The Bulgarian State Railway, Balgarski Darzhavni Zheleznitsi (tel: (02) 931 1111 or 932 3333; website: www.bdz.bg), runs cheap and extensive services throughout the country, although trains can be very slow. The monumental, concrete Tsentralna Gara, Sofia's main station, is located at bulvard Maria Louiza 112, a 20-minute walk north of the city centre. Facilities include left-luggage, money exchange kiosks, ATMs, bars and fast-food outlets (although the choice of refreshments is much better at the bus station). Tickets for lines covering the northern half of Bulgaria are sold on the ground floor of the station - all others are sold in the basement. International tickets are bought down the left-hand passageway from the entrance hall, from Rila (tel: (02) 832 3346).

To avoid queuing, tickets can also be purchased from the Transport Service Centre (TsKTON) in the National Palace of Culture (NDK) underpass (tel: (02) 932 4280) or from Rila Tours, ulitsa Gurko 5 (tel: (02) 987 0777). Visitors should direct all national rail enquires to Balgarski Darzhavni Zheleznitsi (see above).

Rail services: From Sofia there are six main routes - to Varna or Bourgas on the Black Sea coast, to Plovdiv and beyond on the Turkish border, to Kalotina on the Yugoslavian border, to Kulata on the Greek border and to Ruse on the Romanian border. There are also daily services to Belgrade (8 hours), Bucharest (11 hours), Budapest (16 hours), Istanbul (15 hours), Kiev (38 hours), Moscow (45 hours), St Petersburg (65 hours) and Thessaloniki (10 hours).