London to Istanbul Rail Adventure

Our trip begins this morning at London's St Pancras Station, the home of the Eurostar. Here you'll meet a representative from Explore to assist you with check-in and answer any last minute questions, before you board your (unaccompanied) Eurostar train to Paris.



We meet our Tour Leader off the train at the Gare du Nord, and take the Paris metro together to the Gare de Lyon. Here we board our train to Milan, flying through the French countryside and saying 'buona sera' to Italy after arriving around 10pm this evening.

We'll have a full morning in Milan to explore the city at our leisure. For art-lovers, Milan's main attraction is the famous painting of The Last Supper - or the Cenacolo Vinciano as it is known in Italian. Located in the refectory next door to the Santa Maria delle Grazie church, this Da Vinci wall painting has over 500 years of history, and is still one of the treasures of the art world. Tickets should be purchased in advance if you wish to visit.



Otherwise, a wonderful walk through the stylish streets of Milan should begin at the Duomo - Milan's cathedral. This flamboyant building began construction in 1368, and is an absolute masterpiece of Gothic architecture. Its 'rooftop terrace' gives outstanding views across Milan, surrounded by the cathedral's Gothic spires - again, we recommend that tickets are purchased in advance if you'd like to visit.



Just opposite the Duomo is the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuel II - a glamorous European shopping gallery that is well worth a visit even if the world of high fashion isn't for you. This passage conveniently connects the Duomo with the famous La Scala theatre, and its elegant Renaissance stylings and wonderful mosaics are a fitting home for the fashion houses of Gucci, Versace and more.



After taking lunch in Milan, we catch a 2.5 hour train to Mestre, a mainland offshoot of Venice, connected to the island by a short train ride. Our hotel is located close to the train station, and on arrival in Mestre we'll walk over to check in. We arrive at Mestre in the late afternoon, so we will have time this evening to take the short hop over to Venice Santa Lucia. Venice by night is wonderful for strolling and stopping at local bars to taste an array of 'ciccheti' - sort of Venetian small plates, or tapas.



Note that the return train ticket from Venice Santa Lucia to Mestre is not included in the cost of the tour (it costs approximately 2 euro). This is because when purchased in advance, the train times must be selected. We prefer to give you the option to return to the hotel whenever you choose, and as such you can purchase this ticket at the train station directly.

This morning we'll take the train journey again into Venice. For a short ride this journey provides one of the most scenic arrivals into any city, right across the Venetian Lagoon.



The Explore Leader will provide an orientation tour of the city to help us locate ourselves, but the rest of the day free is to explore on our own time. Those who haven't visited this captivating city before may wish to explore the Doge's Palace and St Mark's Basilica. Or if the weather is good, you may prefer to take a boat ride along the famous canals. Forgo the gondolas for a ride on a vaporetto (Venice's water-based answer to a bus service) if you'd rather travel like a local. Stops are located throughout the city and easily researched in advance on the ACTV website.



If you've been to Venice and seen the sights before, you may wish to head further afield. The Cannaregio is an atmospheric district off the tourist path, which houses the Jewish Quarter and some lively cafe culture. Or try catching a boat over to Murano, famed for its glasswork, or Burano, with its array of colourful houses.



At the end of the day, we'll make our way back to Mestre by train, where we spend the night. Similar to yesterday, the return train ticket is not included in the cost of the tour, in order to allow you flexibility to return whenever you choose.

We'll cross two borders today as we travel into Croatia via Villach, Austria. The train schedules are such that we'll have a few hours spare to explore the pretty historic centre of Villach and eat lunch. Although it's a whistlestop visit, Villach's range of traditional restaurants offer the perfect opportunity to add Austrian specialities to our culinary odyssey as we work our way across Europe.



In the late afternoon we'll take our onward train to Zagreb, arriving at night.

Once upon a time, the Baroque city of Varazdin, lovingly named 'Little Vienna' by locals, was the capital of Croatia. For its short reign, until 1776, Europe's finest craftsmen and architects constructed mansions, palaces and the array of superbly colourful pastel houses that line Varazdin's central streets. Its main attraction is the Stari Grad, a medieval castle so fanciful that it looks as though a Disney princess might wander out of it at any moment.



Today we're going to take a bus to this gem of a town, just 80 kilometres north of Zagreb, and explore with a local guide. We'll have a walking tour of the old centre, and, time permitting, we may have chance to visit one of the city's many fascinating museums - the Sermage Gallery of Old & Modern Masters, and the surprisingly beautiful World of Insects are two stand outs. Despite its beauty, which is more than comparable to other classical European cities, Varazdin has escaped the mass tourist trade and retains a sense of 'normal' Croatian life.



We'll return this evening to our hotel in Zagreb.

We'll start the day with a short orientation tour of Zagreb. Famously called a city of museums, with more museums per square foot than any other city in the world, it also has many other architectural structures to boast of. The unique blend of Austro-Hungarian architecture and more hard edged socialist buildings give the city an interesting diversity - its centrepieces are the Gothic Zagreb cathedral and 13th century Saint Mark's Church.



After getting our bearings, we'll have a short time free to discover the city at our own pace - you might like to take the funicular up from the main street (Illica), it's the shortest cable car in the world! - before getting to the train station for an early afternoon train to Osijek, the capital of Croatia's Slavonia region.

The beauty of train travel is that your route can take you through some unexpected destinations. Osijek is just one of those places - close to the Croatian border with Serbia, it's not a destination that many holiday-makers would visit, being so far from the honeypots of Split, Dubrovnik and the Mediterranean coast. But this Habsburg-built city is just a short distance from one of Europe's largest and most important wetland areas - Kopacki Rit.



Formed by the confluence of the Drava and the Danube, the Kopacki Rit wetlands are a birdwatcher's paradise, playing home to 140 nesting species with many more transient species recorded, from kingfisher and woodpecker to white-tailed eagle and stork. We'll visit the park this morning, travelling there by bus and taking a boat trip through the waterways along with a local guide.



This afternoon we board our train to Vinkovci, where we connect through to Belgrade.

This morning we take a train to Uzice, before getting in our private vehicle and driving to Mokra Gora. In English, this name for this lush, green mountain valley translates rather appropriately as 'wet mountain'. Here, we board the historic narrow gauge railway and steam train, Sargan Eight. The line is part of the former track that once ran between Sarajevo and Belgrade, until it was closed in 1974. The section over the Sargan Pass was renovated by the Serbian government to recapture something of its 1920's heyday and reopened in 1999. It was once admired around the world as a piece of world-class construction, for it allows the train to make the steep climb through the mountains in a figure of eight weaving through 22 tunnels and covering just over 15 kilometres. Although as the crow flies, the distance between the stations of Mokra Gora and Sargan is a mere 3.5 kilometres.



After returning on the steam train to Mokra Gora we drive the short distance to Drvengrad (also known as Kustendorf). This distinctive mountain village was built by the international film director, Emir Kusturica, for his movie 'Life is a Miracle'. Everything here is constructed from wood and he wanted to recreate a traditional Serbian village, with the exception that all the streets are named after famous film directors. Nowadays the village is his home, a hotel and also the host of an annual international film and music festival. We stay tonight in this unique location. As well as the chance to enjoy the fantastic mountain scenery, here there is also a gym, indoor swimming pool, restaurant, bar and small art gallery exhibiting local Serbian artists.

Crossing into Bosnia and Herzegovina this morning, we drive to Visegrad on the Drina River. Here, we will find the inspiration for Nobel Prize-winning author, Ivo Andric's novel, 'Bridge over the Drina'. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it has been an iconic symbol of the region for generations and was the scene of some of the worst atrocities of the Bosnian War. Our local guide will provide some of the historical background during our walking tour of the town.



We'll also visit Andricgrad, another creation by Emir Kusturica within the town of Visegrad, designed in a combination of Ottoman, Byzantine and Classical architectural styles. This mixture and blend of culture and architecture recreates Visegrad from the time of The Bridge on the Drina, showing Bosnia's turbulent history.



We return to Drvengrad this evening for another night.

In order to avoid travelling back to Belgrade on the train, we'll cross Serbia by bus over the next two days. This also gives us the excellent opportunity to explore its rural heart, taking us into some interesting places that are off the main tourist trail.



A drive of around 3.5 hours brings us to Aleksandrovac, and the centre of Serbia's largest wine-producing region. Surprisingly Serbia does a great trade in robust reds and dry whites, and the final part of our drive will turn into rolling vine-studded hillsides as we enter the town. We'll take the opportunity to taste some of the region's best at one of the wineries here.



After our wine-tasting, we continue to Vrnjacka Banja, a spa town that was once a favoured holiday destination of the aristocracy due to its natural hot springs. Nowadays most of the springs aren't used to swim in, but spa tourism is still very much alive for local Serbians. Hotel Solaris, which we use for most departures, is a fine example of that, with several different swimming pools available for the hotel guests, and a spa offering an extensive range of treatments.

This morning we drive a short way to the town of Stalac, where we pick up the train again for our onward journey to Nis. This cosmopolitan city is a place where old meets new; where modern cars travel beside horse and carts. It's a university city, so its old alleyways are home to sophisticated cocktail bars, as well as pop-up markets in summer and it has a burgeoning music scene.



After checking into our hotel, we'll have an orientation tour of the city, where our Tour Leader will point out Tito's Memorial, the Ottoman Citadel and the somewhat gruesome Skull Tower, which is embedded with the skulls of the rebels that fought and lost to the Ottoman forces at the Battle of Cegar. Nis is well-known in Serbia as a foodie town, and we'll stop off at a local bakery to get one of the most popular snacks - burek. This savoury filo parcel is eaten throughout the Balkans, but Nis claims to be the first city in Serbia to have baked it. Whether it's true or not, they're still tasty!



We'll have some free time this afternoon to rest and explore Nis.

We drive this morning to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. The drive takes us around 2.5 hours, but it can take an additional hour at the border crossing.



Sofia has a long history which can be seen by the onion-domed churches, Ottoman mosques, Roman ruins and old Soviet monuments. However, it is now largely modern and youthful with a wealth of museums, art galleries, cafes and restaurants.



With free time this afternoon, you may wish to visit Sofia's Palace of Culture and the Independence Square. Alternatively, take the metro to visit the Monument to the Soviet Army. This tribute to the Russian soldiers who died supporting Bulgarian efforts during World War II is surrounded by a large park. In recent years its sculpted bronze statues have frequently been vandalised with them being painted in a pop art style. The paint keeps being removed by the authorities and then a new design will appear a short time later. The statues have been all pink, painted in the style of comic book heroes and villains, in the colours of the Bulgarian flag, and more, so who knows what the statues will look like next.



It's worth noting that our preferred plan today is to take a train from Nis to Sofia (changing at Dimitrovgrad outside of the summer months). However, this cross-border route has been cancelled due to the Covid pandemic and there is no news on when it will return. If we change to a train journey then we will arrive late into Sofia, spending more time in either Nis or Dimitrovgrad.

Leaving Sofia this morning on the train, we break our final journey towards Istanbul with a stop in the ancient city of Plovdiv. The old town's winding cobbled lanes are crammed with colourful mansion houses that are now museums, galleries, shops and restaurants, and it's a wonderful place to spend an afternoon. We'll take a walking tour with our Tour Leader, including a visit to the Roman Theatre of Philipoppol, which is still used for concerts and theatrical performances. We'll see the exterior of this and if there are no performances taking place or being setup then you may be able to go inside the theatre.



You'll also have some free time this evening, our last chance to sample Bulgarian cuisine before we enter Turkey. Specialities include kebapche, small and spicy minced meat rolls, and surmi, stuffed cabbage or vine leafs.



The night train to Istanbul departs around 9pm. There is no catering on the train, so purchasing a low cost bottle of Bulgarian wine and some snacks is a great option to while away the evening's journey! We'll be sharing 4 or 6-person berths with a washbasin, and toilets located separately down the carriage. The border crossing and document check happens during the night, and requires disembarking at the Turkish border to get your passport stamped.

We've made it - 13 days across Europe, and we finally enter the gateway to Asia as Istanbul Halkali station greets us this morning. A local Turkish guide will meet us at the station and we'll take the Marmaray metre from Halkali to Sirkeci, in the heart of the city. Hotel check-in isn't available until this afternoon but we have a room booked to leave bags and freshen up after the train journey.



We'll head out to a local cafe for our first chance to try a traditional Turkish breakfast, which usually consists of fresh cucumbers, tomatoes and olives, along with a variety of yogurts, cheese and bread. We then explore the 'Old City' on foot, visiting the famous Blue Mosque, the opulent Topkapi Palace and the historic hub of Sultanahmet Square.



This afternoon is free for you to explore at your own pace. A trip to Istanbul's Grand Bazaar is highly recommended - located within the walls of Istanbul, there are around 60 streets and over 3,000 shops selling everything from jewellery to carpets and textiles and furniture to local arts and crafts. It's one of the oldest and largest covered markets in the world.



You may prefer to visit the impressive 6th century Sunken Palace cisterns or the great Hagia Sophia, which reigned as the greatest church in Christendom for 900 years. Alternatively, there is the chance to take a boat trip on the Bosphorus, offering stunning views of the Istanbul skyline. To appreciate the wonderful skyline of domes and minarets further, climb the Galata Tower for a birds-eye view.



Spend this evening enjoying Istanbul's nightlife, with its large selection of restaurants, bars and entertainment.

The trip ends after breakfast at our hotel in Istanbul.



There are no activities planned today, so you are free to depart from Istanbul at any time. If your flight is departing later in the day luggage storage facilities are available at our hotel. If you would like to receive a complimentary airport transfer today, you'll need to depart from Istanbul Airport (IST), which is about one hour and 30 minutes' drive or Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (SAW), which is around two hours' drive from the city centre, depending on traffic, which can be heavy at times.



Istanbul is such a feast for the senses that you may wish to add post-tour accommodation to explore further. We also offer a three-night extension to Cappadocia, which explores the fairy-tale chimneys and rock carved cave dwellings of this strange and beautiful region. For more information, see trip code RLAC.