Travel to Istanbul by train from France/Germany/Rome?

Question

My boyfriend and I are planning a European trip this September and though we haven't decided exactly where we'd like to go, we have some ideas.

One thought is land in London, stay a few days, then perhaps overland to France, maybe a stop in Germany after, even Rome.  But I would really like to go back to Istanbul and wonder if there is a convenient way to get there by train (I've flown and it's frankly boring, plus with security and customs etc I think it might not be too much of a time difference).

Obviously we're open to various options regarding starting points, so what do you all think and do you have references (websites would be great)!?

younosygit · Accepted Answer

The website to pose any questions about detailed rail timetables in Europe is the German Railways' site at http://www.reiseauskunft.bahn.de/

Your journey may well involve train D491, which leaves Belgrade at 07:50 daily, and travelling via Sofia / Plovdiv / Edirne and arrives at Istanbul Sirkeci at 07:50 the next day, though Seat61 (see below) recommends travelling via Budapest / Bucharest to Istanbul as the train's more comfortable (also recommends staying a day and night in Bucharest as otherwise the connection is only 37 minutes and is not guaranteed).

Other journey time you may want to consider: Vienna to Belgrade, via Budapest, just under 11 hours; Munich to Vienna just over 4 hours,

Another great site for advice about rail travel (focussed on journeys from Britain, but good advice for anywhere) is http://www.seat61.com/ and especially http://www.seat61.com/Turkey.htm

A point to note is that Sirkeci and Haydarpasa stations on the two sides of the Bosphorus are supposed to be closed from April 2011 to late 2013/early 2014 to allow for a tunnel to be built under the Bosphorus to link the two parts of the Turkish rail network. Whether this will happen remains to be seen (it's been supposed to happen at various times since 2008), but when it does happen, trains from the west will terminate at Halkali just outside Istanbul, with bus connections into the city.

Anonymous · Answer

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Anonymous · Answer

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Travel to Istanbul by train from France/Germany/Rome?

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