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That's right - there's no need to take luggage off the train on the westbound journey.
The passport check and fingerprints are done in a small portacabin on the platform at Svilengrad.
The timings on my journey were:
Woken up at 02:11 for Turkish border control, back on the train at 02:33
Woken up at 05:02 for Bulgarian border control, back on the train at 05:25
The train was only about 5 minutes late on that journey.
I took that train on 2 April and you now have to get off the train on both sides of the border. Unfortunately it is a very disrupted night's sleep, but I didn't find it stressful and there is no risk of the train leaving you behind.
Seat61 describes the current Schengen border crossing procedures on the Istanbul train on this page: https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/bucharest-and-sofia-to-istanbul-by-train.htm#Whats_the_journey_like
Almost all the other sleeper passengers I shared tables in the restaurant car with were US citizens rather than international tourists, and they weren't tipping.
I travelled on the Coast Starlight and California Zephyr in 2018 and I can't recall seeing any sleeper passengers tipping in the restaurant car. As you always sit at a table with other passengers, I think it would be awkward to tip if no-one else at the table does (or vice versa of course). I...
Just to update on how this journey went, I found things exactly as described by Ian99. I arrived at the ferry terminal at 10:20, just over 3 hours before the ferry was due to depart (which was much earlier than necessary in hindsight). I had no trouble buying a ticket at the Superfast Ferries...
Many thanks for all the responses.
This is very interesting. So one option may be to just turn up at the ferry port in Bari, present my Interrail pass, and see what they offer me there. I guess the risk of the ferry being full in March should be low.
Hi,
I am planning a trip to Greece for March, and I'm trying to understand the discounts available on the Superfast ferries service from Bari to Igoumenitsa/Patras. I will be using a first class Global Interrail Flexi pass for the trip. Am I right in thinking that there are two options:
1. If I...
Hi. Sorry I have only just seen this post, but thought my experiences from back in 2010 might be of some interest. I can't comment much on the ferry itself as my journeys Palermo - Tunis and Tunis - Palermo were with a different ferry company GNV (Grandi Navi Veloci), but the only thing to be...
If you buy a paper pass from interrail.eu be aware that you have to allow something like 18 days for delivery. I ordered one on 1 December and the earliest permitted start date was 19 December if I recall correctly. (That was for delivery to the UK)
I saw a one coach loco hauled train when I was passing through Lokoshaza in Hungary yesterday. It was a class 431 electric loco with one coach and it was working these trains:
7546 1742 Ketegyhaza to Lokoshaza
7553 1822 Lokoshaza to Ketegyhaza
Looking on idos.cz journey planner there look to be buses every two hours from the Slovak side of the border (Lysa Polana) to Poprad via Vysoke Tatry, so I think that local bus option still works as well.
From my limited experience of the system, I think you may need to buy two Andante cards - one loaded with the two-zones tickets, the other loaded with the four-zones tickets. But if anyone knows how it can be done on one card, please let me know as it would be useful.
There was a line from the south so no reversal was needed. This map shows where the old line was: https://mapy.com/en/zakladni?x=20.2173878&y=67.8505877&z=14
I agree that the direct fast ferry from Messina to Reggio Calabria could be a good option. I travelled on it last year. It is operated by Liberty Lines, runs fairly frequently, and only costs €4 one way. In Messina it leaves from the same place as the FS BluJet fast ferries, which is close to...
The Italian language Wikipedia page mentions the project to fit battery modules to 16 E464 locos: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locomotiva_FS_E.464
Translated quote from the Wikipedia page:
I think the daytime IC services should use these battery fitted E464s now, so they no longer require a...
I think the Casa to Oujda and Casa to Beni Nsar overnight trains both still have sleepers. They are single sleepers, with a wash basin and a comfortable seat in each compartment as well as the single bed. I enjoyed my trip earlier this year and slept well. The only problem for me was that most...
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