Germany - Istanbul without airplane

• There is no continuous train from Germany to Istanbul / Turkey therefore you have to change trains several times
• You can make nice stopovers in Vienna, Budapest, Bucarest, Belgrade, etc.
• Route 1: Germany – Hungary – Romania (– Bulgaria) – Turkey (or via Czech Republic and Slovakia instead of Austria)
• Route 2: Germany – Hungary – Serbia – Bulgaria – Turkey (or via Croatia instead of Hungary)
• Romania – Bulgaria, Romania – Turkey and Serbia – Bulgaria don’t always have train connections or it takes too long so you should take the bus here
• Highspeed railways between Budapest – Belgrade (opening 2026) and Istanbul – Ankara / Konya / Sivas
• To Antalya: Konya is only 250 km away from Antalya. Istanbul – Konya is only 4,5 hours by highspeed railway.
• Interrail: not useful except for Germany and Austria because fares are cheaper in Eastern Europe

Here some useful links (railway companies of the countries):

• https://www.nightjet.com/en/#/home : night train Austria ÖBB (Stuttgart – Vienna – Budapest and Stuttgart / Zürich – Zagreb night train)
• https://www.mavcsoport.hu/en: railway Hungary MAV (Budapest – Bucarest night train)
• https://www.cfrcalatori.ro/en/: railway Romania CFRC (Vienna – Budapest – Bucarest night train)
• https://www.bdz.bg/en/c/international-rail: railway Bulgaria BDZ (Sofia – Istanbul night train)
• Autogari.RO - Bus companies: bus Romania (Bucarest – Istanbul)
• Slovak rail: railway Slovakia ZSSK (Bratislava – Budapest)
• https://www.busexpress.bg/en/ : Busexpress Bulgaria (Bucarest – Sofia and Sofia – Istanbul night bus)
• https://www.cd.cz/spojeni-a-jizdenka/apiform?lang=de: railway Czech Republic (Praha – Bratislava – Budapest and Praha – Kosice)
• https://ebilet.tcddtasimacilik.gov.tr/: railway Turkey (Istanbul – Ankara and Istanbul – Konya / 250 km away from Antalya)
• https://optimatours.de/en/home : car train Villach – Edirne (close to Istanbul) and is only in operation during summer

Route 1 via Romania

(1) The faster train is more expensive. 2100 - 3200 CZK = 90 - 130 €. There is also a night train from Praha to Kosice / Slovakia which is 250 km away from Budapest / 4 hours by train.

(2) seat starts with 50 €; couchette starts with 100 €

(3) Budget ticket starts with 25 € and normal ticket costs over 50 € therefore a stopover in Bratislava is much cheaper because the route Bratislava - Budapest only costs 20 € and takes 2,5 hours (departs every two hours). The train from Vienna to Bratislava costs around 13 €. 

(4) Night bus (company busexpress) Sofia - Istanbul departs at least 4 x day which takes 9 hours and costs 31 €. 

Route 2 via Serbia

(1) more buses depart in Nis. 

Others and Turkey

Volatile prices due to high inflation. Istanbul - Ankara costs (update December 2025) economy class 800 TRY = 16 € and Istanbul - Konya 1200 TRY = 24 €. 

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