Thessaloniki - Istanbul by train

Following on the "Ride the Balkan train" project that me and some friends started last year, here is episode 2. Istanbul!


Starting from the Thessaloniki train station at around 20:00, the train reaches Drama train station by 22:30, while being still on Greek ground.


On the Greek - Turkish border the train stopped for more than half an hour, both on the Greek and the Turkish station, Uzunköprü.

A few minutes after 4:00 the custom police completed the passport control and we were able to continue our sleep.


After the first light, at around 8:30, we woke up with some modern urban architecture in our eyesight. After spending some time at Google Earth, I guess this must be Bahçeşehir.


When you see these funky buildings remember: you still got another hour on the train!








At 8:49 we made a short stop at Halkali train station. A breath away from Istanbul.


First signs of Istanbul's urban structure








A ha!








At around 9:30 we reached our destination, the Istanbul Sirkeci Terminal.

Total travel time: 13 hours, 30 minutes!

In my next post I will play the tourist!