I know that there are long distance buses...and Turkish long-distance buses are generally very good..


http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/go/Istanbul/Transport/bus_ist_sofia.html

BarrK



The bus route from Istanbul passes some lovely coastal scenes. I drove along a good part of the BlackSea-hugging highway and numerous slick-looking Istanbul-Varna-Constantsa- bound busses were seen periodically. The Bulgarian Black Sea Coast is magnificent...quite uncrowded out of season, Check EKSCRUNCHY's link.

Varna offers some sea view hotels. The Odessos alongside the vast Marine Gardens is low cost and adequate...try the mod-looking "Onno" Cafe on the broad pedestrian walkway...excellent sea food choices. Tired of Turkish, Greek and Bulgarian foods?? There's a Big Mac waiting for you at the end of aforesaid walkway. The Cyrillic sign is a fun photo op.

Have a nice visit.

stu t.

stu t.

Thanks guys.
Stu - Big Mac,never! Won't eat one at home either...

Barry


neither do I or would I....but it's there if yuo want a Bularian egg mc muffin...

stu

We traveled by bus from Varna to Istanbul at the end of October. We used a travel agent in Varna to set it up and it cost $35 USD per person. I am sure you can go the other way. The bus depot in Istanbul is huge and we were told serves 150 bus companies. I hate to exaggerate, but there must have been 1,000 bus parked in and around the station. There were at least 6 buses at the border when we crossed from Bulgaria to Turkey at 1:30 am, a process that consumed about 2 hours.

We had reserved seats and there was an attendant who passed out water and sodas. There were two drivers and it was all quite comfortable, much the same as an airline seat. The bus line we used was Metro Lines, but there are several options I believe.

On another hand, I don't know how your Cyrillic is, but it is a little difficult. For instance Varna is actually spelled Bapha (B=V; P=R & H=N). They also throw in some backwards letters, use two i',s one with a dot and one without, and use 3 for Z. The tourist bureau in the center of Varna has a wonderful small card with all of the letters and all of the pronunciations.

How long was the trip, including the border crossing?

My Cyrillic is OK, though a little slow to sound it out. We were in Macedonia a few years ago and had a running joke pronouncing PECTOPAH (restaurant) as you would in English.

We left Varna Bus Station at 9:30 p.m. and arrived in Istanbul at 6:30 a.m. There was a 30 minute food/restroom stop at Burgas and we made several stops in the suburbs of Istanbul as we came into the city.

Perhaps there is ferry service between Istanbul and Varna.