A train trip adds a few more hours spent on the road to the holiday program, but it can prove an attractive choice. Places on several night trains are made available to those who want to travel more comfortably to the capitals close to Romania.
Train travel are preferred for comfort. Photo: freepik.com
The closest European capitals to Romania are accessible to Romanians attracted by train travel. Even if the railway routes are traveled in a longer time than those on the roads, the railway trips are less tiring, especially when they take place in the sleeping wagons.
The stations of some cities like Vienna, Budapest, Chisinau and Sofie are close to their centers, so the care to wander in search is smaller than in the case of car trips.
Summer trains to Sofia, Varna and Istanbul
The capital of Bulgaria, Sofia, is less than 400 kilometers from Bucharest, and the most popular road route, with a landmark of the Giurgiu – Russian friendship bridge, can be traveled by car in less than six hours. The cost of fuel for a car trip between the two capitals is about 200 – 250 lei (40 – 50 euros), to which is added the payment of the vignette. With the bus, the road from Bucharest to Sofia takes about six – seven hours.
Sofia. Source: visitsofia.bg
From June to mid -October, an international train runs directly between the two cities, and the price of a second class trip is 165 lei (33 euros), announces CFR. Another train runs on the return route, leaving Sofia at 6:50 and arrived in Bucharest around 5:30 pm.
All domestic and international train routes to and from Sofia arrive and leave Sofia’s Central Station. The subway lines connect the station to the center of the city, two residential and airport neighborhoods, the trip to the center lasting about five minutes.
Also from the capital of Romania, the “Romania” trains run daily, until mid -October, to Varna and Istanbul. The ticket to the Bulgarian city on the Black Sea shore costs 135 lei (27 euros), and the one to the metropolis in Turkey – 285 lei (57 euros), at the Cușetă wagon.
The friendship train, at night, to Chisinau
The approximately 450 kilometers between Bucharest and Chisinau can be traveled in six hours by car, the cost of fuel being estimated at 175 – 200 lei (35-40 euros). On the railway, the most advantageous offer, according to CFR, are the night trains “Friendship” between the two capitals.
Chisinau. Source: Chisinau City Hall.
“With Smart the friendship you pay 130 lei (26 euros) for the trip to the sleeping wagon with 4 beds in the cabin, with the friendship 401/402, on the relations of Bucharest – Chisinau or Chisinau – Bucharest. 30 days”, Informs the CFR website.
The duration of the trip is 14 hours, and the train route passes through Iasi (Romania) and Ungheni (Moldova). The departure time from Bucharest is 19:15, and the time of arrival in Chisinau is 09:30. Also, there are local trains from Iasi over the border to Ungheni, complemented by regular links with the train from Ungheni to Chisinau. The station of the Capital of Moldova is located near the center of the city, the route can be traveled or with the means of public transport.
Budapest and Vienna, on the same route
The over 800 kilometers between Bucharest and Budapest can be crossed by car in less than ten hours, and the cost of the fuel required for a trip amounts to about 500 lei (100 euros). The railway distance between the two capitals is about 650 kilometers, but the train trip, which passes through Arad, before leaving the country, lasts between 16 and 19 hours.
Budapest. Source: visithugy.com
From the capital of Romania, trains to Hungary leaves in the afternoon or evening, and the cost of tickets starts from 350 lei (70 euros).
“The train overnight is comfortable and it is the recommended travel mode. It offers four or six people per compartment with ticket rates from 195 lei (39 euros) and bedroom compartments for one to three travelers, with ticket rates from 275 lei (55 euros). A railway journey recommended through the Superb landscape of the Carpathian Mountains”informs the Rail.CC platform, intended for railway traffic.
From the Hungarian Capital Station, a trip to the city center can take about half an hour on foot, and a few minutes by subway, tram or other means of transport.
The more than 1,000 kilometers between the capital of Romania and Vienna can be traveled by car in about 13 hours, and the cost of the fuel is estimated at at least 500 lei (100 euros). Several trains run between Bucharest and Vienna, and the fastest of them travels the distance between the two capitals in at least 19 hours. The price of a trip starts from 345 lei (69 euros), in the second class, and the price of a return ticket starts from 600 lei (120 euros).
One of the favorite trains as a program starts from Bucharest around 18, crosses the west of Romania, the Curtici and Budapest border and arrives in Vienna the next day after 12 o’clock. The subway station is in the vicinity of the Viennese station, the underground line being the fastest way to reach the center of the city, located about three kilometers.
A trip from Bucharest to Belgrade, by car, takes about ten hours, the distance between the two capitals being about 600 kilometers. Train travel are almost impossible after since 2017, the races on the Timișoara – Vârșeț route were suspended.
