Trains on the Brain Savour the journey & travel by train

Rousse, Bulgaria

Bulgaria. If you can imagine the transport system you might conjure up the stereotype of a horse and cart as the most sophisticated mode of travel. Well, you will be pleasantly surprised. Bulgaria has been dubbed “the new Spain” and has updated its transport system to accommodate the ever -increasing tourist trade.

I decided to drag my best friend along with me to on a Bulgarian adventure, starting in Sofia, a wonderful city packed with museums, art galleries, nightclubs and an abundance of stunning churches. Sofia certainly offered the enough art and architecture to last us the rest of our stay. We decided to head for the Black Sea, more specifically Varna and the Golden Sands.

We took the night train from Sofia to Varna and would have had a more comfortable journey if we had known these simple tips. First, the bus is faster. The train takes 8 hours whilst the bus only takes 6. The bus system allows you to travel to most cities very frequently and once we got to Varna we took advantage of the minibuses that travel along the Black Sea tourist hotspots. The drivers tend to speak English in this popular tourist area so don’t worry about practising your Bulgarian too much.

Until recently, Bulgarian trains still had the look of transport from the Soviet era. Now the trains have been updated and have dining carts and other modern day facilities. However, bring ‘back-up food’ just in case. As the journey went on, they began to run out of things in the dining cart so unless you want to ration your sandwich, I’d recommend bringing extras. Granted we were travelling in peak tourist season with a pretty full train, so we couldn’t complain too much. And to be fair the bus would not have provided beds and therefore the possibility of sleep.

After our fantastic visit of the coast we needed to head back to Sofia, this time by bus, as we had booked our tickets to get to Moscow the next day. Train travel to Moscow is much easier than it sounds, as crossing most of Europe can seem like an epic journey. Trains to Bucharest are regular and many travel on to Moscow from here. Travelling through Bulgaria certainly offers some beautiful sights and a breath taking landscape. We experienced the incredible sight of the Balkan Mountains on our train journey up through Bucharest.

Once arriving in Moscow, completely exhausted from the journey, our priority were both food and sleep. Food in Moscow ranges from Western restaurants such as the Hard Rock Café, to Russian European cuisine at the Bolshoi Restaurant. We decided to start our Moscow experience with some Russian flair and had a delicious meal at the Bolshoi.

This journey around and across Bulgaria certainly wasn’t as much of a challenge as it seemed and I’d definitely recommend a visit.

This sponsored post was written by Imogen Nation and provided by MyDestination Info.

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