It’s the variety pack, not the greatest hits.

Countless anonymous homes came and went, with countless laundry-garlanded back gardens.

One person’s now, I thought, is another person’s then.

Bran Castle and Hagia Sophia

From left: Bran Castle, in Transylvania; Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia.Credit: Katherine Wolkoff

The reconstructed fortress we visited in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria?

A bulwark against the Ottoman Turks until 1393, when they burned it down and took over.

Budapest’s iconic public baths?

The dining car of the Danube Express

The dining car of the Danube Express.Katherine Wolkoff

The defensive towers in the 12th-century Transylvanian citadel of Sighioara?

One guess who they were built to defend against.

Where else could the trip begin, then, but Istanbul?

Danube Express in Bulgaria

The Danube Express en route through Bulgaria.Katherine Wolkoff

But, for some reason, I’d never felt an urge to go.

First there’s its sheer size: Istanbul is home to more than 15 million people.

They surround gardens now plain but once paradisiacal, abounding with tulips and roses, peacocks and gazelles.

Scenes from Istanbul and Budapest

From left: A vendor selling simit, a bagel-like snack, in Istanbul; visitors look out from the Fisherman’s Bastion, an iconic monument on Castle Hill, Budapest.Katherine Wolkoff

Then he led us around the corner to the harem.

A man played jazz standards on a keyboard and sometimesget thisa saxophone.

I thought unavoidably of Hercule Poirot and the Orient Express.

Danube Express train

Aboard the Danube Express, a luxury train kitted out in period style.Katherine Wolkoff

I woke in Bulgaria.

A lesson for empires, perhaps.

(The Englishwoman in her tropical whites had the right idea.)

Scenes from Istanbul and Bulgaria

From left: A family walks in front of the Obelisk of Theodosius, in Istanbul; view of Veliko Tarnovo, a medieval citadel in central Bulgaria.Katherine Wolkoff

Day two on the train was castle day.

How’s this for a sightseeing marathon?

We disembarked at 7:45 a.m. in the Romanian alpine town of Sinaia to visit Pele?

Sunflowers in Bulgaria

Sunflowers in Bulgaria, as seen from the train.Katherine Wolkoff

Castles, in the year 2019, present a quandary.

They are impractical dwellings and no longer serve defensive purposes, but letting them decay would be a shame.

So admission must be charged and curiosity cultivated.

Peles Castle Turkish Room

The extravagant Turkish Room in Peleş Castle.Katherine Wolkoff

We visit to connect with the past, to marvel at the idea of living in such vast structures.

Nestled in the Carpathian Mountains, Pele?

From the outside, Pele?

Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace

The exterior of the Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace, in Budapest.Katherine Wolkoff

Dracula is a fun fantasy, though, and Bran is one of those attractions that transcend cheesiness.

Perched on top of a rocky bluff, it’s arresting and romantic and genuinely spooky-looking.

Inside are appealing, whitewashed living spaces I would pick over the clutter of Pele?

Squeezing up a narrow stone staircase, we emerged into a high room where a long table was waiting.

A string quartet played while we dined and chatted, as tour mates tend to do, about travel.

No bats flew off into the twilight, but sometimes a meal and a breeze are enough.

We stopped for one last excursion, which involved sampling the local schnapps and watching a traditional horse show.

Then we reached Budapest, where we disembarked the Danube Express for the last time.

Young women sat chatting on the embankment with their legs dangling over the edge.

Like Istanbul, Budapest is an ancient city.

Someday, travelers might take trips designed to spark a sense of nostalgia for our era.

Someday people might look on our mighty projects and laugh.

Somedayand this is certainwe will be the ancient ones.

The six-night tour showcases cultural and architectural highlights of the former Ottoman Empire.

Passengers spend a night in Istanbul before boarding the train.

They then travel through Bulgaria and Romania and disembark in Budapest.

Getting There

Turkish Airlines offers nonstop flights to Istanbul from most major U.S. hubs.