Storyline: Vidin to Ruse Bulgaria via Romania by train Jul – Aug, 2017
While planning this trip from Canada it was somewhat difficult to find information on crossing the Bulgaria-Romania border at Vidin-Calafat. According to Mister Google, there was a road and rail bridge (this didn’t exist in my time living there). We even found information about New Danube Bridge that was opened in 2013. Yes, there was a railway. There was information on when the first freight train ran on this railway. There was some information that a passenger train was also launched. But try to find if such passenger train actually ran regularly and if there was a timetable. I asked a friend in Sofia to check, and he reported back that the Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) didn’t have any information on trains crossing border at that point. Really!? Who else can have this information then? Romanian friends didn’t know either, but they also did not recommend renting a car or driving in Romania. Not that renting a car in Bulgaria and dropping it off in Romania was an option. So, my little train project was hitting the information barrier from the start. And I had no language barrier.
It wasn’t until we posted a question on TripAdvisor (TA) that someone kindly sent us a link to German railway company DB Bahn. We could even find the address of the sales bureau in Sofia on the DB Bahn reservation site. Our confidence that we could cross the border by train there returned.
I actually find TA pretty useful. Yes, we are some of those wackos who write reviews and answer questions (if I bother reading the e-mails), but on many occasions when we needed information and other resources fell short, we’d post a question on TA. There would always be a few people giving us relevant information.
I wasn’t concerned with the return crossing point at Giurgiu – Ruse. After all, there has been a bridge there, called the Friendship Bridge, as far back as I can remember (which is not surprising, since it was opened in 1954). We would decide on how to re-cross the border once in Bucharest, depending on timetables and convenience.
As for local public transportation once in Romania, well TA came handy again. I posted a question with my full itinerary and asked for recommendation of its feasibility, and transportation. People sent us URLs for domestic trains and buses. They also recommended what to do once there, etc. However, one can only be sure that a specific train or a bus runs once one reaches one’s destination.
There isn’t much online information, let alone online booking for this part of the world. And when there is, it may not be accurate. Things change more quickly than online information is updated. So, for any DIY (do it yourself) traveller we’d recommend to leave a few days buffer between traveling from one city to another and arrange the best local transportation when there.
The first leg of our train adventure, including where to buy tickets and the condition of the 2 carriages, on the international train is covered in the first two posts:
Crossing the Danube over the New Europe Bridge and
Vidin to Craiova, the Romanian part
of the storyline ” Vidin to Ruse Bulgaria, via Romania by train…”.
The next few posts of this storyline will cover our Romanian trip, including the trains we took…and a bus after all.
All in all, we were presently surprised by the Romanian trains we took. They were comfortable and cleaner than we expected. Although they were not as fast as those in Western countries, they were faster than the car or bus options on roads that parallel the tracks through the mountains. The fast trains Sibiu- Brasov and Brasov-Bucharest had electrical outlets and wifi. Nice touch.
And so… off to Craiova.
If you go… (travel tips)
Booking:
They are working on it. I mean the online booking and so. But they are not there yet and who knows when or if they’ll have this service functional.
As of the time we travelled one could find the timetables from:
1. Db Bahn for international trains;
2. Romanian Railways (CFR) website – for all local destinations, including using international trains.
When we visited, these sites were only for information. One could not book any train through them. Looks like one can now book some long-distance fast trains considered as mainline on the CFR, but not the local services. One can’t book using DB Bahn, nor can one book an international train on CFR.
We travelled in high season and the trains we took were very far from full, so you can buy ticket at the train station and board the train without fear that the seats will be sold out. Most of the trains don’t have any seat reservations. Exceptions are the sleeper and long-distance trains.
We’d recommend to buy your tickets locally for all your train travel. Give yourself some time. There is plenty to see in the cities and towns you’d likely visit.
Food:
Although some international and long-distance trains are supposed to have food service, this was not our experience. There was no food service in any of the trains we took. So bring your own food and drinks. Cheers!
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