Birmingham to Bucharest train with Avanti West Coast

Trains from Birmingham to Bucharest

To catch trains from Birmingham to Bucharest you’ll use a number of different operators that hand off to each other at various stations on the way. As a result your total travel time will be just under 41h 45min. The first leg takes you to London, with trains leaving every 30min from Birmingham. From there you’ll be able to catch one of two trains a day that travel via the Channel Tunnel, through Belgium to Amsterdam, and on to Bucharest. You’ll travel on both day and night trains on his journey regardless of which trip you book

Birmingham to Bucharest Train Time: Daily Departures

There are several dozen trains every day that will take you from Birmingham to London; however, only two trains leave each day from London bound for Bucharest, so you’re most likely looking at a couple of hours’ wait to catch your connecting train to the European mainland. The first trains from Birmingham depart at around 5:00 a.m., and the last leave at just past 11:00 p.m. The trains leaving London for the Continent depart at around 11:00 a.m. and again at about 6:00 p.m.

How long is the journey by train from Birmingham to Bucharest?

Trains from Birmingham to Bucharest all take the same amount of time, as it’s a regular daily route operated 7 days a week by the same provider. The overall travel time on this journey is about 41h 41min, and you’ll make several stops and changes en route. You’ll leave Birmingham for a first stop at London Euston Station, then transfer for a trip to King’s Cross St. Pancras Station. Here you’ll change trains once again for the journey to Amsterdam for another change and the next legs to Vienna and Budapest. You’ll make one more change here and then head to Bucharest.

Bucharest Lipscani Plaza Tourists. Source: Shutterstock

What are the departure and arrival stations for trains from Birmingham to Bucharest?

Departure train station: The original departure station for trains from Birmingham to Bucharest is Birmingham New Street Station. It’s about 47min from the city centre by bus, but that’s because it’s a circuitous route. You can drive there or take a taxi in around 3min, and you can even walk the distance in about 10min if you’re going on a backpacking holiday. The station is surrounded by the Grand Central shopping centre, so there are tons of shops of all descriptions, plus a duty-free area for international travellers. There’s also a wide variety of restaurants, coffee shops, takeaway outlets and pubs where you can refresh yourself. Accessibility features include an induction loop, step-free access, assistance staff and temporary wheelchairs.

Arrival train station: At the end of your journey you’ll arrive at Bucuresti Nord (Bucharest North Station) in Bucharest, which is the largest in the city and in Romania itself. It’s only about 11min from the city centre if you catch the Metrorex M1 subway train. You can also get a taxi at the airport, for a trip of around 5min. It has newsagents, cashpoints and luggage lockers, and you can eat and drink at one of the snack kiosks, or at a KFC, McDonalds or Subway.

Which train companies travel from Birmingham to Bucharest?

There’s really only one train route between these cities – most trains leaving Birmingham are operated by Avanti West Coast, connecting with trans-Channel trains in London. This is a regular-speed domestic carrier, which will take you to London Euston Station, where you’ll change to the London Underground for the short hop to London St. Pancras Station.

Here you’ll change to Eurostar for the journey to Amsterdam, to connect to a Nightjet and then a Railjet train, before linking up with Romanian Railways in Budapest for the last part of the journey. From the point at which you board Eurostar you’ll travel on high-speed trains, except for the final leg. You won’t really have a choice of train carrier on this route, unless you catch one of the less frequent London Midland trains from Birmingham to Euston Station. Otherwise the same train companies operate all the other legs of this journey.

Avanti West Coast trains from Birmingham to Bucharest

Avanti West Coast provides the bulk of the trains that run on the UK side of the route to Bucharest from Birmingham. You’ll travel directly from Birmingham New Street Station to London Euston Station. These trains leave once an hour and take about 1h 25min to get there. You can catch Avanti West Coast trains from very early in the morning until just before midnight, every day of the week.

Eurostar trains from Birmingham to Bucharest

Eurostar is a high-speed train provider, which leaves once a day from London St. Pancras Station, starting the international part of your journey to Bucharest. It will take just over 4h to reach Amsterdam, where you’ll alight at Amsterdam Centraal Station and make the change to Nightjet to continue to Bucharest

Train Birmingham to Bucharest: Services on board

Avanti West Coast offers Standard class, Standard Premium and First class. Standard offers At-Seat ordering for food and drink, power sockets at table and window seats, and free Wi-Fi. Standard Premium adds roomier seats and free entertainment courtesy of Avanti Media. You can bring up to two luggage items measuring no more than 90 x 70 x 30cm. You can store your luggage in an overhead bin or keep it with you, as long as it doesn’t obstruct the aisles. Up to two small pets can travel for free, and a third for a small surcharge. You can also travel with a bicycle, and you’ll be responsible for loading it into the cycle carriage – you’ll be shown where it is.

A dedicated Assisted Travel Service is available on all trains. Eurostar offers Standard, Standard Premier and Business Premier classes. You can take two hold luggage items with you, plus a single carry-on item, with no overall weight limit. The only difference between Standard and Standard Premier is that you’ll get a light meal and larger seats on the latter. You can buy other drinks and snacks on board too. Limited mobility assistance is readily available, and you can travel with a foldable bicycle as long as it doesn’t measure more than 85cm in length. The same goes for musical instruments and sports equipment.

How to find cheap train tickets from Birmingham to Bucharest?

To find cheaper tickets on this route it often pays to remain completely flexible about the day and time that you travel. This will allow you to snap up last-minute deals on tickets cancelled by other passengers. You’ll be able to find these discounted tickets by checking the Omio live train schedules online.

Alternatively you can often get cheaper tickets by booking far in advance. Once again we can help you with this – you can book as far as six months in ahead through us. Another way of saving on your train fare is to travel at off-peak times, which you can do from Birmingham. One you’re in London though, both Eurostar train trips to Bucharest cost the same. You can also use your UK railcard for the first leg from Birmingham to London to save a bit more.

Bucharest Parliament Palace . Source: Shutterstock

To Bucharest by train—travel tips

Bucharest is most noted for its architecture, earning it the moniker of “Little Paris”. The Palace of the Parliament with its gilded facade is one of the city’s most popular landmarks, built in neo-Classical style in the 1980s. One wing houses the National Museum of Contemporary Art.

The Romanian Athenaeum is the most famous concert hall in the city, known both for its architecture and as the home of prestigious George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra. For a different style of building, visit the smaller Stavropoleos Church, constructed by a Greek monk in 1724.

You can soak up more of the city’s cultural history in The Old Town, where the city was first settled in the 15th century. You can also see a tribute to Paris’s Arc de Triomphe in the form of Bucharest’s Arcul de Triumf, made entirely from wood in 1878 and later dedicated to those who lost their lives in WWI. It was refurbished with granite in 1936. For more ideas, check out the Omio online travel magazine, The Window Seat.