Istanbul by train from Zurich

[@SuperalbsTravels]

What an adventure, one I'd love to take myself! Some great music choices too, really enjoyable video.

[@felixonrails]

Thanks Albie 😁

[@ulfw]

No First Class and dining cars mate. You'd never take it.

[@doc7austin]

@@felixonrailsHow do I add music to my videos ? 😢

[@by_feram]

Schöne Bilder, interessantes Video - gut gemacht. BRAVO & LIKE

[@felixonrails]

Vielen Dank!

[@SimplyRailway]

Lovely video Felix! I didn't know about the public bath in Vienna... now I know where to take a shower ;) keep up the good work

[@FromtheWindowSeat]

This looks like an incredible journey … and a really well produced video too! I’m all the more excited as I’m planning a trip to Romania and Bulgaria this year and can’t wait to see some of this scenery (particularly the Carpathians) for myself. Cheers!

[@felixonrails]

Thank you so much - yes the Romanian and the Bulgarian landscape is stunning. When you're in Sofia, you should definitely hop to Istanbul overnight for one or two days, though 😀

[@MotorRoutings]

Nice video, a new subscriber

[@belarussamsun9962]

Well, that seemed like it was very fun because I did it back in 1987

[@luludufuret4585]

Et vous voilà de retour....que c'est bien! Merci des vos efforts. Lulú Paris

[@felixonrails]

Merci beaucoup pour ce commentaire 😊

[@rail_away]

A great trip and nicely documented, Félix 👍

[@felixonrails]

Thank you Gareth, glad you enjoyed it!

[@mangoman7913]

monsieur ....c'est chouette!

[@felixonrails]

Merci!

[@mangoman7913]

@@felixonrails Bienvenue à Doha Monsieur. Votre video est interassant. .....Contunuez!

[@kevinweber5129]

In 86 I took a train from Budapest to Athens. I think it was 18 hours regular class. That’s about the longest I would go. Maybe 2 nights if I had a sleeper.

[@kevinweber5129]

I just realize the trip was probably over 24 hours. Memory is difficult almost 40 years ago. I’d say 24-30 hrs but it was only one overnight.

[@jamoke_jabroni]

4:05 Schnitzellove 🤩

[@felixonrails]

ich glaube ich habe auf der Reise 3 Schnitzel gegessen. Zwei in Wien und eins in Bukarest... 🤣

[@hayd8946]

Thank you very much for this video very nice video please how much is it the ticket from Europe's to Turkey

[@felixonrails]

Thank you! In total, we paid around €250 for the train tickets per person - without any reductions.

[@bilenttuna6921]

Willkommen in Istanbul Felix

[@doc7austin]

sehr nettes Video. Da kommen schöne Erinnerungen hoch. Langweilig wurde es im türkischen Liegewagen wohl nie.

[@loccusloccus5315]

Incredible journey! The border controls between Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria should dissipate ss Romania and Bulgaria will be granted full Schengen membership, from January 2025 onwards. Also, Kudos for taking the T6 to arrive in Sirkeci the classic way. Hopefully the Sofia Express will be extended to Sirkeci again, to reduce the necessity of transfers within Istanbul proper.

[@felixonrails]

I hope so too but they botched the track layout very badly. As it’s now only a single track, it seems already clogged up only with the T6…

[@loccusloccus5315]

@@felixonrails It's single track, but with plenty of double track sections and sidings. This corridor will be also used for freight trains for the soon to reopen Haydarpasa to Sirkeci traject, for goods that aren't allowed through the Marmaray tunnel. Also, the T6 is only operating at low frequency. So, it shouldn't be an issue to squeeze in the handful of passenger trains that are operating on the European side of Turkey (2 passenger trains to/from Edirne, 1 train to Uzunkopru and the sleeper to Sofia... that all.)

[@sensatovideos]

01:25 today i learned there's luxury train services that cost 20 thousand+ euros?? wtf 😵 - lovely video btw!

[@YusrinaYusup027]

Thank you for sharing. Love to try this route😍. Will this route; from Bucharest to Istanbul open whole year or only in Summer?

[@felixonrails]

the through coach only runs from mid June to mid October, but the trains the through coach uses run the whole year. So somehow you can travel the whole year, but you'll change trains in Gorna and Dimitrovgrad, far less comfortable.

[@randall8379]

Thanks. Interesting. I'd like to travel from London to Istanbul by train. Getting to Bucharest could be done on day trains, no? The problem would be getting from Bucharest to Istanbul. I couldn't endure a couchette trip at this stage of my life. Is there any other route with a comfortable single occupancy sleeper that gets one into Istanbul?

[@felixonrails]

Yes, you could get to Bucharest slower on day trains. The only other possibility to get to Istanbul by sleeper is to somehow get to Sofia and there take a sleeper. But it will be the same mess in Kapikule in the middle of the night. But the couchette berth on the turkish TVS 2000 are really comfortable, not comparable to the ÖBB Nightjet ironing boards... The other alternative is to take the route my wife and I did in 2022. Try to get from London somehow to Villach in Austria, and from there take the Optima Express to Edirne. Usually in season they also rent a sleeper that you can book as single occupancy, but it's quite expensive, something around €600 IIRC.

[@randall8379]

@@felixonrails Thanks for answering. I did a bit of research. I see that there is a Sofia-Istanbul sleeper with single compartments with sink however does this run all year round? By the way, do compartment windows open at all?

[@felixonrails]

yes it runs the whole year - the challenge is how to get to Sofia and then, again, the border crossing at 2 am in Kapikule. The windows don't open fully, just the upper part can be pivoted. It's the same type of carriage than in the video from Bukarest to Istanbul, just as sleeper.

[@Magyarorszag90]

0:55 Austria is Anschluss by Germany

[@felixonrails]

Yeah the borders I used for this map are the late interwar years

[@Magyarorszag90]

@felixonrails Are these your favoured borders? 😂

[@luludufuret4585]

Je vous pensais des suisses....quant à vous je vous croyais francophone mais d'après le vidéo, je constate que vous êtes sans doute de langue maternelle allemande. Ceci étant dit, je me demande pourquoi vous et votre ami si vous êtes suisses, tous les deux, vous vous parlez en "hochdeutsch" et non en "schweizerdeutsch". De Paris, toutes mes amitiés, Lulú

[@felixonrails]

Vous avez très bien observé et décortiqué la situation. En effet, c'est un peu compliqué... Je suis Suisse et francophone, j'ai grandi et j'habite en suisse romande, mais je suis aussi d'origine maternelle allemande, donc aussi germanophone, et ça, en "hochdeutsch". Je ne parle pas en suisse allemand. Mon ami Joseph cependant est allemand et vit en Allemagne.

[@ulfw]

How something can be called Dacia Express when it makes frequent stops and goes at pedestrian walking speed is beyond me. You proved the trip can be done but also proved it really really shouldn't be. I feel sorry for your friend who clearly didn't share your excitement about long slow train journeys to not that far away places.

[@felixonrails]

Well said haha

[@emresamyeli1949]

21:10 yeah TCDD is noutorious for delayed arrival times etc unf. 21:31 the word Thracian does not either written nor pronounced that way. 22:32 Maybe its harder but... who told you that you can pay for a ticket with NFC? Did you really had a research or though trying the same thing you did back in Bucharest and hoped for the best and planned to criticize the system even tho you didnt do a research? 22:42 that kiosk is an "older one" dude. Not a new one... 23:48 seriously? What were you expecting? U have any idea what would happen without the fences? Don't you know that Sirkeci - Kazlıçeşme line also serves as a coastel pedestrian road as well?(even tho a very lame one tbh). Plus: im %100 sure that if there were no fences, you would probably critize the security. Anyway welcome to İstanbul

[@felixonrails]

Hoşbuldum, yorumunuz için teşekkür ederim hocam. Sizi alındırdıysam kusura bakmayın. İETT ve Marmaray ödemeleri hakkında, kapıda tam anlamıyla bir NFC çizimi var, bu yüzden onu kullanmayı denediğimiz için bizi suçlamanızı anlamıyorum. Bilet makinesi yeni, yıl 2022'te Halkalı'da kredi kartıyla ödeme yapma imkanı hiç yoktu, ancak bu çalışmadı. Dikenli tellere gelince, dikenli tellerle korunan bir demir yolu hattı görmedim. Lütfen çitlerden hiç şikayet etmediğimi, sadece dikenli tellerden şikayet ettiğimi unutmayın, bence yayaların raylarda yürümesini önlemek için gerçekten aşırıya kaçılmış. Her şey gönlünüzce olsun. İyi günler dilerim