Train from Istanbul to Plovdiv, Bulgaria

So do I, Mike. But on Lonely Planet I have been told that the Turkish tracks are seriously flooded and rail service from Istanbul to the border crossing at Kapikule is by bus. Beyond that, I don't know. I'd suggest you continue to watch this board but also post on LP in the Eastern Europe/Caucasus forum. IF it did run, it'd leave Istanbul around 7 in the morning, and it's the only train there is, so it'd be the night train eventually. www.bahn.de is almost always the best site to use to look up times for any European trains, whether they're in Germany or not, but you usually don't find fares for trains that aren't at least partly in Germany. Hope this helps...

Hi, Two year old information as of April. We bought night train tickets in Istanbul and left about 9pm. It was dark and my wife was glad it was dark as the sleeping compartment was at her lowest acceptable limit for cleanliness. The blankets seemed to be made out of tree bark. 3AM border crossing is also a bit of a trip. But it is what memories are made of. And in the compartment next to us, three large American girls with their even larger backpacks and purses trying to fit into one sleeping compartment...priceless. A bit like a Marx Brother's movie without the boiled eggs. But it was a great experience to leave from the eastern terminus of the Orient Express. The station itself is being considered for demolition which is TOO bad. Nice oak doors and stained glass windows, all dripping with romance. wayne iNWI

it's not a very expensive trip. evening train is the way to go. this train used to be pretty bad 20 yrs ago but it's fine now.

It might be fine now if you buy a first class ticket. We travelled from Istanbul to Stara Zagora on a third class ticket. BIG MISTAKE. The toilets were squat type. The cars were probably fifty years old. The train stopped at every town that put out milk cans. The middle of the night stop for departing from Turkey and the one for entering Bulgaria nicely broke up the night. The ride was fifteen and a half hours long. One good thing was we got to where we were going about mid-morning - a day late for our hotel reservation. Go first class.