Turkey offers a vast variety of possibilities when it comes to choosing the right tour style fitting you. Train tours in Turkey started to become a favorite choice for many travelers in the last decade. Train tours in Turkey are becoming popular for many reasons such as good pricing and high service quality.
”Eastern Express Train in Turkey” route became a hit in the last years. I wrote this article to let you know the most important details about the Eastern Express Train Route in Turkey. I hope you will enjoy it. Contact me if you need to learn more on train routes in Turkey or you can book a professional licensed Turkish tour guide by contacting me. See you soon, Hasan Gülday.
Eastern Express runs between Ankara and Kars stations every day of the week. There are small stops during the ride. Stops are Kırıkkale, Kayseri (Cappadocia), Sivas, Erzincan ve Erzurum. Departure time from Ankara train station is 18:00 o’clock and departure from Kars is 08:00 every day.
Travel time is 25 hours to 30 hours. Time can be longer depending on the small stops you will have in various cities. I recommend booking a cabin for two passengers. You can have a private room for yourself. It will be a nice romantic day for you and your beloved one. You will have a memory to last a lifetime in Eastern Express.
There are sink, a mini-fridge and two seats/beds in every private cabin. You can consume your own food and alcohol in your cabin. There is a food court on the train but bringing food and drinks of yourself is not allowed to the food court.
There is a shared toilet in every wagon. One toilet is for ladies and one toilet for gentlemen. There are in total of 7 private cabins in every wagon so you will be traveling with 14 people.
Tours offered in all the little stops or you can explore yourself. Please keep it in mind that ”the train never waits”. You should always be on time since it can leave you behind.
I recommend leaving the train in Kayseri and taking a ride to Cappadocia. YOu can see unearthly land formations and take a hot air balloon ride in Cappadocia. There are daily flights from Cappadocia / Kayseri to Istanbul and to Izmir / Ephesus. You can complete your trip by taking any of these flights.
If you want to extend your journey to another country, there are extension train options to Tbilisi in Georgia and Baku in Azerbaijan. It can be another good choice.
Tickets for Eastern Express cost 480 Turkish lira for one person in a private cabin and 600 Turkish lira for two people in a private cabin. This includes a private cabin, bed sheets, and pillow and basic amenities needed.
Here is the official website of the state railroad agency in Turkey. The website is in Turkish and you can book tickets for Eastern Express. http://www.tcddtasimacilik.gov.tr/tren/dogu-ekspresi/
