Sofia to Belgrade (Overland Options)

[chiisanai]

Hi Everyone! I am looking for overland routes from Sofia to Belgrade in early October (say on the 3rd or 4th), but am stuck and need your kind advice  Here's here I am in terms of research:

Trains

First I read this: https://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Sofia.htm#Sofia_to_Belgrade

It says in October there are no more direct train services and the alternative is to change 3 trains.

However, after going to Serbian Railways website (http://www.srbvoz.rs/eng/timetable.html) to confirm this solution, the first news seem to suggest that services (or part of the service) been halted. I also am not able to find the timetable for the 3 trains.

Buses

The Serbian side bus schedules on http://www.bas.rs/basweb_eng/RedVoznje.aspx?lng=en are only released up to 7 days in advance, and that makes me sort of nervous. 

I have been advised to check out buses from the Bulgarian side. But using http://www.bgrazpisanie.com/en , I have found zero results!

Can anyone confirm the findings and suggest how I should work around this? I would resist taking the plane because options are much more pricey and I really intended to stick to land travel around the Balkans region.

Thanks in advance!

Dorcas

[Ruby]

Hey Dorcas,

There is a direct bus from Sofia to Belgrade, you can check the timetable and the prices here:

http://florentiabus.bg/en/destinations/avtobusna-liniya-sofiya-v-belgrad-v-sofiya/

(Around 25€ one way, departs every day at 14:30).

Travelling by train would be too much of a hustle.

Hitchhiking from Sofia to Belgrade works pretty well.

[chiisanai]

Hi Rocky8,

Thank you so much for your suggestion. This looks like a solid thing I could work with. 

I cross referenced it to the BAS Belgrade bus station website and it does show the Florentia Carrier's schedule but the departure is at 15:30? For this I've emailed the operator (with a screenshot!) and hopefully they can clarify the departure timing. 

Working off this schedule, there is a 7:30AM bus by NIŠ EKSPRES as well. If I do not book international bus services online, is it alright to plan to arrive at the bus station early (and how early?) and buy them on the spot?

I read that Sofia Serdika bus station is only open at 8am-7pm - does this mean that ticket offices are closed but bus services are running outside of these hours? Or that no services are departing?

Do we then safely assume this means the 7:30AM NIŠ EKSPRES bus is not departing from this station (and probably the Central Bus Station)?

One thing leads to another - apologies for the long string of questions, and thanks for any help rendered!! 

(I admit to being too scared to hitchhike and that is an art in itself to master. Will only do in desperate times  )

Cheers,

Dorcas

Edited August 24, 2017 by chiisanai
too many line breaks

[severac]

23 hours ago, chiisanai said:

 

I cross referenced it to the BAS Belgrade bus station website and it does show the Florentia Carrier's schedule but the departure is at 15:30? For this I've emailed the operator (with a screenshot!) and hopefully they can clarify the departure timing. 

 

I think thats is because of the time zone. Bulgaria is +1 from Serbia. If it is 14 h departure from Sofia, it is 13h in Serbian time, so I think Serbian bas.com site is showing wrong time. 

If you look departures from Serbia: 03:30 БЕОГРАД ФУДЕКС+ФЛОРЕНТИА, and on florentia bus site, you can see that difference. Departure from Beograd at 04:30, arrival in Sofia at 11:30, so departure from Belgrade is 03:30 Serbian time, which is 04:30 Bulgarian time. 

[chiisanai]

Hi Severac, thanks for the clarification! This is what the operator mailed back to say as well. I had completely missed the time difference. 

However, I am still feeling that arriving in Belgrade late at night is not the best, so I would like to figure out what operator NIŠ EKSPRES is offering. The BAS timetable (searched based on weekday) has a result with start station "Prolom Banja" (7:30), but I googled the location and it does not make sense to me that the bus drives away from Belgrade to Sofia, and then north-west back to Belgrade. Is this result ignoring the location parameters I've searched?

Thanks,

Dorcas

[severac]

Svakodnevni polasci iz Sofije za Niš u 7:30* i 16:00*

*Polasci iz Sofije su po Bugarskom vremenu sa međunarodne autobuske stanice - Centralna avtogara Serdika.

Departures from Sofia according to Bulgarian timezone at 7:30 and 16:00. Departure from Centralna avtogara Serdika station. 

http://www.nis-ekspres.rs/?p=PrevozBugarska

 

I think that is it. Do you need any help?

[chiisanai]

Hi Severac, thanks for your help on this! I have enough information to get me over to Belgrade. Thank you!