Kırklareli is a city in Eastern Thrace, the northwestern part of Turkey. It’s located in the northern part of the region, near the Bulgarian border.

Get in

By car

Kırklareli lies on the junction of highways D020 (which leads to Edirne in the west) and D555/E87, which leads to Babaeski in the south—where it connects to D100 and O-3/E80 which leads to Istanbul in the southeast—and Dereköy border post on Turkish-Bulgarian border to north.

By train

The railway station, now in disuse

All maps to the region show the railway line branching off from the main Thracian line (between Istanbul and Edirne) and terminating in the city, but it has not had regular service since 1992. The railway station still has (limited) staff and is perfectly safe to visit, though.

As such, of the nearby stations with regular passenger services, Edirne remains the one with the easiest connections to Kırklareli—however, even this would require walking to the main road, and then taking a minibus to Edirne's bus station (otogar).

See

• 1 Kırklareli Museum. (updated May 2018)

Sleep

• 1 Lozengrad Hotel, Mutlu Sk 2-8 (At Kirklareli town center next to governor's office, overlooking Cumhuriyet Meydani), ☏ +90 (0288) 212 2500, info@lozengradhotel.com. Check-in: 14:00, check-out: 12:00. Opened in 2015, this hotel has a roof bar and restaurant serving regional and international specialties. €80. (updated May 2015)

Connect

(+90) 288 is city's telephone code.

Go next

• Igneada to the east, on the coast of Black Sea, is a town known for its long and almost desolate beaches, lush forests, and many lakes. A trip there can possibly be combined with a visit to Dupnisa Cave and to medieval foundry in Demirköy on the way.
• If Kırklareli is the first Turkish city on your route, you will possibly want to head to Istanbul next. However, with a short de-tour on your way, you may visit Vize, which with its well-preserved Byzantine-era cathedral (albeit functioning as a mosque now), can serve as a good entrée to Byzantine heritage, which awaits you in a much grander way in Istanbul.

Routes through Kırklareli

Varna ← Burgas ← Turkish-Bulgarian border ←

N  S

→ Junction (W/E) → Uzunköprü → Keşan