Ankara Transportation

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car
Ankara is big and chaotic, the traffic is endless and the drivers not the best in the world. I think it would be a good idea not to drive much there :)

Walk
You can walk in some parts but this isn’t a compact city, although we walked around the castle, or near the lakes at the south but a taxi will help you cover the distances between the sites. Most of the tourists prefer Kizilay for overnight as it is close to numerous cafes and restaurants but also a short taxi ride from the main sites

Local buses, metro and taxi
There are dozens of local buses, dolmus but you will be confused sooner or later. Taxi is the most convenient choice and the low cost wont break you budget anyway. The metro covers only some areas, we never really had to use it

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By plane
The easiest way is to take a plane from Istanbul.

By bus
From Istanbul we preferred the bus ride. In Turkey there are several bus companies. You can go the central bus station and choose one of them. Usually the big ones go almost everywhere. Some companies are more reliable/safer/better service than others. VARAN is one of the famous but more expensive. I used many times PAMUKALLE and METRO that are very good too.
The bus station(otogar in Turkish) is not far from the center.

I used Pamukkale a good reliable company from Istanbul. The bus ride took about 6 hours, the bus stopped in the middle for 20 minutes for refreshing. I payed 30YTL( in 2008). For my ride to Goreme I used Nevsehir Seyahat. The ticket costs 25YTL(in 2008). From Ankara to Istanbul I used Ulusoy, the ticket was 35TL(in 2011)

By train
There is also train connection and lately one of the trains is new and comfortable. We took the train from Eskisehir and we reached Ankara in 100’! The ticket was at 20TR(in 2011). The train station (Ankara Gar, pics 4-5) wasn’t very busy upon our arrival.
It was built in 1937 and it houses small train museum there. It called Demiryollari Muzesi in Turkish and it was once residence of Ataturk during the world of Independence. The museum includes the private vagon of Ataturk (Hitler’s gift to Ataturk!)

Theres two bus companies both are controlled by Ankara municipality
1.EGO Buses
2.OHO Buses
every where is awailable in and surrounding areas by wide bus service cheepest way to get around in Ankara.
ticket price for adults approx.:1.-$
theres multipass tickets also valid meanwhile in metro systems.

Cheap and frequent, buses run every half hour between 03.30a.m. and 21.30p.m.
Between 21.30p.m. and 03.30a.m. buses according to flight departures.
Current cost April 2007 is 10YTL and takes about 35 minutes.
Drop offs at Cubuk intersection,Pursaklar,Haskoy,Aydinlikevler,Kecioren bridge and Etlik intersection on the way to the city centre,Havas city centre office at Ulus,19 Mayis stadium, B gate.
For Asti coach station check their web page listed below.

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Every night at 22 there is a train with a restaurant and sleeping wagons to Istanbul from Ankara. It is really hard to reserve a ticket because of japaneese tourists. many Turkish travel offices prefer to take their customers to Ankara or ýstanbul in the sleeping cars of the express because it is cheeper then a hotel fee. At 08:00 in the morning the train arrives Istanbul's haydarpasha Station on the Asian part of Istanbul. The sleeping wagons are very clean.

From Ankara, everday, almost every hours you may find busses to all around to Turkey. You will go from ASTi. In Kizilay (at izmir street) and at some other places you may find bus companies offices. You may reach to ASTI buy subway easily.
You may also find trains for many places. Istanbul and Izmir trains are better and faster

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Ankara is about 5 hours' drive from Istanbul, depending on the traffic. There is an excellent toll freeway, the otoban, the whole way between the cities. It is not expensive to use and makes the drive faster and easier since it is a 1st-class highway by any world standard.

Unlike rest-stop facilities in the US, Turkish highways in this part of the country have both plentiful gasoline/petrol/filling stations, often one after another, and they have excellent rest-stop complexes with restaurants, supermarkets, et mangal (grilled-meat places), tea gardens,etc., and the food is really good. On the otoban, these are right on the highway so one need not go through a toll booth when stopping at or leaving the rest stops.

Throught eh Bolu area the terrain is very mountainous, with the road in some parts go up to over 6,000 feet elevation and in the winter one may experience heavy rain or snow. This is especially true near the city of Bolu itself, east of Duzce, where the otoban goes through a long tunnel in a high-elevation area, and south of the Gerede area near Dorukkaya, a major skiing region because it gets a lot of snow. However, the drive is normally easy and pleasant, with excellent signs, etc.

Ankara is about 2 to 4 hours' drive from Safranbolu and Karabuk to the north, depending on weather conditions. Overall, the drive is easy, the roads range from good to excellent, and the signs are clear and easy to follow.

The otoban, toll highway, is excellent. A large, broad ighway it excellent condition, it rings the city and goes all the way to Istanbul before heading on to Edirne on the Greek and Bulgarian borders. Driving between the Karabuk-Safranbolu area and Ankara, one can take the otoban for much of the distance, all the way between Ankara and Gerede, which takes about 1 hour in good weather or 1.5-2.5 hours in inclement weather, depending on how much wind, rain, or snow one encounters in the mountains near Dorukkaya. Between Karabuk-Safranbolu and Gerede, the drive is again about 1 hour in good weather and 1.5 to 2 hours in bad weather. It's a good, divided highway, though, and the drive is fairly easy. The signs switching between the otoban and the regular highway in Gerede are clear and easy to follow and one need only pay just under 2 lira for the whole stretch of otoban between Ankara and Gerede.

As is normal on Turkish highway, gasoline/petrol/filling stations are numerous as are excellent rest facilities with stores, bathrooms, restaurants, etc. (they are truly wonderful places, not like the inferior rest stops or service areas we are used to here in the US).

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Ankara has a good undergound train/Metro system. It's not yet too extensive, but it's growing and it's excellent where it is. It offers very good coverage in the core of the city, with stops at the main core centres of the city, Ulus, Sihhiye, and Kizilay, as well as a stop right near the main entrance to Anitkabir. The two extisting lines, confusingly one being called Metro and the other Ankaray, meet at Kizilay. They also allow one to head out to various other locations and some suburbs. Unfortunately, one must still make a longish walk or take a taxi in order to get to Museum of Anatolian Civiliations or the Citadel area.

If you are planning to visit the region called Cappadocia from Istanbul by train:

The overnight train arrives at 08.30 at Ankara.

There is no train to Nevsehir the capital of the Region called Cappadocia but bus.
There is every 2 hour bus from Ankara to Nevsehir. 09:00, 11.00, 13.00, 15:00, 18.30

The bus company is Nevtur or Nevsehirliler. Tel. number: 0212-4445050
It takes 5 hours. The other touristic towns around Nevsehir are, Urgup, Goreme, Uc Hisar, Avanos.
Avanos is a little faraway. It takes half our from nevsehir to Urgup and goreme.

I advice you to take the bus at 15:00 from Ankara. In the mean time you can visit the "Anadolu Medeniyetleri Muzesi" the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, It is a must. Here you can see the 5000 year old masterpieces of Hittite and other civilizations.

Anit Kabir the Mouseleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk is also a must to visit.

After your arrival to Ankara you can reach the main Autobus terminal of Ankara only by taksi. It costs you 10-15 YL's. The main bus terminal is called "ASTI"

You can reach to museum and Anit Kabir only by taksi.

Nevtur bus company carries you till Nevsehir. On the bus the assistant host asks you your destination. You must say goreme or Urgup or ???. At Nevsehir they take the passangers into a mini bus and carry them to their end stations.

There is no train to Antalya from nevsehir. Nevtur goes to Antalya in 12 hours.
Have a nice time in Turkey