1

Normally, I would say that the train would be the most convenient. The Sofia/Plovdiv to Istanbul train normally stops in Edirne. The stop in Edirne is in the middle of the night. However, there is construction happening on the rail lines on the Turkey side of the border, so you must take a bus from the border to Istanbul. I don't know whether that bus makes a stop in Edirne. If it does, it's still going to be in the middle of the night.

I think the next option I would pursue would be to inquire about any of the Plovdiv-Istanbul buses will stop in Edirne. I don't think any of the buses make regularly scheduled stops there, but perhaps you could arrange with the driver to let you off at or near Edirne. I think that would be the most convenient way to get there.

I suppose your scenario is possible, but it seems very hassle filled, and the two options I list above would be preferable, at least for me.

Dave

2

I know that there is a bus leaving Plovdiv at 0045,Huntur Tur/Riki A and that heads down to Istanbul through Kap.Andreevo,it might go through Edirne.

3

I often do this route on my bike (I go from Turkey to Bulgaria to buy wine and bacon). I can tell you a few things -

1. There ARE trains to Svilengrad, but the train station is 4.5 km from the centre of the town. THe bus station is right in the centre. In my experience bulgarian buses are invariably faster.

2. From Svilengrad to the border, there are no buses. Kapitan Andreevo is not really a village, as it lives off border trade, and I've seen very few signs of non-border-real-life there. I've certainly never seen a bus and I've biked that road about 20 times all told. It's a 1.5 km walk from Svilengrad centre to the highway, but I think you'll have no trouble hitching a ride there. My boyfriend once hitched from the border to Svilengrad and was asked to pay, so do ask if someone picks you up.

3. Walking across the border is definitely faster than taking a bus. However, I think you would only save about 1.5 hours maximum. That was the usual "wait time" when buses passed me on my bike.

4. On the Turkish side of the border there are taxis but no buses until the first village, which is called Yenikadin. (Or Eskikadin... I always forget! means "new woman" and "old woman"). Taxis around the border area struck me as being real sharks. Not sure of the distance to Yenikadin but I think it was about 10km. From Yenikadin there are regular dolmuses - not sure how often they go.

5. You can forget about going through Greece. The highway is great for cyclists but motorists almost never use it because it doesn't go anywhere useful. Ditto buses.

6. I don't know about the buses from Plovdiv but I do remember three years ago that the last bus from Haskovo to Istanbul (there are no buses to Edirne but they all pass the bus station there, which is 8km from the city centre) was at 4.30pm.

If you just want to save time, don't. It's better to pay the extra money (it's only about 5 euros more) and take a book to read at the border. If you are VERY lucky you might get to Edirne an hour earlier than otherwise. If you aren't lucky, you will be 3-5 hours later than you would on the bus.

If you want to see the border area, you really have no choice except for hitching, taxis - oh, and bringing a bike! There is very good cycling in that area - check out http://www.magbaztravels.com/content/view/855/0/

4

What is the fastest way from Plovdiv to Edirne

Taxi, car - or rent-a-car. Nothing faster by road or rail.

5

Is there any way to get from Svilengrad to Edirne by bus? If not, would we have to take a taxi to the border and another from the other side to Edirne? Any rough idea how much that would cost (there are 4 of us)? Thanks for any hints! (P.S. this would be on Sunday 19 August).

6

Bus is (apart from walking and pushbike), probably the slowest.
OP asks for fastest, then enquires about a bus.
Sort of defeats the question.

7

Hello, I was asking about a bus, not the OP; sorry for any confusion. I was trying to establish whether there was a bus between Svilengrad (or indeed anywhere in Bulgaria) and Edirne, slow or not....

8

No worries.

9

Thanks for the info, chaika!

10

We travelled from Svilengrad to the border by taxi (15 lev), walked across (quite a distance!) then took a dolmus to Edirne. This was in August 2012.