Istanbul is a big, crowded and busy city with lots to see. When I there in August, I always had to figure out the best way to get from one point to another (and there were a lot of choices). Istanbul has made big improvements in public transportation since the last time I was there in 2005 which made it easy to get around this time around.

Istanbul Kart

First and foremost, I recommend purchasing an Istanbul Kart to save you money on public transportation. The Istanbul Kart is a card that discounts your fare and now on many of the transportation methods including on ferries, metro and buses, you can only pay electronically which means that you have to use one of the approved passes, not a credit or debit card.

If you don’t have one, you are going to have to ask people on the bus if they have enough money preloaded onto their card and if a nice and willing person does, they can swipe their card for you and can pay them the fare amount.

The Istanbul Kart is only 6 TL plus whatever amount you wish to load onto the card. When you use the card you get a 10% discount off the normal fare. The way it works is that you pre-load it at one of the OMS reloading machines which can be found around the city at metro stations or you can load it at various newspaper stands. You only need to buy one card even if your traveling with a few people (up to 5 passengers), just as long as you load it with enough TL for everyone’s ride and make sure to swipe it as each person goes through the turnstile.

Metro + Funicular

The Metro and Funicular in Istanbul are clean, modern and efficient. Each ride on the metro is 1.50 TL with an option to ride on 2 metro lines, 5 tram lines and 2 funiculars. Using the metro you can get to most popular areas within the city, including Topkapisaray, Taksim, and the Ataturk Int Airport. Even if the metro doesn’t stop exactly where you need it to, you’re likely to be dropped off within a short walking distance. The funicular is particularly convenient to get to Kabatas because walking would involve a painfully steep climb up the hill.

Here are the different train lines:

The Aksaray-Airport (Havalimanı) Metro Line (M1)
The Şişhane-Atatürk Oto Sanayii Metro Line (M2)
The Zeytinburnu-Kabataş Tram Line (T1)
The Taksim-Kabataş Funicular (F1)

Link: Plan your route here (in English)

Dolmus

Dolmuses are private minibuses that wait until all the seats are filled up before taking off. While the driver does have designated stops, if you want to get off somewhere else along the route, they can drop you off there too. Especially if you don’t know the area or what the stop looks like, tell the driver ahead of time where you would like to be dropped off, because if no one says anything the driver will continue driving to the next stop. On a dolmus you cannot use the Istanbul Kart and drivers prefer exact change, so be sure to carry small bills and coins. A dolmus ride can be anywhere from 3TL to 5TL, but make sure to ask the driver to clarify the cost.

 

Ferry (Vapur)

I love taking the ferry (or vapur in Turkish) because it is one of the best ways to see the city. In Istanbul, the ferry is a very common mode of transportation and depending on where you are going can be the quickest way across the city. Ferries in Istanbul cost between 1.5TL and 5 TL depending on the distance. You purchase a cup of tea or coffee and sip it with a beautiful view of the cityscape from the sea!

Most ferry lines take off from Eminonu, which is walking distance to Topkapi Saray. Another popular ferry route in the summer is to the Prince Islands, the most popular being Kinaliada, Buyukada and Burgazada. I spent a majority of my summer in 2005 on Kinaliada, I highly recommend the trip.

Link: Ferry Time Table for all Ferry Rides in Istanbul ( in English)

 

Airport

The easiest, cheapest and quickest way to get to and from either Ataturk Airport or Sabiha Gokcen Airport in Istanbul is by the Havas airport bus. According to their website, Havas has suspended their services from Istanbul to the airport in 2012, but I think they just haven’t updated their site because I used Havas (twice) in Taksim near the Holiday Inn in August 2013. The Havas buses first departs at 4 a.m. and leaves every hour after that, but there are usually 5 or 6 buses there so there is a constant flow of buses coming and going. It costs 13 TL per person and you load whatever suitcase you have into the bottom compartment. Make sure to get on the right bus! The Havas waiting area is in Taksim near the metro station making it convenient to get to the Havas, but it’s also easy to get to wherever you want to go if you have arrived with the Havas from the airport.

Taxis are also widely available in Istanbul, but there are so many other options that are cheaper than taking a cab, I’d recommend taking the other options instead.

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