Thread by @PaliparanDotCom

Bucharest Gara de Nord. Time for a little trip to our southern neighbours: Bulgaria! The first train of the day will take me to Ruse, located just across the border at the other side of the Danube.

These #CFR Desiro trains surely give an excellent first impression of Romania to international travellers coming into the country - if they can see something of it through the windows that is. Can someone at @mtransporturi convince CFR that this is simply unacceptable?

My view for the last 20 minutes being stationary somewhere near Chiajna on the outskirts of Bucharest. This trip is going swimmingly so far!*

*already started looking up bus alternatives in case I miss my connection in Ruse..

Videle station. 30 mins delay and counting. Gonna be interesting as I only have 25 mins to change trains in Ruse, although officially they should hold that train and guarantee the connection.. if we don't get an even bigger delay on the final stretch to the border that is.

Speeding through the gorgeous and enormously diverse landscapes of Wallachia..

After an uninspiring journey across the Wallachian plain the train finally descends down towards the town of Giurgiu and the banks of the Danube..

Giurgiu Nord - the Romanian border station. Passport formalities happen on the train (border guards pick up passports on the train, walk into the station, return later with them to the train to hand them back).

Crossing the Danube into Bulgaria..

Ruse, Bulgaria. 15 mins final delay. Passports are collected in the train and you wait on the platform until border guards return from their office with them. Conductor of the Sofia train at the opposite side of the platform said they will wait for me in any case.

Easily made it to my connecting train to Sofia.

PS. Also this journey is cheapest when splitting tickets (Bucharest-Ruse with CFR and Ruse-Sofia online e-ticket at BDZ). However note that when booking a ticket to Bulgaria online at CFR you still need to collect it from station.

These railway carriages are a bit weird as they are mixed 1st and 2nd class. At the far ends of each carriage you have 2nd class seating two abreast at each side of the aisle, in the middle you have open compartments with 1st class seats in staggered position.

Bulgarian landscape and stations on this long ride to Sofia.. no restaurant wagon on this train, so a simple homemade cheese & prosciutto sandwich it is. Fortunately the can of Pilsner Urquell I took from the fridge at home is still cold.

Some more impressions of the Ruse - Sofia train ride.

Arrival at the station of Polski Trambesh..

It's a pleasant ride as the train skirts the Balkan Mountains. Time to open a 2nd can of beer in the quiet 1st class part of the carriage and relax for a while.

Gorna Orjahovica. Small town, important interchange station. Change here for the lovely Bulgarian town of Veliko Tarnovo, which is just a short distance away across the hills.

Pavlikeni station with its two station cats, and the station of Levski which has a decidedly more communist-era vibe.

The sun is slowly setting over the Bulgarian countryside. Unfortunately, it will be dark by the time the train reaches Mezdra where the most scenic part of the line starts (the Iskar Gorge).

Sunset views from the train..

Sofia Central Station - on the dot.

Hadjidraganov's Houses Restaurant is a 10 minute walk from the train station and a fine place to eat some Bulgarian food. Lower floor has live music playing and is quite full - so had no choice but to eat at the rather empty (but nicely decorated!) top floor.

Couldn't resist the sweet orange banitsa..

My home for tonight is the Best Western Terminus, located directly across the street from the railway station (you can easily reach it by walking to the end of the underpass). Good quality for the €40 room rate and perfect location given the early departure I have tomorrow.

View from the window.. you can see the station on the third picture right across the intersection! Cup of tea, some emails to send and I'm off to sleep. A more exciting (railway) trip awaits tomorrow!

Back at Sofia's railway station after a short but decent night of sleep. I'm on the train to Burgas, although I will get off a couple of stops before this train will reach the Black Sea coast..

The train has a @_DiningCar available with cheap coffee and drinks (bottle of water and coffee for €1 together) although the food is limited to 7 Days Bake Rolls, Eastern Europe's favourite railway snack.

Arrival at Kostenec station as seen from the rear of the train..

It's a pleasant ride so far..

Some more impressions from the ride. Not the easiest one for pictures or filming as the windows are extremely dirty though..

Septemvri station. I'm getting off here and will change to another train. If you look at the tracks you can already see what it is.

I'm on the Rhodopes Narrow Gauge Railway which links Septemvri with Velingrad, Bansko & Dobrinisthe across the Rhodopes mountain range.

A look inside this Bulgarian narrow gauge train, which features a pretty cool @_DiningCar as well.

And we're off! The train has windows which can actually open, as well as open air vestibules, making it easy for photography.

This is great with the crisp winter air. Going to be an epic train ride!

Soon after departure we enter a highly scenic canyon..

The fun thing is that after I opened my window almost all other passengers followed as well and joined team #fensterauf, making pictures or simply enjoying the view. At least no-one will complain this way that I need to shut my window because they are getting cold!

It's a lovely ride through the canyon, with the railway line at times being just half a metre away from the river or road.

Impression from the rear of the train..

This really is a fantastic ride so far.

Once we reach the other side of the canyon the line really starts to climb. After a sharp U-turn and crossing of the river, the train arrives at the station of Dolene.

Scenery between Dolene en Velingrad..

This is horse-drawn carriage territory. Love the smoke coming from all the village chimneys.

Climbing higher and higher, with the first bits of snow slowly appearing..

It's a glorious day for travelling with the sun out in force high in the Bulgarian mountains.

The rear view remains pretty cool as well, especially the parts where the railway line has been cut out right between the rocks.

Avramovo, the highest railway station in Bulgaria.

Departing Avramovo.. the wind is blowing hard here on the plateau. In the distance you can see the mountains around Bansko to where we are heading.

The scenery keeps on improving. The first part through the canyon was just a warm-up!

At Yakoruda we meet the train going in the other direction. As this is a single track railway it had to halt here for a while..

Yakoruda station. A plurality of the people here are Pomaks, Bulgarian speaking Muslims. You can therefore see quite a few mosques dotted around the landscape on this part of the journey.

Yakoruda & the Pomak lands..

As we are approaching the high mountain peaks around Bansko it's time for a little visit to the bar wagon of the train for some wine.

Quite a backdrop!

Approaching Razlog station..

Views between Razlog and Bansko.

Of course, I had to ride this train to its final stop, so I remained on board in Bansko for the last 15 minutes or so until the end of the line at Dobrinishte.

The train reverses here so the locomotive has to be attached to the other end..

It's about an hour waiting at Dobrinishte until the train departs for its ride back. There is no café or anything else around the station. However, the friendly dining car lady didn't mind giving me a refill of wine & letting me stay on the train despite it being her lunch break.

And back to Bansko, where I disembark the train. What a fantastic ride it was on the Rhodopes Narrow Gauge Railway. Highly recommended!

Bansko is Bulgaria's most famous ski resort (although my 🇧🇬 friends all prefer Borovets). If it wouldn't have been a crowded weekend (~3h gondola wait to go up the mountain not uncommon) I'd have stayed for a few days. However, a bus from the old school bus station it is for me!

My arrival at Bansko station was at 2.51pm and I easily made it onto the 3pm minibus to Blagoevgrad (frequent connection, there are quite a few later buses as well).

Although this trip has been on my shortlist since I first read about it in an old Lonely Planet guide more than a decade ago, I really got inspired to do it by this excellent thread from @fuenareva. Have a look for his impressions of it in autumn!

https://twitter.com/fuenareva/status/1462536096055713809?s=20&t=WKJQS21qA4Z4LwDhfzf1Jw

In Blagoevgrad I'm staying at Hotel Feniks. It's a bit basic w worn out bed but the room is clean & warm. And can't complain about the €20 price. Quick pizza for dinner and time to sleep. Tomorrow I'll have almost a full day to look around the city before heading back to Sofia.

Goodmorning from Blagoevgrad, where a handul of soldiers have gathered at the bust of Bulgarian national revolutionary hero Vasil Levski. Today his execution by the Ottomans is commemorated.

After some military music and speeches, the local bigwigs are invited one by one to pay their respect and put wreaths or flowers in front of the Vasil Levski statue.

Let's walk a bit through Blagoevgrad. The city centre is mostly pedestrianised and has a pleasant provincial town feeling to it. Some appealing pavement cafés as well, which are great for an outdoor coffee on this sunny day.

We are now in Pirin Macedonia, a historic region which has been fought over in the 19th & 20th Century by Bulgarians, Greeks, North Macedonians, Serbians and Turks alike. Many monuments, such as the Gotse Delchev statue, refer to those bloody revolutionary days of ethic conflict.

Traditional Bulgarian houses on the hillside east of the city centre.

The Church of the Virgin Mary built in 1844 in Bulgarian Revival style.

Cute cats in and around the church gardens. When I see a cat I always have to stop to pet them for a moment..

Some more impressions of the city centre of Blagoevgrad. Lots of people out for a walk or to have a coffee or drink - unsurprisingly given the brilliant weather today.

Before I will explore the city a bit more, let's first take a taxi up to the hilltop cross for sweeping views over the city and the snowcapped mountains. Would have been nice to take a walk back down but as I'm limited on time it's unfortunately not an option.

Back down in the city it's time to do a little tour of the brutalist sights of Blagoevgrad - and there are quite a few of such buildings in town!

Can't say Brutalism is really my style (being a big lover of Art Nouveau and Art Deco) but somehow I do have a weird soft spot for this kind of architecture and places like this in Eastern Europe and throughout the former Soviet Union.

Just look at this square in the heart of Blagoevgrad!

Of all brutalist structures around this square, the American University in Blagoevgrad probably takes top prize.

Some more bits of brutalism..

After a beer in brutalist surroundings (which can only be a locally brewed Pirinsko) it's time to find a place for lunch.

I went for a recommendation by @MaliciaRogue: A restaurant called Paparazzi. Shopska salad, excellent chicken and risotto main, and something sweet as dessert. Nice place!

After a fun day in Blagoevgrad it's time to return to Romania. First by taking the 3.45pm train to Sofia.

This train is originating in Kulata on the Bulgarian-Greek border. Here you can see it arrive at Blagoevgrad's railway station.

And here we go!

I'm in 2nd class for this ride. If you book online at the website of the Bulgarian Railways you can see which departures are operated by a Desiro trainset (yuk) and which ones by old school trains with carriages that have windows which can actually open.

Some fab views of the Rila Mountains in the distance.

The town of Dubnitsa..

Some more impressions of the ride..

Arriving at Radomir. A friendly old man who works as a security guard in Sofia has entered the train here and became my seatmate. These social aspects of train travel are always nice too. Also met some friendly people yesterday on the narrow gauge train.

Pernik & beyond..

Some excellent views over Sofia and Mount Vitosha as the train approaches the Bulgarian capital from the south.

Riding into Sofia as the sun is setting..

From the train it's an easy connection to the Sofia metro for my 2-stop ride to Serdika in the city centre.

Compulsory visit to Bulgaria's beloved Happy Bar & Grill chain on my short Sofia stopover..

After a craft beer in the city it's back to the train station..

As I cannot travel back from Blagoevgrad to Bucharest without an overnight stop somewhere, I thought: Why not spend the night in the sleeper train to Varna? At just €24, a private compartment is half the price of a Sofia hotel!

It's certainly a comfortable option! And when I arrive in Varna in the morning I can easily make it to Ruse & the same train to Bucharest as I would have taken when staying the night in a Sofia hotel and departing from here in the morning.