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Istanbul is
a large, congested, bustling city. You'll
enjoy your visit much more if you
know how to get around before you
arrive. Click
here for maps of Istanbul & Region.
Istanbul has two airports,
the major Atatürk
International Airport (IST)
near Yeşilyurt 23
km (14 miles) west of the city center,
reachable by Metro (map);
and Sabiha
Gökçen Airport (SAW)
on the east (Asian) side of the Bosphorus.
Taxis and public
transport serve both
airports, but a private
transfer is
a better way to go for some travelers. More...
Cable Car
Cable cars (teleferik) lift passengers from Eyüp on the Golden Horn to the hill from which French novelist Pierre Loti used to survey Istanbul. Another cable car can take you across the valley between Elmadağ and Teşvikiye in Beyoğlu.
City bus routes get you to some places you'll want
to visit. Plan how to pay your fare before
boarding. More...
You can pay by token, multi-use ticket, or RFID transit
pass for Istanbul's Metro, tram, bus, ferry, funicular, cable car, and suburban trains. More...
Traditional white Şehir Hatları ferryboats, and smaller ferries by TurYol, Dentur Avrasya and other companies, serve shorter water routes,
and are the most enjoyable way to get
around Istanbul (map). More...
Special daily Touristic
Bosphorus Ferries run from the Eminönü ferry
docks up the Bosphorus almost
to the Black
Sea several times daily. Both Sea
Bus catamarans and ferryboats
travel to the Princes
Islands near Istanbul in the Sea
of Marmara. More...
The Füniküler (underground
funicular) connects Taksim
Square and Kabataş on
the Bosphorus shore.
At Kabataş you
can board a ferryboat, sea
bus, or the Bağcılar
tram. More...
Istanbul has three intercity bus terminals:
—The major Istanbul
International Bus Terminal (Büyük
Otogar) at Esenler on the
western side of the Bosphorus (reachable
by Metro: map),
serving the entire country as well as Greece, Bulgaria,
the Balkans and Europe.
—The Emniyet Garajı near Aksaray Square serves the Balkans.
—The Harem
Otogar on the eastern
shore of the Bosphorus north
of Haydarpaşa Station,
serves Anatolian Turkey and the Middle
East.
Three lines of Istanbul's Metro
system are in
operation (map):
—M1, Airport—Aksaray: The most useful for foreign visitors is the light-rail
line connecting Atatürk
Airport and Aksaray Square via
Istanbul's mammoth Otogar
(intercity bus station), at which you
can board a bus to any part of Turkey or to virtually
any country within 1000 miles (1600 km) of Istanbul.
Change from the Metro to the tram
at Zeytinburnu to
reach Old
Istanbul and Sultanahmet
Square.
—M2, Şişhane—Hacıosman: A standard-gauge Metro line goes
north from Şişhane (Tünel
Square) and Taksim
Square to the northern commercial and financial
districts and nearly to Tarabya on the Bosphorus. More...
—M4, Üsküdar—Kartal: Speed from the ferry docks in Üsküdar, on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus, to Kartal, 25 km (16 miles) to the southeast along the Sea of Marmara shore.
Passenger catamarans zoom around the city
at rush hour, and out to the Princes
Islands several times daily. There are even Sea
of Marmara routes to Yalova and Bandırma on
the sea's southern shore. More...
Foreign cruise ships and
international ferries dock at the Yolcu
Salonu in Karaköy at
the northern end of the Galata
Bridge over the Golden
Horn, right in the center of the
city, and at Salıpazar just to the
northeast. More...
Thousands of yellow taxis
powered by clean-burning liquified
natural gas, throng Istanbul's
streets. You'll find them useful and
not overly expensive, though the incidence
of unpleasantness can
be high. More...
Istanbul has
two intercity train stations: Istanbul
(Sirkeci) Garı on the Golden
Horn, and Haydarpaşa
Garı on the Asian
shore of the Bosphorus.
Take the Bağcılar-Kabataş
tram to Sirkeci for
European trains, or to Eminönü or Karaköy for
the ferry to Haydarpaşa.
Suburban commuter trains depart Sirkeci
Station, on the Golden Horn and trundle around Seraglio
Point and continue along the Sea
of Marmara shore stopping at the Yenikapı
Ferry Terminal (for intercity car
and passenger ferries across the Sea
of Marmara) and at Yeşilyurt near Atatürk
International Airport. More...
On the Asian shore of the Bosphorus, suburban
trains depart Haydarpaşa
Station and travel along the
northern shore of the Sea
of Marmara to Gebze, 47 km (29 miles) to the southeast. More...
You'll find two of Istanbul's tram
lines useful (map),
even though they're as different as
can be. Although the nostalgic 19th-century İstiklal
Caddesi tram in Beyoğlu is more fun,
the Kabataş-Bağcılar
tram is the more useful,
and can help you travel between the
heart of the tourist district at Sultanahmet
Square and the Otogar (bus
terminal) and/or Atatürk
Airport. More...
The old-fashioned jeton (token) is the most
common way to pay a fare in Istanbul, though there
are also electronic
tickets and transit passes for Metro, tram, bus, ferry, train and more. More...
Tünel is
Istanbul's two-station
underground train connecting Karaköy (Galata) on the Golden Horn with Tünel Square at the southwestern end of İstiklal
Caddesi. It's convenient and fun. More...
The best way to get around Old
Istanbul's compact medieval core is
on foot. Traffic is sometimes so heavy,
and traffic patterns so circuitous,
that you can often walk somewhere faster
than riding. More...
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