Three ways to reach Pleven in northern Bulgaria from Craiova: one by train, two by car. No bus crosses from Craiova into Bulgaria at all. Desk-checked in September 2026 against the railways’ own timetables, the ferry operator and the Romanian Border Police — not yet travelled.
We have not travelled any of these routes ourselves. Everything below was checked against the railways’ own timetables, the ferry operator and the Romanian Border Police in September 2026, and every figure carries the date it was checked. If you do the trip, tell us what actually happened and we will correct the page.
Tell us what happened →R 1091 leaves Craiova at 07:15 and reaches Vidin at 10:28, about 9.50 EUR second class, bought at the Craiova counter. It crosses the Danube on the Calafat–Vidin bridge, so no ferry is involved. From Vidin, ICF 7623 leaves at 12:30 and reaches Vraca at 15:30; change there for Pleven, arriving 17:42. That leaves about two hours to fill in Vidin. Miss it and ICF 7625 at 16:00 still gets you in at 23:15. Around 20 EUR all in, about ten and a half hours door to door. One caution on the departure minute: the Bulgarian international sheet says 07:15 and the Romanian open-data feed says 07:20 — the board at Craiova station decides. Timetables read 6 September 2026; the Romanian side runs to 12 December 2026.
Craiova to Calafat is 90 km, then the bridge, then the Bulgarian Danube road through Lom, Kozloduy, Oryahovo and Knezha. About 300 km and four and three quarter hours of driving. No ferry, no timetable and nothing that stops when the river drops. Bridge toll plus a Bulgarian e-vignette; reckon on about 44 EUR for car and driver one way at September 2026 fuel prices. When the Bechet ferry went down in July 2026 this is the crossing the regional roads authority pointed Oltenia at, with the warning that it gets busy.
The short way: Craiova–Caracal–Corabia to the port at Turnu Măgurele is 135 km, the crossing to Nikopol takes about half an hour with loading, and Pleven is 54 km beyond. Sailings at 08:00, 12:00, 16:00 and 19:30, with nothing between 13:00 and 15:00. Summer timetable from 1 April, winter from 1 October. About 14 EUR per car and 3 EUR per person, paid on the Romanian side, rates of 31 March 2026. Two boats, BDIN and EUROPA, alternate fortnightly, so only one is ever running and a breakdown stops the route; it has also stopped for high wind and for works in the port. Check the Border Police notices the same morning and then phone the operator before you set off.
The Bechet–Oryahovo ferry has been suspended since 10 July 2026, when the Danube fell 70 cm below the minimum for navigation there, and no reopening has been announced. It has a long history of suspensions, so even when it returns it is not something to plan around. The Roșiori Nord–Turnu Măgurele branch line carries no passenger trains, whatever the timetable mirror sites still show. And there is no direct bus from Craiova to Sofia or anywhere else in Bulgaria.
Without a car there is one answer and it is a long day: be on the 07:15. With a car, take the bridge. It costs the same as the ferry, it is an hour longer, and it is the only one of the three that cannot strand you — no sailing to miss, no river level to worry about, no single boat that might be in for repair. Use the Turnu ferry when the morning notices are clean and you can make the 12:00 or the 16:00 comfortably.
| Train via Vidin | ~10 h 30 door to door, ~20 EUR per person |
|---|---|
| Car over the Calafat–Vidin bridge | ~300 km, ~4 h 45 driving, ~44 EUR car and driver |
| Car via the Turnu Măgurele ferry | ~185 km, ~3 h 45 plus ferry wait, ~44 EUR car and driver |
Costs are one way and assume 7.0 l/100 km at about 7.50 lei a litre, converted at 5.25 lei to the euro — the rate on 5 August 2026. They are a model, not a quote. Fuel prices and the crossing charges move independently of each other.
Craiova to Pleven, Bulgaria