The Korona/Corona ‘Express’:
the Brassó ‘Night-Diner‘
Our aim is to visit Iași – & to travel directly with only one extra halt (Budapest).
A night sleeper to Romania but that only serves Erdélyi (Transylvania: until 1920 part of the Kingdom of Hungary). The train is entirely Magyar (Hungarian).
Using the Hungarian Night Sleeper which, though slower into Romania, provides a change at Csíkszereda (Miercurea Ciuc) with a better guarantee of arrival time in Iași (the slightly faster route via via Bucuresti only allows half-an-hour for a change of train). The Korona also has a fully equipped dining car operating throughout the journey. Romanian sleepers to & from Budapest have very minimal or no service.
The train also follows a less well used route through the forested & mountainous Carpathian Hill Range sometimes with spectacular views.
By changing trains at Csíkszereda (Miercurea Ciuc) we also have time to explore a town which has been, simply by name and geographic position, a fascination since I have been a regular visitor to Romania.
Seeing a member of staff examine and then prodding parts of the (rather old, communist era) train creates a degree of uncertainty for those observing.
As with almost all long distance Hungarian trains, it had a restaurant car.
The dining carriage had a rather old style Hapsburg Imperial look….. but the evening was more like a farmers gathering in the Sarn inn
This night journey (Friday) ……It’s very very different from the previous journey……as we wait, in the dark, near the Hungarian/Romanian border for some complex railway required movement of coaches….. but this journey, after a wonderful time in Budapest, is everything we desired from our journey to Romania….. for people such as us, in our neat, organised & generally predictable lives … a wonderful experience with people full of laughter and basic good humour….. complemented with excellent Hungarian wine.
Sounds great 😃
Peta…. It’s getting better because we’ve now been included in the humour…. In Hungarian language!
Inspirational Pathways 