaving Istanbul (Sirkeci station) daily at 22:00 and arriving next day in Bucharest Nord at 17:24.  The Bosfor has a modernised air-conditioned sleeping-car with safe, comfortable and carpeted 1- 2- & 3-bed compartments with washbasin (a sleeper is the recommended option, rooms convert to private sitting rooms by day, and there's even a shower at the end of the corridor), 6-bunk couchettes (basic sleeping accommodation).  There are no ordinary seats.  Bring your own food, water and wine or beer, as there's no restaurant car (there's a wine shop directly across the road from the entrance to Sirkeci station!).  Travelling in the comfort and security of the sleeping-car, this is a very pleasant journey, although be prepared to get off the train briefly at the frontier (Kapikule) at 02:55 to have your passport stamped.  In the morning the train wanders through lush green Bulgarian valleys before crossing the wide brown Danube into Romania.  Expect an arrival an hour or two late, but as this train has to hand over some Sofia-Budapest cars onto the train to Budapest, it's a safe connection as the train to Budapest has to wait.

• Day 2:  Travel from Bucharest to Budapest on the EuroNight 'Ister', leaving Bucharest Nord at 18:50 and arriving in Budapest at 07:37 next day (day 3).  The Ister has modernised air-conditioned sleeping-cars with safe, comfortable and carpeted 1- 2- & 3-bed compartments with washbasin (recommended option, the rooms convert to private sitting rooms by day and there's even a shower at the end of the corridor), 6-berth couchettes and ordinary seats (not recommended).  There is also a restaurant car for dinner.  Note that there used to be a direct Istanbul to Budapest couchette car, but it was withdrawn permanently from 9 December 2007, no great loss!

• Day 3:  Travel from Budapest to Vienna on a modern air-conditioned InterCity train, leaving Budapest Keleti station at 11:10 and arriving in Vienna Westbahnhof at 14:08.  If the Ister is delayed for any reason, there is another train at 15:10 arriving Vienna at 18:08.

• Day 3:  Travel from Vienna to Cologne overnight, leaving Vienna Westbahnhof at 20:35 and arriving at Cologne at 08:42 next morning.  This train is the excellent City Night Line hotel train 'Donau Kurier', with double-deck sleeping-cars (1 or 2-bed deluxe sleepers with en suite shower & WC, 1- 2- or 4-bed standard sleepers with washbasin), couchettes (4-bunk or 6-bunk), reclining seats and a bar-restaurant car.  See the information & photos above.

• Day 4:  Travel from Cologne to Brussels by high-speed Thalys train, leaving Cologne at 10:14 and arriving Brussels Midi 12:35.

• Day 4:  Travel from Brussels Midi to London by Eurostar, leaving Brussels at 14:59 arriving London St Pancras at 15:56.

Can I stop off to see places on the way?

Of course you can!  The train times shown above assume you are travelling straight through without stopovers, but these are regular scheduled trains with regular ticketing, not a tour or package, so you can do what you like.  Each train is ticketed separately, so you can book each train for whatever date you want, and spend time in Cologne, Vienna, Budapest or Romania on the way.  It makes no difference to the cost.  Just remember that all of these trains (except Vienna-Budapest) are 'reservation compulsory', so you need to make a seat, couchette or sleeper reservation before you board each train, you can't just hop on without a reservation.  Whether you make all the reservations in advance in the UK, or make reservations at station ticket offices as you go along, is up to you.  If you choose to make reservations as you go, you will seldom find any of these trains fully booked, places are normally available even on the day of travel.  There is only one daily train from Bucharest to Istanbul, but on most of the other stages (for example, London-Brussels-Cologne, Vienna-Budapest or Budapest-Bucharest) there are other trains in addition to the ones suggested above.  You can check train times for each stage using http://bahn.hafas.de.

Fares, using point to point tickets:

A new range of InterRail passes went on sale in April 2007, and buying an InterRail pass is probably now the cheapest and most flexible way to make a journey from London or Paris to Istanbul.  The InterRail pass option is explained and costed below, but here are prices for normal point-to-point tickets.  As you can see, you need to get a calculator and add up the fare for each leg of the journey:

1. London to Cologne  by Eurostar + Thalys:	London to Cologne by Eurostar+Thalys or Eurostar+ICE starts at just £79 return. Book in advance to get the cheapest fares, as the fare rises as cheaper seats are sold.  One-way fares usually cost more than a return, so for one-way trips buy a return and throw away the return half.
2. Cologne to Vienna  by CityNightLine:	In a reclining seat:	In a couchette		In the sleeping-car
		6-berth	4-berth	4-berth	2-berth	single	deluxe 2-berth	deluxe single
Savings fare one-way *	£21	£36	£44	£51	£58	£103	£73	£140
Savings fare return *	£42	£72	£88	£102	£116	£206	£146	£280
Normal fare one-way:	£88	£99	£106	£114	£129	£159	£172	£201
Normal fare return:	£176	£198	£212	£228	£258	£318	£344	£402
Child under 14 with own berth:	£44	£49	£53	£58	£60	£78	£65	£100
Child under 6 without own berth:	Child 0-5 (inclusive) sharing berth travels free...
* Savings fares = special book-in-advance fares, no refunds, no changes, limited availability at this price. On City Night line, couchettes are sold individually, but only whole sleeper compartments may be booked.
3. Vienna to Budapest  by EuroCity train	£24 one-way, £48 return 2nd class  £38 one-way, £76 return 1st class
4. Budapest to Bucharest  on the Ister :	Booked in UK: £69 each way in 6-bunk couchettes, £74 each way in 4-bunk couchettes £80 each way in 3-bed sleeper, £91 each way in 2-bed sleeper (all per person) Bought at the station in Budapest, Budapest-Bucharest is about 50 euros one-way, 100 euros return.  For a couchette, add 10 euros per night, or for a more comfortable and secure sleeper, add about 25 euros for a bed in a 3-bed sleeper, 36 euros for a bed in a 2-bed.
5. Bucharest to Istanbul  on the Bosfor:	Booked in the UK: £55 each way in 6-berth couchettes (not recommended) £62 each way in 3-bed sleeper, £70 each way in 2-bed sleeper (per person), recommended. Bought at the station in Bucharest, Bucharest-Istanbul is about 40 euros one-way, 80 euros return, 2nd class.  For a couchette in 6-bunk couchette compartment, add 10 euros to the 2nd class fare, or for a more comfortable and secure sleeper, add 25 euros for a bed in a 3-berth compartment or 36 euros for a bed in a 2-berth compartment to the 2nd class fare.  For a single berth sleeper, add 80 euros supplement to the 1st class fare (1st class is 50% more than 2nd class). Bought at the station in Istanbul, Istanbul to Bucharest costs 60 Turkish Lira (£25) one-way, plus a sleeper supplement of 20 YTL (£10) per person to travel in a shared 3-bed sleeper or 30 YTL (£15) to travel in a shared 2-bed sleeper.

Fares, using an InterRail pass...

The new range of InterRail passes that goes on sale from April 2007 makes using an InterRail pass the cheapest and most flexible way to make a train journey from London or Paris to Istanbul.  It also allows you to stop off and travel round the countries you pass through on the way.

• For a one-way London-Istanbul trip, a 5-days-in-ten-days flexi InterRail pass gives a total of 5 days of unlimited 2nd class train travel in all the countries you pass through within a maximum period of 10 days, which is plenty to make the journey, even with a day or two in Vienna and Budapest and Bucharest if you want.  It costs £128 if you are aged under 26, or £200 if you're over 26.  Children 4-11 inclusive £100.  Sleeper trains leaving after 19:00 count as the following day, so only one 'pass day' is used up by an overnight train ride, for example the Istanbul to Bucharest train on the return journey.

• For a return London-Istanbul trip, a 10-days-in-22-days pass costs £192 if you are aged under 26, or £288 if you're over 26.  Children 4-11 inclusive £144.  This gives a total of 10 days of unlimited 2nd class train travel in all the countries you pass through within a maximum period of 22 days, which is enough to make the outward and return journeys, even with a day or two in Vienna and Budapest and Bucharest if you want, with over two weeks in Turkey, as long as you complete both your outward and return journeys within the 22 day period covered by the pass.  If you plan to be away for longer than 22 days, you'll need either a 1-month continuous InterRail, or you could buy one 5-days-in-ten-days flexi pass for the outward trip and another 5-days-in-ten-days flexi pass to cover your return trip, and spend however long you like in Turkey and the middle east.  The only limiting factor is that you can only buy InterRails a maximum of 2 months before their start date.  Again, remember that sleeper trains leaving after 19:00 count as the following day, so only one 'pass day' is used up by an overnight train ride.

• Eurostar:  InterRail passes do not cover Eurostar, so you need to add the cost of a Eurostar ticket.  You have two options:  Buy a normal cheap Eurostar ticket, from £59 return, no refunds, no changes to travel plans allowed, or you can buy a special passholder fare, £50 one way £100 return, refunds and change of travel plans allowed.

• Sleeper or couchette supplements:  In addition to the cost of the InterRail pass, you will need to pay a supplements for each night in a couchette or sleeper berth.  For a couchette, budget for around £14 per person for the night between Cologne and Vienna, plus £9 for each of the next two nights between Budapest, Bucharest and Istanbul.  For a bed in a 2-berth sleeper, allow £40 per person per night for the night between Cologne and Vienna, and about £24 per person per night for each of the two nights Budapest-Bucharest and Bucharest-Istanbul.

• See below for advice on how to organise this trip using an InterRail pass.

How to buy tickets (using point-to-point tickets)

Please don't phone up a