BULGARIAN SLEEPER TRAIN

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Hi im new to this and im so thankful for whoever made this forum for newbies like me! Im going to Bulgaria and struggling to book a sleeper train.
Ive used the BDZ website and im upto choosing my seat. im wanting a sleeper as its an overnight travel. Now there is a guidance message and only limited number of seats avaialbe. on the 2nd step it gives you a choice of 1st class and 2nd class. there was no sleepers available in 1st so i had to choose 2nd class. but even then it gave me no option but to choose seat. only then on the 2rd step it let me choose sleeper.
 This is the guidance message that comes up;

Please, select a coach meeting your travel requirements.

Please, select from the scheme and the seat/s meeting your travel requirements.

Contingent of seats for sale online is as follows:
• berths in car 31 or 41 of the first to fifth cabin / beds from 11 to 53
• seats in first class wagon A-2 from 61 to 66
• seats in second class wagon 1 from 51 to 58 and 61 to 68

now i have chosen seat 51 as that is what was available. can somone please help me, will this definatley be a sleeper or not?

is it better to book online like this? or is it better to do it at the station?

and if i do book online how am i able to collect my ticket? will it be from the station?

any help at al will be VERY much appreciated! Thank you so much!

Dee

Hi, Dee. Welcome to the forum!

...but even then it gave me no option but to choose seat. only then on the 2rd step it let me choose sleeper.

As a guess, they simply struggled with correct translations to eng, thus you first choose seat (as place on a particular train) and only then seat (as seat in seating carriage) or sleeper as a type of this place.

now i have chosen seat 51 as that is what was available. can somone please help me, will this definatley be a sleeper or not?

Yep, definitely. It's a lower bed in 3 bed compartment. First digit signifies compartment number within the carriage (thus you have compartment #5), while second number - particular bed in this compartment (in your case 1 means lower berth)

is it better to book online like this? or is it better to do it at the station?

Well, Bulgarian Railways (BDZ) started online ticket sale very recently, it's still a pilot project with limited number of trains for which you can purchase your ticket online. Also it seems that there is only certain quota of seats/beds for sale online (hence they warn you what "Contingent of seats" is available), while the rest you can buy more usual way - at the ticket counter. As far as we know, during off-peak season it's not a problem to purchase ticket even on the day of the journey (thus you can wait and buy your ticket already in Bulgaria via ticket counter), but for the summer season online in advance purchase might come very handy

and if i do book online how am i able to collect my ticket? will it be from the station?

It's a e-ticket, thus you print it yourself. BDZ even on the website states that after you pay, "print the electronic tickets and have them with you when traveling", so you won't need to worry about collecting/printing them elsewhere