Final Preparations for the Orient Express
Next week I am getting back on the rails and heading for Istanbul, a j…
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London to Istanbul
This journey was both a recreation of the original route of the Orient Express and also in parts coving a journey that I last made as a student in 1987. The trip was a mixture of old and new, high speed and night trains.
Leg 1
London St Pancras – Paris Gare d’Nord
Eurostar E320
Leg 2
Paris Gare d’Est – Munich
Duplex TGV
Leg 3
Munich – Budapest
Train 463 “The Kalman Imre”
Sleeper
Leg 4
Budapest – Bucharest
Train 473 “The Istar”
Sleeper
Leg 5
Bucharest – Gorna Orjahovica Gorna Orjahovica – Dimitrovgad Dimitrovgrad – Kapilkule Kapilkule – Istanbul (replacement bus)
A classic journey of less than 3000 km over just 7 days
This was a much shorter than my Asian journeys. The last leg was the only difficult part of the route, involving 18 hours across Bulgaria and Turkey by worn out trains and bus.
From my travel journal
To find out more you can read popular posts about this adventure.
The Caledonian Sleeper from Edinburgh to London
It feels good to be on the move again. Tonight’s journey was not…
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Zen and the art of not missing your Eurostar
I had only been on the Eurostar once before, and that was 18 years ago…
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The Duplex TGV from Paris to Munich
Paris Gare d’Est is a charming and rather old school French rail…
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Train 463 – The “Kalman Imre” from Munich to Budapest
Tonight’s journey is my first taste of a Hungarian train. At fir…
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Train 473 – The "Istar" from Budapest to Bucharest
I’m on the Istar tonight and tomorrow, headed for Romania. I arr…
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On the route of the "Bosfor" from Bucharest to Istanbul
Bucharest Nord is a good station for the long range train traveller. I…
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Mad to go to Istanbul by train, or mad not to?
Having just competed a one week run from London to Istanbul on the tra…
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Matthew Woodward @ 2022