How to plan the ultimate European rail adventure, from London to Istanbul by train

25.08.2023 - 14:13 / nationalgeographic.com / London

Standing under the iron ribcage of London’s St Pancras station, it’s impossible not to feel a thrill as Eurostar trains whisk passengers away from the city and under the sea. In just two-and-a-half hours, travellers can step out into the French capital, where one of the greatest railway journeys truly begins. 

Launched in 1883 by the fabulously named Georges Nagelmackers, the Express d’Orient was, at first, a regular passenger service rather than a luxury train. Initially, it took a combination of trains and ferries to complete the journey from Paris to Istanbul: trains departed Paris for Vienna, then travelled through Budapest and Bucharest to the southern Romanian city of Giurgiu. Passengers transferred to a ferry across the Danube to Bulgaria before boarding another train to the Black Sea coast, where a steamer tied up the journey to Istanbul. However, in 1889 the line was completed, and that June the first direct train departed Paris, taking passengers to Istanbul’s Sirkeci Station over three nights. 

With night trains enjoying a resurgence and climate change at the forefront of our minds, now is the time to embrace the joys of slow travel by rail. Even though the service was discontinued in 2009, it’s perfectly possible to follow the same route, with Munich wound in. A direct flight from London to Istanbul costs from £100 and takes four hours, but there’s no charm in lifting out of one city and dropping into another. On a train, passengers can press up to the window, watching French farms and villages whizz by, lakes sparkling in the sunshine. German towns rise up on grassy slopes where cows graze in meadows deep with purple asters, snow-capped peaks in the distance. Fortified towns roll by in Romania, ducks and geese waddling around allotments as the train clanks through the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. Raging sunsets may light up the final ride through Bulgaria.

And within the walls of the carriage, friendships will form, food will be shared, secrets divulged and cultures examined. There will be talk of politics, cards will be dealt, drinks cracked open, and all the while towns and cities pass, their people coming and going, the journey your ultimate destination. 

Duration: 2 hours 15 minutes

In November 1994, the first Eurostar passenger train rumbled below the Channel, inaugurating a direct link between London and Paris. Services initially ran from Waterloo, until St Pancras International’s soaring, cathedral-sized train shed took over duties in 2007. Today, the journey to Gare du Nord is a quick, uneventful one, with little in the way of scenic highlights, but the expeditious leap from the Borough of Camden to the cobbles and bistros of the 10th arrondissement opens up endless