Lake Van Express - Train Journey

Step by step, our journey to Tatvan on the Lake Van Express was beginning..

Experience: yes, I think experience is exactly the right word for this long journey. We'd done a short train journey within Turkey before, between Adana and Mersin, but it being a long 25-hour journey is what got us on the road. Why not have this experience in our own country when there's such a lovely opportunity! Don't mind its popularity; it should still be tried. And, and, aaand: we got our Lake Van Express tickets.

As we said at the start, our aim was not so much to reach Van as to spend a 25-hour journey on the train, to live on the train, to be on the road. We guessed incredible views awaited us along these 25 hours. Still, our wish to see Lake Van and Doğubayazıt was an important reason we chose this route instead of the Eastern Express; wanting to see Kars too is another matter.

Sometimes lush green plains, sometimes half-frozen rivers, and the places, familiar from geography lessons, where legendary mountains meet plains as wide as the eye can see, stepping off the map and taking shape before our eyes: it's perfect. I was 20 on my first train journey, and after we met, the train became my favourite means of transport.

Train stations, trains departing and farewell scenes have always given me, for some reason, a pang inside. This time we're leaving from Irmak: a sweet joy prevails, and even though my life partner is beside me, a little sadness fills me. After this much of an introduction, let's tell you a bit about our experiences and how we went from where to where.

In the past, most trains to Anatolia left from the historic Haydarpaşa Train Station, but with the Marmaray works and the introduction of high-speed trains, departures moved to being Ankara-based. We made the part of our journey as far as Van by train. Let's briefly talk about our route and journey.

• So as not to waste Saturday, we set off early. On the 06.45 train in the morning, the Istanbul - Eskişehir journey takes 2 hours 30 minutes. Using the under-26 discount, we got youth tickets for 35₺ per person.
• We've added tips here for exploring Eskişehir in 24 hours
• On Sunday morning we set off for Ankara on the 08.30 train. Ankara - Eskişehir takes 1 hour 30 minutes by train. Again with the discount, tickets were 26.5₺.
• Up to here we used the train for all our journeys! We wanted to experience this, but another reason for our choice was the time we'd lose getting to the city centre/train station after flying into Ankara.

Ankara

With the Başkentray works finished, the Lake Van Express now leaves from Ankara Train Station. Before, you had to go to Kırıkkale Irmak Station.

** Since we went to Irmak Station, we thought we'd tell you what we went through here too. Because of the busy agenda in Ankara, we happened to go on a Sunday when the roads to the train station were closed, and we got on the bus in front of ASKİ. This journey takes 50 minutes. We suggest being at the station at least half an hour before your train ticket time, ready to get on the buses without problems. While the Lake Van Express leaves Ankara Station at 11.00, the train leaves Irmak at 12.20, a bit late. At Irmak there's a greengrocer-grocery and a köfte uncle. So if you've forgotten anything, it's still not too late.

The trains have 3 kinds of carriage; if you're travelling as a couple like us, the most comfortable will be the sleeper carriage. As you know, there are very few sleeper carriages, only 1 sleeper carriage. If you can't find a place and want the room to yourselves, you can buy a whole covered couchette compartment; for this you need to buy 2 adult and 2 child tickets. Otherwise, let's remind you, others can buy the beds in the room too.

Coffee Break

On our journey, which started at midday with a 10-minute delay, as soon as we settled on the train we wanted to brew the practical filter coffee we'd brought. We wanted to get hot water from the restaurant section and watch these lovely views sipping our coffee.

But RailChef didn't give us hot water here, just as on the high-speed train. Of course we never run out of solutions: we asked the well-prepared aunties in the sleeper carriage for the simple coffee maker they'd brought, and our hot water was ready! ☕ Filter coffee is the taste we're used to and look for; unfortunately the practical filter coffee we got in this form isn't very common, and if you want to try it you can buy it online.

With our Lake Van Express Train Journey playlist playing in the background all the way, we pick up our books waiting for the road. Nothing could spoil our mood! Thanks to kahvegibikahve!

Our aim isn't to personalise this place and take fancy shots like the concepts we often see on Instagram these days. It's to live the moment!

We have to admit this journey is many, many times more beautiful than we expected. Especially with the good weather, the views of plains, valleys and mountains! Highly recommended for anyone who wants to unwind or have a different kind of holiday. You realise, at the simplest level, that you can live with few things too. The tiny room becomes your everything (The idea of minimalist living has been influencing us lately. :)

Kayseri

Towards evening, around 17.45, the train will be approaching Kayseri; instead of the ready food in the RailChef dining car, shouldn't we order a dinner where we can try local flavours too? We're hungry, and having come this far, we can't not try Kayseri dishes, which we'd only just discovered and couldn't get enough of. Here we must give our followers their due. Those who wanted to bring food, those who wanted to come to the station to meet us, those who said if I'd known I'd have baked poğaça and brought it warm.. Endless thanks to you all! You're wonderful! We'll have around 10-15 minutes at Kayseri train station. We want to tick off the experience of ordering ahead and setting a table on the train too.

Our choice in Kayseri was the famous pide place, Erdem Malatya Pide Fırını. Pide with minced meat or cheese, and lahmacun, are 10₺, and pide with pastırma is 17.5₺. We placed the orders, but they were late! Unbelievable! We'd also ordered from here for the other sweet aunties in the eighth carriage. But if you go, keep this in mind: the train left 10 minutes late, but it left Kayseri on time, at exactly 17.58. It's worth telling the place you order from to come at least 10 minutes early.

Sivas

You don't have to order food from outside, or if you get hungry at an odd time, don't worry: the dining car run by RailChef has food and drink options to fill you up. Most of the options here are, of course, ready-made food or meals heated in the microwave... Where are the dining trains the old folks used to talk about...

Considering the popularity of even odd places like the aeroplane restaurant, having a snack-bar-like business in train restaurants isn't a very good idea. Right where it belongs, we'd have loved to make this place unforgettable with lovely flavours and smells. A question pops into our minds right away: why not set up another Do&Co and create jobs? Would TCDD take our suggestion into account?

For drinks, you can brew your own coffee like us, or get your tea & coffee from the dining car. But let's remind you that hot water isn't sold and the options aren't unlimited.

The train doesn't wait long at every station. It drops off its passengers and carries on with new ones. But at big-city stations it can stop a bit longer. The longest stop, as I mentioned above, is at Kayseri. Again, like us, you can order food from Sivas. The train stops at Sivas around 21.30, a bit late for dinner, but having come away from Kayseri empty-handed, Sivas was the only place we could order from. We ordered our pides from Muhtarın Yeri Pide Salonu, and they were really delicious. We recommend it. The only problem is holding out hungry until 21.30. Still, since it'll be night when it reaches Malatya and Elazığ, you may not be able to get much, so it's worth taking this chance.

If you choose the end of February like us, from Muş onwards it's very hard not to be met by a pure white blanket.

Lake Van Express Views

Since you can adjust the air conditioning in the room, you can make your journey without any trouble keeping warm. In fact, try dressing in layers; even if it's cold, don't forget to bring thin clothes. While the train is moving, a T-shirt is enough. We even opened the window at times to cool down.

Our conductor was very attentive. Bless him, he helped with everything. It would have been nice, though, if he didn't smoke in his room. TCDD gives sleeper carriage guests Albeni chocolate, cheese crackers, juice and a cup of water. There could have been healthier choices, but it's better than nothing, thanks TCDD!

So you have no trouble during your time on the train, we definitely recommend bringing an extra pillowcase, disposable towelling slippers if you have them, and paper soaps. There's liquid soap at the sink in the room. They even give towelling slippers and a hand towel. But we came prepared from home in case we weren't comfortable.

We also brought our own blankets from home in case we weren't comfortable. The smell of the others is quite unpleasant. We put them straight up top; if you don't want to carry blankets, you can spread the extra sheet they give underneath and use that.

A multi-plug, blankets that fold up really thin, paper towels, and freezer bags that you can use as rubbish bags and that take up little space are must-haves to make your trip more comfortable. Also, personal care products, which are worth checking on every journey but extra important for the train, regular medicines and snacks for sudden hunger shouldn't be forgotten. But don't overdo it: space is limited anyway, so don't let your things make the journey hard and spoil the fun.

Continuing the Journey with Train Music

If you want to treat yourselves to music, a wireless speaker is really nice too. If you have Spotify, download the songs in advance and make an album. Because from time to time there won't be any signal. If you'd like to look at our Lake Van Express playlist, click here!

We had a comfortable night's journey. In some places the train shook a lot, but apart from that it was comfortable. In the morning we set our alarms for sunrise at Elazığ, and when we woke up the Murat River and the sunrise were in the same frame. We'd say get up a bit early too, while nobody on the train is up yet, to both enjoy this lovely view and catch great shots.

After our lovely moment, we said let's have a breakfast in this view that we won't forget. The orange juice we'd squeezed at home went perfectly with our little sandwiches. Then a bit of honey and cream! Count to 10.00 and close your eyes; record the taste, smell and sound of this moment. A method that always works for moments you don't want to forget!

The train had left Irmak at 12.30, and the Lake Van Express reached Tatvan the next day, Monday, at 12.30. A dreamlike journey that lasted 24 hours.

By the way, 1 hour before reaching Tatvan, you can catch wonderful shots with amazing nature views. Take our word for it!

We hadn't made plans for after Tatvan train station so it would be completely spontaneous. Without plans we had a trip that was both fun and involved a bit of walking. 🙂 We also found ourselves a friend on the way: Begüm, who'd set off alone to explore the train and Van; we took her along and the three of us explored both Van and Doğubayazıt..

Last Stop: Tatvan

As soon as you leave the train station, a shuttle leaving for Van is waiting for you. The Tatvan – Van journey takes 1 hour 30 minutes. The fare is 20₺. But before going to Van, we wanted to visit Akdamar Island and Church too. After about 1 hour we got off the dolmuş. The fare to get here is 15₺. Small motorboats leave for Akdamar Island, and they like to wait until there are at least 16 people. The fare here is 15₺, and a lovely 20-minute ride awaits you. When you reach the island, if you have a museum card you can get in free; otherwise visiting the church is 10₺.

You can read our post describing the Places to Visit in Van in detail here!

When we reached Akdamar Island it was 16.00. Thanks to a 1-hour guided tour we learned a lot of good information and headed back. On the Tatvan – Van road we'd take whatever came, bus or dolmuş. But even though 15-20 minutes had passed, no vehicle had come. Just as we were wondering what to do, a car slowed down and stopped in front of us. He was going to Gevaş and said he'd take us that far. We said there are still dear people here who haven't lost their humanity, hooray! In the name of civilisation, we've lost our trust in one another and become unable to help each other. Endless thanks to the journey and what it taught us! The bus from Gevaş was leaving at 07.00. We sat in a tea house right by the bus stop. The Gevaş – Van journey is 5₺, but you need to buy a card you can use on the buses from the stationery shop nearby.

To save time, we were going to set off for Doğubayazıt in the evening. We planned to pick up the car from Van Airport and reach our destination after a 180-kilometre journey. But since the last plane had landed at 19.00, never mind staff, there weren't even any taxis left at the airport. We came away empty-handed! And with what adventures!

As we wondered where to stay in Van, we remembered the Van Şişli Teachers' House the man who'd given us a lift had mentioned. The teachers' house in the city centre was both new and affordable. We paid 80₺ for 2 people for 1 night. In the morning we had a lovely breakfast that included Van's local flavours. Then we headed straight to the airport on the dolmuş that passes in front of the teachers' house. The dolmuş fare was 1.25₺. By the way, the reason the Teachers' House has Şişli in its name is that it was built with help from former Şişli mayor Mustafa Sarıgül after the earthquake.

Our Route Around Van

After picking up the car from the airport at 09.00 in the morning, our route was İshak Paşa Palace; the 180 km road would take about 2 hours 30 minutes. We stopped in many places along the way and took great photos in this incredible visual feast. Everywhere gave us a sense of peace.

Around Mount Tendürek the road drops to a single lane, and trucks can skid on ice as they climb the hills. We recommend being careful here. It'll be better for you not to go at night. At the entrance to Doğubayazıt there's a small ID check. The area is safe.

Aaand İshak Paşa Palace! You can reach our Places to Visit in Doğubayazıt post above.

On the way back, completing our Places to Visit in Van list, we reach Van Airport. And so we've come to the end of this lovely journey.

Our return journey from Van to Istanbul was by plane. As you know, we have to use our leave efficiently.