The Doğu Ekspresi in the snowDoğu Ekspresi
- Best time
- Book as early as tickets open
- Getting there
- From Ankara station; the train ends at Kars station
Why it’s in the log
The Eastern Express is an overnight train from Ankara to Kars, in Turkey's far northeast, stopping in seven provincial capitals including Kayseri, Sivas, Erzincan and Erzurum. The first train ran in 1936; it reached Kars in 1962, and until the high-speed line opened it ran all the way from Istanbul.
For decades it was simply a way east. Then it became a journey people wanted to take for its own sake, and in 2019 TCDD added the Touristic Eastern Express, three times a week, with fewer stops and higher fares. Book early, especially for the tourist train, or ride the regular one to take the trip as locals do.
Also logged in Kars
All of Kars →
Mentioned alongside
Istanbul
One city on two continents, and the ferry crossing is the best cheap thing to do in it.
Turkey
A country split across two continents, and the better half of Istanbul is the one tour buses skip.
Kars
A high, cold plateau city in Turkey's far northeast, still built in the Russian Empire's stone and street grid from its 40 years under the Tsar.
