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Istanbul Transportation

Tips for getting around Istanbul posted by real travelers and Istanbul locals.
Local Time 12:39 am Sunday, May 18, 2008
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Popular Transportation | Miscellaneous Transportation Tips | All Tips (406)
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From Ataturk to Your Hotel
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  • A jetton (both sides) and a 1 Lira coin - Istanbul
    A jetton (both sides) and a 1
    Lira coin
    by gilabrand
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    To get from Ataturk Airport to your hotel by public transportation, try this: Leave the airport and go directly across the street to the parking garage (“otopark”). Look for the elevator with the sign "Hafif Metro" (light rail). It will take you down to the train station. Buy a token (jeton) at the booth (1.2 YTL, if I remember correctly). Go through the turnstile and board the metro for Aksaray - but get out at Zeytinburnu, the 6th stop. From there take a taxi to your hotel (the meter starts at 1.3 YTL). At this point, we actually transferred to the "tramway" (pronounced “tram-vi” with a long “I” sound), after going down a flight of steps and buying another jeton, but finding our hotel at night on a little side street turned out to be too confusing. We wandered around for quite a while until we found it, and by that time we were exhausted. So a taxi is your best bet, at least until you figure out where your hotel is in relation to things. Make sure the taxi driver turns on the meter. From Zeytinburnu, the ride is much less expensive than from the airport.

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  • Theme: Subway/Metro

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    Istanbul's Tunel
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  • Istanbul's Tunel is one of the charms of Istanbul according to me. What makes this tunel special is that it is the second-oldest subway line in the world, after the London Underground. It is more a nostalgic flashback to the past than a common way of transportation. The southern end of Istiklal Caddesi at Tunel Meydani (Tunnel Square) is one of the two stops of the underground train. This is what you see on the picture. The other stop is Galata (Karakoy). This stop doesnt look as attractive as the Tunnel Square stop. Duration: It is a very short ride. I think not more than 5 min. Price: As far as I remember the price is modest, only YTL 1 which is less than USD 1. Some facts and history: The Tunel has just one train of two steel cars with pneumatic tires, and its cruising speed is roughly 25 km/h. It is an underground funicular with only two stations, and a uphill track of approximately 573 meters. The denivalation of the two stops is about 60 meters. The Tunel was originally conceived by the French engineer Henri Gavand in 1867. Two years later, on 6 November 1869, he received permission from the Ottoman sultan Abd-ul-Aziz to start the project. After finding foreign funding, construction began on 30 July 1871 and ended in December 1874. The Tunel was opened on 17 January 1875 to provide an easy ride between the two neighborhoods of Pera and Galata, both in the new district of Istanbul on the hill north of the Golden Horn. Galata and Pera are now called Karakoy, and Beyoglu, respectively. When it opened, the Tunel was powered by horses. The line began being powered by electricity in 1910. The Tunel was nationalized in 1939 to became part of the new IETT (İstanbul Elektrik Tramvay ve Tunel) transportation organization. In 1971, it was renovated and modernized, and the original wooden cars were replaced by metal ones.

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  • Theme: Subway/Metro
  • Website: http://www.iett.gov.tr/en/section.php?sid=46

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    Bucharest-Istanbul train
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  • The daily train from Burcharest in Romania to Istanbul is quite an experience. First, you have to dodge all the shady people in the Bucharest train station. Then you pass through Romanian border patrol, cross the Danube River and wait as the Bulgarian border patrol tries to figure out if you are a smuggler. As you wait for the train to start moving, children beg alongside men in adidas track suits who will ask if you want to change money. The rest of your day will be awfully boring as the Bulgarian landscape is not that interesting. I have passed through it six times, so I know what I'm talking about. In the middle of the night, you will be awoken by whistles as you arrive at the border between Bulgaria and Turkey. Everyone has to get out of the train on the Turkish side and buy a visa (unless you are from a select few countries which don't need one). The train will be stopped for at least an hour, maybe longer. As you travel through western Turkey, the train will rattle back and forth. It is actually a scary experience as it seems as though the train will fall off the tracks. As nerve wrecking as this may be, try to enjoy the sunrise and the beautiful landscape. In a couple of hours, you will be at Sirkeci station for your Istanbul adventure.

  • Theme: Train

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    Buses in Istanbul
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  • A busride in Istanbul costs 1 000 000 TL. You buy the ticket from a ticket-booth just next to the buses or you can pay on the bus. Bus T4 is going between Sultanahmet and Taksim. From Taksim and Eminönü buses are going to places all over Istanbul. If you don't know the busnumber you can always ask in the ticket-booth. If you don't speek Turkish it can be good with a paper and pen so you can have the numbers written down for you.

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  • Theme: Bus

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    Ferries
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  • Crossing over from Europe to Asia is fast and simple. Head over to the Eminonu ferry terminals. Each building has the name of the destination on it. Buy a token from the sales desk and then put the token in the appropriate slot before going through the turnstile. If there is not a boat already there, you will be waiting for about five to 10 minutes. While on the boat, you can purchase drinks or candy from the onboard snack shop. There are also men in sailor costumes who walk around selling tea. Prices are reasonable.

  • Theme: Ship/Boat

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    Horse drawn carriages on Büyükada
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  • On Büyükada (Big Island) no privat cars are allowed (the only vehicles are for the police, firebrigade and the carbage). To get around the island you can take one of the many horse-drawn carriages. You will find them close to the ferryboat terminal, just to the left of the clocktower. A ride around the island is 20 000 000 TL.

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  • Theme: Other

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    Bus,ferry to Anatolia (asia)side
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  • i suggest you stay in Besiktas area. its in the center,close to all transportation (ferry,bus,train) These hotels in Besiktas Area.Conrad Hotel,Swiss hotels,Ciragan hotels have bosphorus view. it cost a little bit to stay in those hotels but you will enjoy about Istanbul more with great quality and great view ! its also close to Ortakoy which you shouldnt miss. well..the fact is traffic is boring a little bit. As mostly area in Istanbul.

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  • Theme: Ship/Boat

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    Otogars
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  • There are two otogars in Istanbul, Eslener and Harem. Esenler is the biggest one. It is huge and here you will find busses to almost everywhere in Turkey and to neighbouring countries. From Esenler the metro is going to Aksaray. If you are going to Sultanahmet you change in Aksaray to the tram. Harem is a smaller otogar on the Asian side. If you are going somewhere in Anatolia it can be good to leave from Harem as the buses leave from here one hour later than Esenler. Also when you arrive in Istanbul you can save a lot of time going off in Harem. To go to Sultanahmet from here you take the ferry to Sirkici and from there the tram or bus nr T4.

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  • Theme: Bus

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    Bouncing between two Continents.
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  • Where red tape isn't - efficiency is. In the United States a 30 minute safety check would be required before every 5 minute voyage. Here in Turkey the system worked wonderfully. The ferries leave all the time, are cheap, fast, and a beautiful way to travel between the European and Asian shore. The Besiktas to Uskudar and Eminonu to Kadikoy are the two lines I took the most often. Neither took more than 15 minutes and both cost 750,000 lira for one way. If my Mom saw me smoking with nothing more than a single bar to hold me back she would freak out. Not because of the single bar holding me back - but because she doesn't know I smoke.

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  • Theme: Ship/Boat

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    Amazing value on air travel
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  • I flew roundtrip from Istanbul to Adana in southern Turkey for $90! The service was pretty good. It was about the same as Turkish Air. Onur Air travels from Istanbul to places such as Izmir, Antalya and Trabzon. All are about the same price.

  • Theme: Airplane
  • Website: http://www.onurair.com.tr/eng/

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