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London to Istanbul by Train: My Overland Journey Through Europe
Can you travel from London to Istanbul without flying? Yes — and I recently decided to find out for myself.
Using an InterRail pass, I travelled overland from London through Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria before finally arriving in Istanbul.
Along the way I travelled on daytime trains, overnight sleepers, explored historic towns and cities and discovered parts of Europe that I would probably never have visited if I had simply flown to Turkey.
This page tells the story of that journey, but it is also intended to help anyone considering their own London-to-Istanbul rail adventure
Why Travel to Istanbul
I recently purchased a three month continuous InterRail train pass, allowing me to travel anywhere within 33 European countries,.
Looking at the map, I decided, there were five epic train journeys I really wanted to undertake.
These were:
- London to Scandinavia’s Arctic Circle
- London to Istanbul
- London to the Balkans
- London to Scilly in Italy
- London to Cadiz in Spain
I completed the first of these, between London and the Arctic Circle, within the first month of buying the pass. Now was time to set out on the second, from London to Istanbul.
After further studying the rail map of Europe I selected a route for this journey via Germany, Austria, Romania and Bulgaria.
Here is More Detailed Information About My Route
The following four maps show the key places visited and the modes of transport used. They detail my journey:
- through the Rhine valley;
- within Austria; and
The first map provides a key showing the location of the other three maps.
What Did I Do Along The Way
The highlights of the trip were:
Exploring the Rhine Valley, Germany
In Germany I visited Cologne, Bonn and Boppard in the Rhine Valley and also took a boat trip along the Rhine.
Cologne
I arrived in Cologne late in the evening, having travelled from London, via a EuroStar service to Brussels. While in Colognme I stayed overnight in a single room at the Station – Hostel for Backpackers.
You can read, via the highlighted links, about my previous experiences using the EuroStar between London and Brussels and visiting Cologne as part of my recent trip through Germany to Scandinavia and the Arctic Circle.
Photos of Cologne, Germany
Bonn
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Photos of Bonn, Germany
Boppard
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Photos of Boppard Germany
River Rhine Boat Trip
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Photos of the River Rhine, Germany
Travelling Onward by Train to Austria
I then travelled onward by train from the Rhine Valley towards Austria. Firstly travelling from Boppard to Frankfurt, by local regional train, and then boarding an InterCity train to Wuerzberg (Germany), so as to catch an overnight sleeper train from Wuerzburg (Germany) to Vienna (Austria).
Sleeper Train – Wuerzberg, Germany to Vienna, Austria
This NightJet sleeper train experience was somewhat mixed.
The train was timetabled to depart from Wuerzberg at around 1.30am in the morning and to arrive in Vienna just before 10am. However, as is invariably the case these days in Germany, the train, which originates its journey in Amsterdam, arrived an hour late. Waiting for a delayed train at that time in the morning is not ideal.
Once on the train I was confronted with a darkened couchette unit, full of sleeping fellow passengers. Trying to make up my bunk bed in the dark and also trying to find somewhere to my store luggage without waking my fellow passengers was again not easy. All of this messing around was eating into my valuable spleeping time.
Eventually, with all the above sorted, I spent the night passing in and out of sleep as the train jerked its way towards Vienna.
Somehow, the train then managed to reduce its delay to around 30 minute, cutting yet more into my preciuos sleeping time. This, coupled, with everyone else in the compartment deciding to rise for the day ahead at around 8.00am reduced my effective sleeping time to around 5 hrs, much of which was not real sleep.
All in all, I think I would have been better off spending the night in Frankfurt and catching daytime trains to Vienna, via a change of servive at Munich.
Exploring Austria
Recovering from a Sleeper Train Experience
In Vienna, Austria instead of sightseeing as planned, I spent most of the first day primarily sleeping, recovering from the previous night’s sleeper train experience. Thankfully, I had booked a single use room at the A&O hostel Hauptbahnhof, Vienna and they allowed me early access to the room, allowing me to get some much needed sleep.
I used the
A Two Day Exploration of the Austrian Alps
Once recovered I then spent the next two days on a train based exploration of the Austrian countryside, with a night’s stopover in Salzburg.
This exploratory side diversion involved travelling southwestwards along the UNESCO listed Semmering Railway Line between Vienna and Villach and then northwestwards towards Salzburg via Schwarzach- St Veit and Woergl. I then spent the night near to Salzburg before returning to Vienna on the InterCity route through Germany.
Photos of the Austrian countryside between Vienna and Salzburg
Sightseeing in Vienna
On returning to Vienna I spent an afternoon sightseeing in the city, where I visited St Stephen’s Cathedral and the Vienna State Opera House, before taking an overnight sleeper train from Vienna (Austria) to Sighisoara (Romania)
Photos of central Vienna, Austria (See individual photos for details)
Overnight Sleeper Train – Vienna, Austria to Sighisoara, Romania
This sleeper train service, known as the FT347 or ‘Dacia’ is bound for Bucharest, and is operated jointly by OBB (Austrian railways) and CFR (Romania railways). It operates daily and generally provides a range of accommodation options from seating, 4 or 6 bunk cuchettes through to private sleeping compartments. I opted for a bunk in a couchette unit and actually managed to get a reasonablre night’s sleep.
The train, departs from Vienna each day at just after 7.00pm local time and arrives in Sighisoara at about 07.30am the following morning. A travel time of some 11.5 hrs. Perhaps it was this long travel time, coupled with the much earlier departure time, that made the journey compatible with sleep.
Generally, as Austra, Hungary and Romania are now all full members of the Schengen region, you should not be disturbed at international border crossing points by passport checks in the middle of the night. Such checks are though always possible.
If you opt to use this service you can book tickets directly from the OBB ticket shop website.
Sightseeing in Romania
Sighisoara, Sibiu and Brasov
On arrival in Sighisoara in Romania I spent the day exploring the historic city and stayed in the city overnight.
The next two days were spent meandering through Romania, visiting the historic towns Sibiu and Brasov, before proceeding to the capital city, Bucharest
Throughout my time visiting Sighisoara, Sibiu and Brasov I did my own thing – Travelling around by train, booking local hotels and finding out about the history of the places with local tour guides.
Accommodation used during this period included:
Typical examples of local guided walking tours include:
Each of these tours is run by a local guide who has detailed knowledge of the history of the area.
Photos of Sighisoara, Sibiu and Brasov, Romania (See each photo for details)
If you don’t want to pay for local tour guides, you can just self guide yourself using a local Romanian guidebook and a bit of imagination.
A selection of good local guidebooks can be found by clicking the images below.
Bucharest
On arriving in Bucharest from Brasov I booked into the Hello Hotels Gara de Nord. I spent two nights here, chilling out in the centre of Bucharest for a day.
I actually found Bucharest to be much more interesting than I had expected.
It has a vibrant city centre with a number of historic buildings and a good bar scene. The latter was helped, surprisingly, by a convivial group of football supporters being in town to support their team.
Following my two night stay, I travelled by train from Bucharest, over the border, to Veliko Tarnovo in Bulgaria.
Photos of Bucharest, Romania (See individual photos for details)
Seeing Parts of Bulgaria
Veliko Tarnovo
I arrived in the captivating Bulgarian town of Veliko Tarnovo in the early afternoon, after a meandering journey from Bucharest. I then spent the evening at the Meridian Hotel Bolyarski, enjoying the balcony views, coupled with a few gin and tonics and a nice meal.
The next morning I spent time sightseeing around Veliko Tarnovo’s Old Town and the nearby hillside fortress. I then boarded a slow train to Sofia, where I arrived late in the evening.
Photos of Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria (See individual photos for details)
Sofia
In Sofia, I stayed at the Best Western Terminus Hotel, close to the Sofia’s railway station. I then spent that evening and the following day exploring the sights of Sofia.
This included visiting the:
- central restaurant/ bar area
Photos of Sofia, Bulgaria (See individual photos for details)
Exploring Istanbul
- Finally passing away two days sightseeing in Istanbul including visiting the Basilica Cistern, a fantastic Roman cavern, undertaking a boat trip on the Bosporus, visiting the Grand Bazaar and spending time around the Istiklal area, with its vibrant atmosphere and lively street cafes
Photos of Istanbul, Turkey (See individual photos for details)
If you want a travel guide book for your stay in Istanbul the following might be worth considering.
How Long Did It Take and What Were the Costs
The whole trip took around 20 days, with several stops along the way for sightseeing.
In terms of costs:
- The InterRail ticket cost around £650 for the full three months, meaning the travel costs for this trip were around £300.
- By staying in a mixture of hostels and budget hotels I managed to keep accommodation costs down to around, on average, £60.00 per night – I always stayed in private rooms, but with shared bathroom facilities in most of the hostels.
- I spent three of the twenty nights travelling on sleeper trains. The costs for couche beds on these nights averaged out at £50 per night.
- Other costs, for food and sightseeing averaged out at around £25.00 per day – Eating mainly at local cafes and restaurants, or buying sandwiches, pastries, coffees, etc, from station kiosks and supermarkets.
- In addition, I spent £100 on a cheap return flight from Istanbul to London.
All in all, the trip cost just over £2000 for the full 20 days.
Where Did You Stay
A detailed itinerary of the trip is set out in the following table. The table shows overnight stops that made up this journey, together with the hostels / hotels that were used each night.
As always, when booking hostels / hotels you should read all of the details provided by the accommodation provider and also read all of the available reviews. Also remember, when making bookings that some of the reviews may be made by reviewers who have ulterior motives for posting their comments (good or bad).
| Date | Overnight Stay | ||
| Day 1 | Cologne, Germany | ||
| Day 2 | Boppard, Germany | ||
| Day 3 | Frankfurt, Germany | ||
| Day 4 | Overnight Train – Wurtsburg, Germany to Vienna, Austria | ||
| Day 5 | Vienna, Austria A&O hostel Hauptbahnhof, Vienna | ||
| Day 6 | Golling Abtenau, Salzburg, Austria | ||
| Day 7 | Overnight Train – Vienna, Austria to Sighisoara, Romania | ||
| Day 8 | Sighisoara, Romania Hotel Restaurant Imperial, Sighisoara | ||
| Day 9 | Sibiu, Romania Poet Pastior Residence, Sibiu | ||
| Day 10 | Brasov, Romania Casa Wagner, Brasov | ||
| Day 11 | Bucharest, Romania Hello Hotels Gara de Nord, Bucharest | ||
| Day 12 | Bucharest, Romania Hello Hotels Gara de Nord, Bucharest | ||
| Day 13 | Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria Meridian Hotel Bolyarski, Veliko Tarnovo | ||
| Day 14 | Sofia, Bulgaria Best Western Terminus Hotel, Sofia | ||
| Day 15 | Overnight Train – Sofia, Bulgaria to Istanbul, Turkey | ||
| Day 16 | Istanbul, Turkey | ||
| Day 17 | Istanbul, Turkey | ||
| Day 18 | Istanbul, Turkey | ||
| Day 19 |
Have You Got Any More Photographs
A photographic and map based record of the trip can be found here in my PolarSteps account.
Was It Worth Doing
Yes, by travelling overland by train I discovered places I would never have usually visited. In addition, it is my belief that in terms of travelling, it is the journey that is important, not the final destination.
If you only have interest in the destination, rather than the journey, than that’s not really travelling. That’s simply holidaying.
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