There are 12 ways to get from Essen to Plovdiv by plane, bus, train, night train, car, shuttle, or car train
Select an option below to see step-by-step directions and to compare ticket prices and travel times in Rome2Rio's travel planner.
Fly Düsseldorf International Airport to Sofia Airport, bus
best- Fly from Düsseldorf International Airport (DUS) to Sofia Airport (SOF)plane DUS - SOF
- Take the bus from Sofia Airport Terminal 1 Bus Stop to Plovdiv Hotel Trimontiumbus
9h 20m$105–312Fly Dortmund Airport to Sofia Airport, bus
cheapest- Fly from Dortmund Airport (DTM) to Sofia Airport (SOF)plane DTM - SOF
- Take the bus from Sofia Airport Terminal 1 Bus Stop to Plovdiv Hotel Trimontiumbus
8h 58m$72–368Bus
- Take the bus from Essen central train station to Frankfurt central train stationbus 084 / ...
- Take the bus from Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt central to Plovdiv Bus Station Southbus Racic Eurobus
33h 10m$117–178Train, night train
- Take the train from Dortmund Hbf to Wien Meidlingtrain
- Take the train from Wien Meidling to Bucuresti Nordtrain 347
- Take the night train from Bucharest to Dimitrovgradnighttrain
- Take the train from Dimitrovgrad to Plovdivtrain 492
38h 21m$434–1,032Drive 2,065 km
- Drive from Essen to Plovdivcar 2,065 km
18h 21m$341–492Train to Cologne Bonn Airport, fly to Sofia Airport, bus
- Take the train from Essen Hbf to Köln Messe/Deutz Bftrain
- Fly from Cologne Bonn Airport (CGN) to Sofia Airport (SOF)plane CGN - SOF
- Take the bus from Sofia Airport Terminal 1 Bus Stop to Plovdiv Hotel Trimontiumbus
8h 26m$75–340Train to Frankfurt, fly to Sofia Airport, bus
- Take the train from Essen Hbf to Frankfurttrain
- Fly from Frankfurt (FRA) to Sofia Airport (SOF)plane FRA - SOF
- Take the bus from Sofia Airport Terminal 1 Bus Stop to Plovdiv Hotel Trimontiumbus
8h 59m$137–367Train, train to Eindhoven Airport, fly to Sofia Airport, bus
- Take the train from Essen Hbf to Viersen Bahnhoftrain
- Take the train from Venlo to Eindhoventrain
- Fly from Eindhoven Airport (EIN) to Sofia Airport (SOF)plane EIN - SOF
- Take the bus from Sofia Airport Terminal 1 Bus Stop to Plovdiv Hotel Trimontiumbus
10h 29m$97–393Fly Düsseldorf International Airport to Thessaloniki Airport Makedonia, bus
- Fly from Düsseldorf International Airport (DUS) to Thessaloniki Airport Makedonia (SKG)plane DUS - SKG
- Take the bus from Thessaloniki Monastiriou Bus Stop to Plovdiv Bus Station Southbus
14h 10m$86–421Train to Frankfurt, fly to Bucharest Otopeni, shuttle
- Take the train from Essen Hbf to Frankfurttrain
- Fly from Frankfurt (FRA) to Bucharest Otopeni (OTP)plane FRA - OTP
- Take a shuttle bus from Bucharest Otopeni Airport to Plovdiv
12h 5m$384–748Train, bus
- Take the train from Essen Hbf to Frankfurttrain 41 / ...
- Take the bus from Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt central to Plovdiv Central Train Station Bus Stopbus Citylines 64 / ...
34h 12m$163–293Car train, drive
- Take the car train from Düsseldorf Hbf to Villach Hbfcartrain
- Drive from Villach Hbf to Plovdivcar
17h 3m$335–1,528
Essen to Plovdiv by bus
Questions & Answers
The cheapest way to get from Essen to Plovdiv is to bus which costs $110 - $180 and takes 33h 10m.
The fastest way to get from Essen to Plovdiv is to train and fly and bus which takes 8h 26m and costs $75 - $340.
No, there is no direct bus from Essen station to Plovdiv station. However, there are services departing from Essen central train station and arriving at Plovdiv Bus Station South via Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt central. The journey, including transfers, takes approximately 33h 10m.
No, there is no direct train from Essen to Plovdiv. However, there are services departing from Essen Hbf and arriving at Plovdiv via Dortmund Hbf, Wien Meidling, Bucharest and Dimitrovgrad. The journey, including transfers, takes approximately 38h 21m.
The distance between Essen and Plovdiv is 1758 km. The road distance is 2065 km.
The best way to get from Essen to Plovdiv without a car is to bus which takes 33h 10m and costs $110 - $180.
It takes approximately 9h 20m to get from Essen to Plovdiv, including transfers.
Essen to Plovdiv bus services, operated by FlixBus, depart from Essen central train station.
Essen to Plovdiv train services, operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS), depart from Dortmund Hbf station.
Essen to Plovdiv bus services, operated by FlixBus, arrive at Frankfurt central train station.
What companies run services between Essen, Germany and Plovdiv, Bulgaria?
You can take a bus from Essen central train station to Plovdiv Bus Station South via Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt central in around 33h 10m.
- Website
- lufthansa.com
Flights from Düsseldorf International Airport to Sofia Airport via Munich
- Ave. Duration
- 4h 50m
- When
- Every day
- Estimated price
- $75–390
Flights from Düsseldorf International Airport to Sofia Airport via Frankfurt
- Ave. Duration
- 6h 45m
- When
- Every day
- Estimated price
- $95–390
Flights from Cologne Bonn Airport to Sofia Airport via Munich
- Ave. Duration
- 4h 27m
- When
- Every day
- Estimated price
- $70–380
Flights from Frankfurt to Sofia Airport
- Ave. Duration
- 2h 15m
- When
- Every day
- Estimated price
- $90–360
Flights from Frankfurt to Sofia Airport via Munich
- Ave. Duration
- 4h 6m
- When
- Every day
- Estimated price
- $90–360
Flights from Düsseldorf International Airport to Thessaloniki Airport Makedonia
- Ave. Duration
- 2h 35m
- When
- Every day
- Estimated price
- $65–260
Flights from Düsseldorf International Airport to Thessaloniki Airport Makedonia via Munich
- Ave. Duration
- 4h 21m
- When
- Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday
- Estimated price
- $65–450
Flights from Frankfurt to Bucharest Otopeni
- Ave. Duration
- 2h 20m
- When
- Every day
- Estimated price
- $90–360
Flights from Frankfurt to Bucharest Otopeni via Munich
- Ave. Duration
- 4h 12m
- When
- Every day
- Estimated price
- $65–360
- Website
- austrian.com
Flights from Düsseldorf International Airport to Sofia Airport via Vienna
- Ave. Duration
- 6h
- When
- Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday
- Estimated price
- $90–390
Flights from Cologne Bonn Airport to Sofia Airport via Vienna
- Ave. Duration
- 4h 30m
- When
- Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday
- Estimated price
- $90–380
Flights from Frankfurt to Sofia Airport via Vienna
- Ave. Duration
- 4h 5m
- When
- Every day
- Estimated price
- $85–350
Flights from Düsseldorf International Airport to Thessaloniki Airport Makedonia via Vienna
- Ave. Duration
- 4h 25m
- When
- Monday, Friday, and Sunday
- Estimated price
- $100–450
Flights from Frankfurt to Bucharest Otopeni via Vienna
- Ave. Duration
- 4h 43m
- When
- Every day
- Estimated price
- $85–350
- Website
- airserbia.com
Flights from Düsseldorf International Airport to Sofia Airport via Belgrade
- Ave. Duration
- 5h 17m
- When
- Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
- Estimated price
- $80–160
Flights from Düsseldorf International Airport to Thessaloniki Airport Makedonia via Belgrade
- Ave. Duration
- 5h 25m
- When
- Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday
- Estimated price
- $65–180
- Website
- air.bg
Flights from Düsseldorf International Airport to Sofia Airport via Belgrade
- Ave. Duration
- 5h 17m
- When
- Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
- Estimated price
- $80–160
Flights from Frankfurt to Sofia Airport
- Ave. Duration
- 2h 20m
- When
- Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
- Estimated price
- $100–220
- Website
- ryanair.com
Flights from Cologne Bonn Airport to Sofia Airport
- Ave. Duration
- 2h 25m
- When
- Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday
- Estimated price
- $30–230
Flights from Eindhoven Airport to Sofia Airport
- Ave. Duration
- 2h 35m
- When
- Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday
- Estimated price
- $40–340
- Website
- wizzair.com
Flights from Dortmund Airport to Sofia Airport
- Ave. Duration
- 2h 30m
- When
- Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
- Estimated price
- $50–290
Flights from Eindhoven Airport to Sofia Airport
- Ave. Duration
- 2h 40m
- When
- Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday
- Estimated price
- $45–250
- Website
- tarom.ro
Flights from Frankfurt to Bucharest Otopeni
- Ave. Duration
- 2h 25m
- When
- Every day
- Estimated price
- $50–230
- Website
- skyexpress.gr
Flights from Düsseldorf International Airport to Thessaloniki Airport Makedonia
- Ave. Duration
- 2h 35m
- When
- Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday
- Estimated price
- $50–140
- Website
- eurowings.com
Flights from Düsseldorf International Airport to Thessaloniki Airport Makedonia
- Ave. Duration
- 2h 40m
- When
- Friday
- Estimated price
- $50–230
- Website
- en.aegeanair.com
Flights from Düsseldorf International Airport to Thessaloniki Airport Makedonia
- Ave. Duration
- 2h 35m
- When
- Every day
- Estimated price
- $65–260
- Website
- hisky.aero
Flights from Frankfurt to Bucharest Otopeni
- Ave. Duration
- 2h 20m
- When
- Thursday and Sunday
- Estimated price
- $90–160
Flights from Frankfurt to Bucharest Otopeni
- Ave. Duration
- 2h 20m
- When
- Monday and Friday
- Estimated price
- $75–230
- Website
- lufthansa-city.com
Flights from Frankfurt to Bucharest Otopeni
- Ave. Duration
- 2h 20m
- When
- Every day
- Estimated price
- $65–350
- Phone
- +31 30 751 5155
- Website
- ns.nl
Train from Dortmund Hbf to Wien Meidling
- Ave. Duration
- 11h 40m
- Frequency
- Once daily
- Estimated price
- $170–600
- Website
- https://www.ns.nl/en
- 2nd Class
- $170–260
- 1st Class
- $360–600
Train from Venlo to Eindhoven
- Ave. Duration
- 38 min
- Frequency
- Hourly
- Estimated price
- $13–15
- Website
- https://www.ns.nl/en
Train from Wien Meidling to Bucuresti Nord
- Ave. Duration
- 17h 45m
- Frequency
- Once daily
- Estimated price
- $240–340
- Website
- https://www.oebb.at/en/
- Phone
- +35929311111
- onlineticket@bdz.bg
- Website
- bdz.bg
Night train from Bucharest to Dimitrovgrad
- Ave. Duration
- 3h 39m
- Frequency
- Twice a week
- Estimated price
- $12–28
- Website
- https://www.bdz.bg/en
- 2nd Class
- $12–17
- 1st Class
- $16–21
Train from Dimitrovgrad to Plovdiv
- Ave. Duration
- 56 min
- Frequency
- Every 2 hours
- Estimated price
- $3–5
- Website
- https://www.bdz.bg/en
- 2nd Class
- $3–5
- 1st Class
- $3–5
- Phone
- +49 30 311 682904
- Website
- bahn.de
Train from Essen Hbf to Köln Messe/Deutz Bf
- Ave. Duration
- 48 min
- Frequency
- Hourly
- Estimated price
- $20–60
- Website
- https://int.bahn.de/en
Train from Essen Hbf to Frankfurt
- Ave. Duration
- 1h 45m
- Frequency
- Every 30 minutes
- Estimated price
- $30–100
- Website
- https://int.bahn.de/en
Train from Essen Hbf to Viersen Bahnhof
- Ave. Duration
- 37 min
- Frequency
- Once daily
- Estimated price
- $28–32
- Website
- https://int.bahn.de/en
- Phone
- 0221 13 999 444
- Website
- nationalexpress.de
Train from Essen Hbf to Köln Messe/Deutz Bf
- Ave. Duration
- 1h 20m
- Frequency
- 3 times a week
- Estimated price
- $17–26
- Schedules at
- nationalexpress.de
- Phone
- +49 30 2970
- Website
- bahn.de
Train from Essen Hbf to Viersen Bahnhof
- Ave. Duration
- 41 min
- Frequency
- Hourly
- Estimated price
- $14–20
- Website
- https://int.bahn.de/en
- Phone
- +49 (0) 221 800 20 820
- info@urlaubs-express.de
- Website
- urlaubs-express.de
Car train from Düsseldorf Hbf to Villach Hbf
- Ave. Duration
- 5h 53m
- Frequency
- Once a week
- Estimated price
- $110–1,200
- Website
- https://urlaubs-express.de/?lang=en
- Car Single Bed
- $320–650
- Car Compartment
- $600–1,200
- Phone
- +359 2 493 0191
- info@traventuria.com
- Website
- traventuria.com
Bus from Sofia Airport Terminal 1 Bus Stop to Plovdiv Hotel Trimontium
- Ave. Duration
- 1h 59m
- Frequency
- 6 times a week
- Estimated price
- $13–19
- Website
- https://traventuria.com/
Rome2Rio's guide to FlixBus
Contact Details
- Phone
- +49 30 300 137 300
- service@flixbus.com
- Website
- flixbus.fr
Bus from Essen central train station to Frankfurt central train station
- Ave. Duration
- 4h 40m
- Frequency
- Every 4 hours
- Estimated price
- $17–40
- Website
- https://www.flixbus.co.uk
- Phone
- +359-887-208-506
- racic_bg@yahoo.com
- Website
- racicbg.com
Bus from Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt central to Plovdiv Bus Station South
- Ave. Duration
- 27h 30m
- Frequency
- Once a week
- Estimated price
- $100–140
- Website
- https://www.racicbg.com/bg/
- Phone
- +359 89 345 5533
- info@atlastaxi.eu
- Website
- atlastaxi.eu
Shuttle from Bucharest Otopeni Airport to Plovdiv
- Ave. Duration
- 5h 30m
- Frequency
- On demand
- Estimated price
- $270–410
- Website
- https://atlastaxi.eu/
- Phone
- +359 0885700870
- support@citylines.eu
- Website
- citylines.eu
Bus from Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt central to Plovdiv Central Train Station Bus Stop
- Ave. Duration
- 31h 15m
- Frequency
- 3 times a week
- Estimated price
- $130–180
- Website
- https://citylines.eu/
Want to know more about travelling around Bulgaria
Rome2Rio's Travel Guide series provide vital information for the global traveller. Filled with useful and timely travel information, the guides answer all the hard questions - such as 'How do I buy a ticket?', 'Should I book online before I travel? ', 'How much should I expect to pay?', 'Do the trains and buses have Wifi?' - to help you get the most out of your next trip.
Related travel guides
Heading to Europe? Read this before you buy a Eurail Pass
Read the travel guide
Want to know more about Flixbus?
Read the travel guide
More Questions & Answers
Plovdiv is 1h ahead of Essen. It is currently 3:02 AM in Essen and 4:02 AM in Plovdiv.
Essen to Plovdiv train services, operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS), arrive at Wien Meidling station.
Yes, the driving distance between Essen to Plovdiv is 2065 km. It takes approximately 18h 21m to drive from Essen to Plovdiv.
Book your Essen to Plovdiv bus tickets online with Omio.
There are 741+ hotels available in Plovdiv.













































