Dear friends, we are once again in Istanbul. This time I will tell you about the Railway Museum, located near many famous landmarks of the city. The museum is quite small, but one of its advantages is free admission. I hope the information about this place will be useful to all budget travelers planning to visit Istanbul.
How to Get There
The museum is located in one of the buildings of the Sirkeci railway station in Istanbul. This place is remarkable because the famous Orient Express once departed from here, familiar to all of us from Agatha Christie's book.
Directly at the station, there is an exit from the "Sirkeci" station of the Marmaray line. Also nearby is the "Eminönü" pier, which is convenient to reach by ferry from the Asian side of the city.
Admission to the museum is free. According to online maps, the exhibition is open from Tuesday to Saturday from 9 am to 5 pm, with a half-hour lunch break during the day.
Walking Through the Museum
As I mentioned above, the Istanbul Railway Museum is quite small, with only one room. Guidebooks say its area is 145 square meters, although it seemed even smaller to me.
The exhibition space was opened in September 2005. There are about 600 exhibits from the 19th and 20th centuries. The museum showcases train interiors, equipment used on the country's railways, various signs, books, and models of train compositions.
A separate section of the exhibition space is dedicated to the history of the Orient Express. The luxurious train from Paris to Constantinople operated from 1883 to 1977. The Orient Express was known for its exquisite interiors with redwood wall panels and magnificent cuisine. I have come across advertisements for modern tourist trains with the same name, but none of them replicate the route of their legendary predecessor.
After exploring the exhibition, you can take a walk through the historic building of the station. Despite the fact that the railway tracks are now dismantled, travelers can admire the elegant design of the famous station. There is a restaurant "Orient Express" facing the platform, and nearby there is an empty room that many tourists use for unusual photo shoots.
After getting acquainted with the museum composition, it is convenient to walk to the interesting sights of Istanbul. Within walking distance are the Gülhane Park, Topkapi Palace, the Basilica Cistern, and the Archaeological Museum of the city.
Have a nice trip!
