Brave or Foolhardy

We found Istanbul, the furthest mark on our trip, to be an amazing melting pot of food, culture and Architecture. You really can see a bit of everything there. It is also distributed across many separate parts with the waterways in between. On our last day we took to the boats to get a better view and that was amazing. It gives a real sense of perspective and an element of calm away from the crowds. I could have stayed on the boat for hours. I even saw a Southsea to Ryde hovercraft (previous iteration) on the docks there.

Our next port of call was Sofia and this should have been a fairly straightforward affair back on the train we have used and sat on before but going only part way in the same direction before splitting. However we encountered serious delays as the carriages failed to meet the locomotive at their next destination causing us to be stranded at a station for 4 hours until the next available train could hitch us up. This was exactly what we were afraid of and didn’t fill us with hope about the next critical part of our trip, Sofia to Budapest which had a very tight schedule and would absolutely be ruined with such a delay.

Sofia however was wonderful and while we didn’t manage to arrive on time the city was worth the diversion. Of all the cities we encountered this was probably the one that created least lasting memories because of the short time there. We managed to get a good walking tour in and check into the hotel but with such an early start coming the next day we didn’t get to see much else. The previous night train didn’t offer much sleep so we were also tuckered out.

It took some recovery time to write this one. That was a long 24 hours. The train ride was amazing and the scenery breathtaking. It really felt like a James Bond movie, Octopussy, From Russia with Love, so good. The bed was comfy too actually along with the frequent changes. However there is no escaping it (I mean you are literally locked in most of the way!) it is a long way from Bucharest to Istanbul. We are finally here though and what a melting pot Istanbul is. I am writing from the hotel we were recommended which has an onsite Turkish baths/spa which we are booked in for tomorrow. I am digesting an amazing kebab and we are recuperating after 17000 steps today looking around the historic old city. It is a feast for all senses (too snug on the tram for comfort) but everything is within tram, walking or metro distance so we had a great time. I will leave you with some pictures of the train here and the cats we bump into, so many cats here! Tomorrow we head to Sofia before the following day making an almost impossible set of connections back through to Bucharest and then Budapest. Stay tuned for the escapades we will surely find ourselves in on that monumental 24 hours!

19 hours on a train will test lots of people and we were no exception. The shared cabin we got into was also habitat by a chap from Switzerland on his way to a wedding in Brasor, and a young Romanian lady who clearly regularly travelled on long trains and was super prepared.

We had brought a load of food and stuffed this in the luggage shelf. We were advised by both cabin guests that the lower bed was always the one to book if you have a choice. We didn’t so we shrugged our shoulders and made the best of it. The train was at 19:00 so it wasn’t long until we all retired. The chap was very chatty but the issue was that he didn’t really want to answer any questions either from us in English or from the lady in Romanian.

It rattled on into the night and we worried that the single loo would become a problem. It wasn’t actually until thr last part of the journey that it was starting to be unusable though so I was more impressed that people took care of it. You really have no choice because you cannot get off or move carriages.

Our lasting impression of this part was how many times you need to blow the train whistle. We were in the first carriage behind the loco so we had a full experience about every minute or so!

We pulled into Bucharest around 14:00 and made our way directly to our hotel with directions. I was still a bit apprehensive about Romania which is more or less unjustified. However it did serve us well because we noticed that lots of roads were closed and a fair few police officers around. We didn’t think anything of it until we checked in and realised from the news that there had been a violent protest about 200 yards from the train station in the opposite direction to where we had headed. This was why the roads were closed!

We had a lovely meal at La Bab only a short walk from our hotel and wandered the streets where we happened upon a wedding couple having their photo taken in front of a Cadillac of all things. They seemed happy enough though.

After a massive sleep we stumbled out of bed into a lovely breakfast place called Bread and Butter where the Eggs Benedict with Smoked Salmon was to die for. Really good eggs!

The rest of today we mostly did the walking tour of Bucharest and it was so much more compact than Vienna. Fantastic architecture though and clearly some massive potential for refurbishing this city, which again is clearly well under way.

I did end up tripping on a large granite bollard – there are thousands of them so I don’t know why this one chose to pick on me but I was standing at a crossing and it was unknown to me directly in my path. I kicked it with my shin full force and that has pretty much put paid to much other exploring today. We are out tonight at a restaurant with live music from 20:00 so we look forward to that and our next train tomorrow to Istanbul, which is probably the longest on the entire trip at 23 hours 10 mins. Will definitely need food and entertainment for that one although the views are supposed to be amazing and we start in the daytime.

Our stay in Vienna was definitely the highlight so far. The architecture, the people, the food. Everything seemed easy and while it is so much larger than I anticipated, the justification is round every corner. It is city life done right.

We started a walking tour of the main sites but this was over 1.5km from our hotel so we had walked a distance before we started. The old coffee house Goldegg was our stop for breakfast on the way. Fabulous food and great coffee. The coffee was strictly sized, no large americanos here, so water and orange juice required to hydrate. It had a great vibe reminiscent of artists chatting things over and putting the world to rights.

What we did find on the walking tour is that so much infrastructure is being re-done. Major capital and civil engineering works everywhere. This has been the theme in Amsterdam and Belgium now I recall. Why are we not doing anything except HS2 at home?

After looking at the main government building through the fences of a circus we bowled over to a park where we could hear some live music playing. What do you know but here was a folk festival in full swing based around harvest, with tractors, lederhosen and beer. We settled in for an hour or so and ate lunch on the go here.

The evening was spent wandering and preparing for our next journey which was Vienna to Bucharest.

I mentioned yesterday that our train reservation from Dortmund had an issue because we were notified that the train was no longer stopping in Dortmund! We had tried unsuccessfully to change it over the phone and online for a multitude of reasons, so it was with quite a sense of trepidation and a little hope from the internet recommending to pick the train up at an earlier stop that we arrived into Amsterdam. It took a while to find the international desk but when we did there was a lady sitting on a stool behind a lectern type table and when we explained our predicament, she simply smiled, picked up a pen and then wrote that the train had changed and it wasn’t our fault and that we now begin our reservation from Amsterdam. What joy! The major worry just disappeared and we set about grabbing some food with the 70 mins or so we had to spare.

Amsterdam central was bustling and we didn’t have long so we marched across the platz to the new street and found La Madonna – An authentic Italian restaurant. However authentic it was or wasn’t, they had a loo and quick service. The food was actually great and fresh so we achieved the objective and watched outside where a street photographer was doing portraits and selling prints posted back to your house.

The nightjet was wonderful. We got on board at 17:50 and found our cabin right at the end of the huge train. It was huge in all proportions. We had seat 61 and 62 iykyk and were amazed at how clean and new it was. A bunk each, slippers, snacks, mood lighting, aircon and a toilet/shower room. Just brilliant. We were asleep by 21:00 but awoke at midnight as we arrived at Kassel where we would have been getting on if we had taken the OBB train service advice. So glad we followed the herd on Facebook.

The bed as comfortable as it seemed was not in fact comfortable all night. Jenni and I both woke up for several hours and in the morning it was sore enough that I could hardly turn over. That all loosened off as soon as we got up though. So we had the breakfast we had ordered the night before delivered to the cabin and zoomed through Munich, Salzburg and then eventually arrived at Vienna Hbf.

We managed to check in straight from the train into Mooons hotel which we would recommend to anyone. So friendly, so comfy and amazing city views if you book the city view room type.

We have been quite apprehensive about this trip. We feel older and we remember talking to people about inter-railing as a simple, carefree jaunt. You jump on a train to there, stay as long as you want and then pootle off to the next place. Inter-railing in 2026 is not like this as far as we can work out. With the app, the journey planning, the hotel bookings to match and the seat reservations, it seems much more rigid nowadays.

Nonetheless we have a good trip planned and even though we have an early hiccup (supposed to pick up our first night train in Dortmund, but now the train isn’t stopping there) we are going to make some magical memories.

And we are off! We began our journey at an unholy hour from Whitchurch towards Waterloo. The benefits of a first class inter-rail ticket mean it is quiet and comfy although in England the difference between first and standard is negligible. Our train arrived in good time so we mooched straight over to St Pancras on the Bakerloo and Victoria lines. St Pancras was wild, as always and we checked in without realising that after this point if you want coffee and tea you will be doing that at Pret! Would be better to arrange something else before you submit your ticket in my opinion.

The Eurostar was a breeze, the train left on time and we whisked our way through Southern England and under the channel tunnel to a breakfast of pastries, yoghurt, coffee and orange juice. Quite civilised all round. That took us to Brussels-Midi and we probably should have had something more sensible to eat but it is Belgium so we had a waffle with chocolate sauce. It was delightful actually but my head was telling me it was going to need something else to avoid the sugar rollercoaster headache it was circling around.

The connection in Brussels to Amsterdam on the Eurocity Direct was the new piece of itinerary because of the Dortmund hiccup. This was exceptionally smooth and I write this on that train about 40 mins until we arrive. The next piece is the most potentially stressful because we have to pick up the train we would have been on at the beginning of its journey and we don’t have a reservation! This is the NightJet to Vienna and is one of the most expensive reservations we have so it needs to work out. Stay tuned for the next update!