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Bulgaria: Railway Information

Bulgaria offers a wide-spread rail network to most corners of the country. On many routes you can enjoy great panoramic views. There are three types of trains in Bulgaria, of which the Expresse (ekspresen) trains are the fastest and most comfortable. The main train station is Tsentralna Gara in Sofia.

Eurail Passes for Bulgaria:

Bulgarian railway company

Logo Bulgarian Railways

The national railway company of Bulgaria is called BDZ (Bulgarian State Railways - Bâlgarski Dârzhavni Zheleznitsi).

Visit the website of the Bulgarian railway company BDZ: English version / Bulgarian.


Network

There are various connections with other European countries:

  • Sofia - Belgrade - one day train and one night train
  • Sofia - Bucharest - one day train and one night train
  • Sofia - Thessaloniki
  • Svilengrad - Alexandroupolis
  • Bulgaria Express from Sofia to Kiev, Moscow, Minsk and Saint Petersburg.
  • The Black Sea Train circulates during certain periods of the year from Moscow and Minsk to Varna and vice versa.
  • The Bucharest / Istanbul Express - circulating on the route Bucharest / Stara Zagora / Istanbul.

Reservations

The majority of trains within Bulgaria do not require advance seat reservations. An exception are the Express (Ekspresen) trains. They run mainly on the routes Sofia - Plovdiv, Sofia-Varna and Sofia -Burgas. Reservation is not expensive, around 0,25 euro. You may have to pay additional commission though. Reservations can be made at the Rila travel agencies, which you can find for example at Sofia train station. See for addresses the BDZ website. Good to know: a reservation is called 'zapazeno myasto' in Bulgarian.