Trains in Bulgaria: Routes, Fares and Tickets from Sofia

Bulgarian trains are slow, cheap and a bit battered, and I still pick them for a handful of trips. Sofia to Varna costs €14.98, the night train to the coast saves a hotel bill, and the line north through the Iskar Gorge has better views than any coach window. This is how I use BDZ, the state railway, from Sofia: the routes, real fares, tickets, sleepers and the trips where I take the bus instead.

Does Bulgaria have a good train system?

Bulgaria has a national network run by BDZ (Bulgarian State Railways), and from Sofia it reaches Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Veliko Tarnovo, Blagoevgrad, Kazanlak and Vidin. It's slow. The quickest daytime journey to Varna takes 7h42, and Plovdiv, 2h45 away by train, is about 2 hours on the bus.

Getting around Bulgaria by coach is quicker on most routes, with more departures. The train wins on price, on room to stretch out and on the overnight runs to the coast. It also suits a few trips better than the coach: Koprivshtitsa, cheap runs to Blagoevgrad and the Rhodope towns on the narrow-gauge line.

The rolling stock is a mix. Long-distance trains mostly pull older compartment coaches, while many daytime and regional trains are Skoda multiple units. I prefer the compartments: a window, a door that closes and a rack over your head for a big bag.

Train routes from Sofia: times and fares

These are BDZ's regular fares and the fastest trains on its timetable for 5 and 7 November 2026. Fares move a little with the day and the train, and BDZ gives the exact price when you book.

Return tickets save money on the long runs: a return to Varna costs €22.04 against €29.96 for two singles, and to Burgas €18.76. Children aged 7 to 10 pay half.

Train or bus? Where each one wins

Plovdiv is the closest call. The bus takes about 2 hours for €8.50 to €11 and runs all day, while the train costs €5.62 and takes 2h45 or more, with a change by day. I take the bus in daylight and the direct evening train when I head down after work.

For Veliko Tarnovo I take the coach from Sofia Central Bus Station, about 3 hours, while the best train takes 4h33 with a change at Gorna Oryahovitsa and leaves you at a station below the old town.

The Black Sea is where the train pulls ahead. FlixBus's coach to Varna takes about 8 hours 45 minutes, and the night train covers the same ground while you sleep.

Blagoevgrad is the train's easy win in the south-west: 7 direct trains a day, the fastest in 2h05, for €4.29. No public bus runs to Rila Monastery any more, so from Blagoevgrad it's a 41 km taxi ride.

How to buy train tickets in Bulgaria

I buy most tickets at the windows in Sofia Central Railway Station, showing the destination written on my phone. BDZ also sells tickets online at bileti.bdz.bg, which is how I book night trains and summer weekends at the coast.

Fast trains carry a seat reservation of €0.51 on top of the fare. Some are marked "compulsory reservation" on the timetable, including the 06:00 to Burgas and the 22:20 night train, and you can't board those on a ticket alone.

BDZ's discount cards are for Bulgarian citizens and residents, so visitors pay the regular fare. With the longest run from Sofia under €15, a rail pass rarely pays for itself inside Bulgaria.

Before the trip home on a return ticket, have the return half stamped at a station ticket window, or BDZ counts you as travelling without a ticket. A return up to 100 km is valid until midnight on the day you go, up to 300 km until the third day after, and beyond 300 km for 30 days.

First class, second class and what the trains are like

Second class is fine for any trip by day. Long-distance trains mostly run compartment coaches like this one, with luggage racks over the seats, and some fast trains add open saloon coaches.

First class costs about a quarter more: €7.06 to Plovdiv, €14.67 to Burgas and €18.76 to Varna. On the night trains a first-class seat needs a reservation. I pay it for the coast on summer Fridays.

Buffet cars are rare. Of the trains I checked on the November 2026 timetable, only the morning narrow-gauge express to Dobrinishte listed one, so I pack water and a banitsa for anything over 2 hours.

Night trains from Sofia to Varna and Burgas

The night train is my favourite way from Sofia to the Black Sea coast: dinner in the city, a bunk, and the sea before breakfast. Two direct trains run to Varna and one to Burgas.

A bed costs extra, the same price whatever the distance: €7.67 in a shared second-class sleeper compartment, €10.23 in first class and €15.34 for a single compartment. A second-class ticket and a bed to Varna come to €22.65. BDZ sells beds with the ticket, at the window or online, and I book mine early for July and August.

The 23:00 to Varna is my pick. It leaves late enough for a proper dinner in Sofia and arrives at a civilised 06:50.

My favourite train trips from Sofia

Plovdiv on the evening train

The 18:45 from Sofia Central is the Istanbul sleeper on the first leg of its trip, and its seated coach gets you to Plovdiv at 21:52 for a late dinner in Kapana and a morning in the Old Town. Miss it and the 20:50 Varna train also runs direct, reaching Plovdiv at 23:53.

Koprivshtitsa by the early train

Koprivshtitsa is the trip where the train beats every other option without a car. The regional train costs €3.78, the fastest connections take 1h41, and the direct 05:15 arrives at 07:24, before the house museums open. The station is 8 km from town, and a minibus meets the trains.

The Iskar Gorge

North of Sofia the railway follows the Iskar river through the gorge it has cut across the Balkan range, past Svoge to Mezdra, with cliffs and tunnels most of the way. Trains to Vidin and the daytime trains to Varna and Ruse via Mezdra all use it. The same line runs on to Oreshets, the station for the Belogradchik rocks, about 4 hours from Sofia.

The Rhodope narrow-gauge railway

This is the train I'd ride for its own sake. The line runs 125 km on 760 mm track from Septemvri through Velingrad, Yakoruda, Razlog and Bansko to Dobrinishte, through 35 tunnels. It was finished in 1945, and Avramovo, at 1,267 metres, is the highest railway station on the Balkan Peninsula.

On the November 2026 timetable, the 06:23 from Sofia reaches Septemvri at 08:43, 12 minutes before the 08:55 narrow-gauge train, which has a buffet, needs a reservation and reaches Dobrinishte at 13:17. I get off at Bansko, near the end of the line, and stay the night.

International trains from Sofia

BDZ runs three international routes from Sofia: Istanbul, Bucharest, and Craiova in Romania via Vidin. Everywhere else across the border is a coach.

The Istanbul sleeper runs couchettes and sleeping cars. A bed in a 2-berth compartment costs €15 on top of the ticket, and a single compartment €35 with a first-class ticket. Passengers get off twice in the night: at Svilengrad on the Bulgarian side for exit checks, and at Edirne with their luggage for Turkish passport control and a bag scan. Tickets go on sale two months ahead, with the details on BDZ's Istanbul page, and the sleeper sells out in summer.

The Bucharest train runs through to Bucharest in summer and needs a change at Ruse the rest of the year. Book it on CFR's international ticket site, and check its Sofia departure station on the BDZ timetable, since repair works have moved some northbound departures to Sofia Sever. For Greece, the coach to Thessaloniki stops at the city's railway station.

Sofia Central Railway Station: getting there and finding your train

Sofia Central Railway Station stands on Maria Luiza Boulevard, north of the centre, with the Central Bus Station next door. Metro line M2 runs there from Serdika in 2 stops for €0.80, and a bank card tapped on the metro caps your city fares at €2 a day.

The international ticket windows are in the main hall. Once you have a ticket, BDZ's live page shows where each train is running and whether it's late, which I check before leaving the flat for a night train.