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You can travel from Istanbul's Atatürk
Airport to Sultanahmet,
the center of historic Istanbul (and
the best hotel area) completely by Metro & tram in
about one
hour for less than TL3.
You arrive in the International
Arrivals terminal, purchase
your visa,
pass through Immigration (passport)
and Customs control. Exit the secure
Customs area, turn right and walk
to the end of the terminal watching
for signs to the Hafif
Metro ("Light Rail System").
Stop along the way to get some Turkish
Liras from currency
exchange offices or cash
machines (ATMs) in the Arrivals
hall. No matter how you plan to travel
into the city, you will need some
local currency.
A guy will come up to you
as you walk and
try to get you to take a shuttle
van into the city. (It
happens to me every time.) I tell him Istemez! (eess-teh-MEHZ,
"It's not wanted"). The problem
with a shuttle van is that it circulates
through the city going to lots of hotels.
If yours is the last one, you ride
around a lot. There are other
dangers as well. More...
Go
down the escalator, through the sliding
glass doors, turn right and follow
the Hafif
Metro/Light rail system signs
along the broad underground concourse
to the Havalimani (Airport)
Metro station
on the left at the end. This concourse
beneath the parking
garage connects the Domestic and International terminals.
Buy one or two Metro tokens (jeton) at
the booth—the price is marked
on a paper sign in the window, and
should be less than TL2
each. I have not heard that you can
buy an Istanbulkart
transit pass at the airport,
so you'll have to buy it when
you change from the Metro to the
tram at Zeytinburnu, or farther along
in the city center.
If you don't
plan to use an Istanbulkart,
you'll need two
tokens to travel from Atatürk
Airport to Sultanahmet, Eminönü or Kabatas,
three to reach Taksim
Square.
Click
here to download
a map of the system (363Kb
.pdf).
Beware of pickpockets! I've
only had my pocket picked once in 40
years on any Istanbul public transport,
and I actually got my wallet back with
contents intact; but
I felt nothing when
he stole it. Read and believe: if
it is in your pocket and if your hand
is not on it, it can be stolen and
you will feel nothing.
En garde!
Pass through the turnstile, descend
the escalator (or elevator) and board
a Metro train
for Aksaray (map).
The Havalimani (Airport) station is
the end of this Metro line, so you
can board any train—they all go to
Aksaray. You can't get the wrong
train.
Get out at Zeytinburnu,
the 6th stop.
Exit the Metro train and purchase
an Istanbulkart
transit pass,
or use another token to enter the tram turnstiles
on the same platform. Look for trams
marked Eminönü or Kabatas (not Bagcilar).
(Eminönü and Kabatas
are stations on the same line: Eminönü is
part way along to the tram terminus
at Kabatas.)
Board the tram to Eminönü and/or Kabatas.
Because Zeytinburnu is the western
terminus of the tram line, you have
a good chance of finding an empty seat.
(If the tram is already crowded and
your luggage is bulky, you may want
to wait for the next tram so that you
can get a seat. Having a seat is also
a good way to reduce the danger from
pickpockets who are most active on
the crowded trams between Aksaray and
Eminönü.)
Ride the tram eastbound to Sultanahmet,
the 16th stop (the recorded station-stop
announcement says sool-TAHN-ah-meht,
and also BLOO
mosk in English!) and get
out. You'll be on Divan
Yolu at the northeastern end of
the Hippodrome with
the Blue
Mosque clearly in view.
See TTP's Sultanahmet
Street Guide for street-by-street
guidance.
If you're bound for Sirkeci
hotels,
the Golden
Horn, ferry
docks, or the terminus for European trains at Sirkeci,
stay on the tram to the Gülhane, Sirkeci or Eminönü stop.
If the particular tram you're on
is marked Kabatas, it
will continue beyond Eminönü,
cross the Galata
Bridge over the Golden
Horn to Karaköy (Galata),
and go as far as Kabatas,
where there is another ferry
dock and a funicular to Taksim
Square. (You'll need a third
token for the funicular.
If you're using an Itanbulkart you'll
pay only a reduced-price transfer
fare.)
The Zeytinburnu-Kabatas
tram line will soon
continue northward past Dolmabahçe
Palace and Inönü Stadium
to Besiktas.
From Sultanahmet to Atatürk
Airport:
Buy two tokens (jeton) at
the Jeton booth
in Sultanahmet at
the at the northeastern end of
the Hippodrome.
or use your Istanbulkart.
(The Jeton booth
is on the Hippodrome side of Divan
Yolu.) Get
in a Zeytinburnu tram
going west (uphill) on Divan
Yolu and ride it to
the end of the line (Zeytinburnu).
Leave the tram, follow the Metro signs,
enter the Metro station,
climb the stairs and descend on the
other side of the tracks so as to be
on the outbound/westbound track and
board a train going to Havalimani (airport).
Ride it to the last stop, and you'll
be directly beneath the airport
parking garage, on the concourse between the
Domestic and International
terminals.
More expensive, but faster and more
comfortable, alternatives
to the Metro-and-tram trip are to go
by taxi,
reserved
taxi, private
transfer (good value!),
or shuttle van. More...
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