Haydarpasa Station, Istanbul

Istanbul's Teutonic pseudo-castle railway station on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus is the terminus for trains to and from Asian Turkey, including the all-important Istanbul-Ankara route, as well as trains to Kayseri, Konya, and points east and south.

Haydarpasa Station has ticket sales offices, a rather dull waiting room, shops selling drinks and snacks, Left Luggage/Baggage lockers, and a classic railroad restaurant, the Gar Lokantasi, offering decent traditional Turkish cuisine and drinks at reasonable rates. A three-course dinner with one drink need cost no more than YTL18. A light meal can be had for YTL10.

Clientele in the Gar Lokantasi is a coterie of local regulars rather than travelers, 95% male, chatting over meze and glasses of raki. It's a mellow scene. Women are completely welcome. There's a fair amount of cigarette smoke. The waiters take good care of everybody.

Ferries from Karaköy (Galata), at the northern end of the Galata Bridge, cross the Bosphorus frequently to Haydarpasa and Kadiköy. Most ferries stop at both docks. Any ferry designated Haydarpasa stops right at the station's own ferry dock. If you end up in Kadiköy by mistake, it's only a brief taxi ride or 15-minute walk north to the station.

Suburban trains (banliyö treni) depart Haydarpasa and travel southeast along the Sea of Marmara shore as far as Gebze, not far from Izmit. More...

The neoclassical Haydarpasa Station building, a gift to the Sultan from Kaiser Wilhelm II, was built by the Anatolia-Baghdad Corporation between 1906 and 1908. Its foundation is 1100 wooden piles, each 21 meters (69 feet) long, driven into the mushy shore by steam hammer.

Haydarpasa was an important link in the railway chain of the Kaiser's Berlin-to-Baghdad railway scheme, part of the German Empire's strategic Drang nach Osten ("Drive to the East") during the later 19th century.

If you're a train buff, take the ferry from Europe over to the station in Asia, wander around, then board the next ferry back to Karaköy. The intercontinental voyage will cost less than YTL3.

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A little gift to the sultan and people of Istanbul from Kaiser Wilhelm, who really knew how to do a guy a favor.

Haydarpasa Station Hall, Istanbul, Turkey