site.btaOvernight Train Sofia-Istanbul Voted One of World's Best Journeys for 2023 by Lonely Planet

The night train between Sofia and Istanbul has been selected as one of the world's best journeys for 2023 by guidebook publisher Lonely Planet. There are only six other entries in the Journey section of the Best in Travel 2023 list.

The overnight train route was resumed in April this year, after being suspended in early 2020. The Istanbul-Sofia express runs daily in both directions. It departs from Halkali station, a 45-minute ride from downtown Istanbul, at 8:45 pm, and arrives in Sofia at 9:35 am, but border procedures could cause delays. In the opposite direction, the train departs Sofia at 6:30 pm and arrives at Halkali at 5:34 am.

In the Journey section of Best in Travel 2023, the Istanbul-Sofia sleeper train is in the company of a road trip through Nova Scotia, Canada; a 7-day journey on the trans-Bhutan trail; a 4-day journey in two natural parks in Colombia; a 7-day journey in Western Australia; and an 8-day journey through Zambia.