Tell Me About Turkey

Even it is better to fly to Istanbul, if you around Greece or Bulgaria, you can try buses or even train. Actually, if you would like to try the way Agatha Christie to Istanbul on the way she wrote one of her famous books.

Pls visit how to come session.

How to come

By Plane:

There are two airports in Istanbul : Ataturk Airport in European Side and Sabiha Gokcen in the Asian Side.

Ataturk Airport is around 40 km away from Taksim and Sabiha Gokcen is approximately 45 km away from Kadikoy.

In case you will book your hotel in the European Side of Istanbul, you would better come to Ataturk Airport. Please remember that Old citywith all the historical places such as Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque; Taksim with night life and shopping and some others are located in European Side.

In the Asian side, there are mostly residential places and there are not many touristic hotels.  However, for some reason, you will be staying in the Asian side, it would be good if you would fly to Sabiha Gökçen Airport.

Turkey’s national airlines is Turkish Airlines. You can find flights to both of the airports. It is possible to find cheaper tickets to Sabiha Gokcen compare to Ataturk Airport. However, the flying schedule is better for Ataturk Airports.

Please check www.thy.com for details. You can reserve your ticket or you can buy online. After buying your tickets, it is also make online check in as well.

Pegasus Airlines is another airlines you can use to fly to Istanbul. Pegasus planes are landing to Sabiha Gokcen Airport. Moreover, with some promotions they can offer good prices. It is always good to follow the promotions. Please check www.flypgs.com

Atlas Jet is another airline but they have only national flights. Please visit www.atlasjet.com

On the other hand, you should check your countries’ airlines. However, remember Turkish Airlines has the best kitchen within the airlines all over the world.

By Train;

European train station is in Sirkeci. It is pretty close to the old city.

European trains are coming from Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and other cities from those connections.

You can visit http://www.tcdd.gov.tr/tcdding/index.htm for details.

How to get Airports in Istanbul;

To and From Ataturk Airport (European Side);

By metro: You can take metro from Aksaray and get directly inside of the Airport. It will take around 45 min as you will get the metro from the first station and will go to till the last station.

You can get your ticket in the metro station.

By bus; You can take the bus from the Taksim square. Bus number is 96 T. You can check the schedule from  http://harita.iett.gov.tr/# . Almost each 40 mins there is a bus from Ataturk Airport to Taksim and vice versa. Under normal traffic conditions it takes around 1,5 hours. However, if it is going to be in the rush hour, or if there is an accident then it may take 3 hours. So it is always better the check the traffic for your plans.

You can get your ticket inside of the bus from the driver. Or you can buy it from the ticket office near to the bus stations in Taksim Square. But it is not possible to find a ticket office in the airport.

Havas : Private bus company who give services for airport transportation. It is three times more costly then public buses. However, it is more comfortable then the regular ones. You can guy your tickets inside of the bus.

These buses also come to Taksim square and their station is near the Pizza Hut. They don’t have a big office but if you walk to Pizza Hut, you will see the buses waiting there.

By taxi : You can only get the Airport taxis from here. It costs 60 TL to Taksim in case there is no traffic.

Driver would like you to take the highway, but it costs more so ask him to use the E-5 road. But if there is a traffic in E-5, then it would take a long time for you to come to Taksim. Sultanahmet is a bit near to Airport compare to Taksim.

Rent a Car: It is possible to find AVIS in this airport. Pls visitwww.avis.com for the details.

If you will be staying in city hotel, pls remember that parking lot will be a problem for you.

To and From Sabiha Gokcen Airport (Asian Side);

By bus: As public transportation, this is the only option. That’s why there are 4 different bus lines to Sabiha Gökçen Airport. You can get E-3 to go to European Side (Levent Area) or you can get E-10 to go to the center of Asian Side – Kadıkoy.

It takes more than 2,5  hours from Airport to Kadıköy and it takes more than 3 hours to Levent. You can get metro from Levent to Taksim.

You can find ticket offices in Levent and Kadıkoy. But you can not find the ticket office in the airport. But in any case, it is possible to buy the tickets inside the bus from the driver.

Please visit http://harita.iett.gov.tr/en/# for details.

Havas : Private bus company who give services for airport transportation. It is three times more costly then public buses. However, it is more comfortable then the regular ones. You can guy your tickets inside of the bus.

These buses also come to Taksim square and their station is near the Pizza Hut. They don’t have a big office but if you walk to Pizza Hut, you will see the buses waiting there.

By taxi : You can only get the Airport taxis from here. It costs 60 TL to Kadıkoy in case there is no traffic.

Best way to use the high way in this airport.

Rent a Car: It is possible to find AVIS in this airport. Pls visitwww.avis.com for the details.

If you will be staying in city hotel, pls remember that parking lot will be a problem for you.