REACHING THE CENTRAL FROM THE AIRPORT
There are two airports in Istanbul; Ataturk Airport (European Side) and the Sabiha Gokcen Airport (Asian Side) it sometimes becomes a problem for the visitors to reach their accommodation places. The both airports have very good connections but if you are not careful you can spend too much in order to get the central.
There are two airports in Istanbul; Ataturk Airport (European Side) and the Sabiha Gokcen Airport (Asian Side) it sometimes becomes a problem for the visitors to reach their accommodation places. The both airports have very good connections but if you are not careful you can spend too much in order to get the central.
One of the biggest problem after you land to Istanbul if you look like an amateur tourist you can see some guys are offering you the shuttle service. Those people are mostly legal and under the normal circumstances it costs around 20 euros but just in case it is highly recommended to ask the price if you don’t want to have a surprise at the end of the ride.
Those people can come to you and ask if you need a shuttle and when you say yes and don’t ask for the price and no bargain you can pay around 100 Liras or even more for a service from the airport to the Taksim. (Which is also possible to make between 5-15 liras)
HAVAS SHUTTLE SERVICE FROM THE AIRPORTS
When you go out the airport you can easily see the big buses called as Havas. Those buses work frequently and they can take you to the Taksim for 12 to 15 liras all you have to do is leave your luggage to the host of the bus you can pay the ticket inside. This is the first option I suggest you in order to reach Taksim.
The first bus both from the airport and from the taksim is at 4.00 a.m and the last one is 00.15 a.m for more information you can check their website:
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION BUSES
From the both airports there is public transportation buses, it is recommended for the people who are landing to the Sabiha Gokcen Airport and they will go Kadikoy or somewhere else in the Anatolian Side. The frequency of these buses is rare. Mostly they work hourly but if you are not in a hurry and if you don’t want to spend much for your transportation that can be a good choice for you. The prices for those buses are 2 ticket (3.5 liras -1.5 euros)
METRO FROM THE ATATURK AIRPORT
There is a metro connection in the Ataturk Airport. What can make you confuse is there are 2 metro lines in Istanbul and they are not connected to each other yet. If you want to reach from Airport to the Taksim you need to go until the end of the first metro line and get out of the metro walk 2 streets and take the another one in Aksaray. (This will cost you 3.5 liras)
Or if you stay in Sultanahmet ( Blue Mosque) area, the best is you take the metro and change it to the tram in the Zeytinburnu station and the Tram directly goes to the historic area.
TAXI FROM THE AIRPORTS
Unfortunately the taxi is not a very pleasant experience for many visitors. The cost from the Ataturk Airport to Taksim might cost around 40 liras and from the Sabiha Gokcen airport it might cost around 90 liras.
THE TAXI PROBLEM OF THE CITY
You can have very good taxi ride but I want to warn you for some bad experience:
1. The taxi refuses to take you where you want to go because the distance is not far enough to amount to a large enough fare.
2. The taxi takes you where you want to go, butrefuses to run the meter.
3. The taxi runs the meter and takes you where you want to go by a roundabout route which wastes your time and cost far more than it should.
4. The trip goes okay, but the driver expects a big tip (Turks generally don't tip taxi drivers).
5. The driver drives like a maniac, seeming happily to imperil not only his own life, but that of other drivers, and yours as well.
MORE ABOUT THE TAXIS
Most are powered by clean-burning LNG (liquified natural gas), and all have digital meters which the drivers are required by law to run
If your driver doesn't start the taksimetre, or tries tohaggle at the start of the trip instead of running it, just point to the meter emphatically and say Taksimetre!(TAHK-see-MEHT-treh) It'll probably be cheaper on the meter than if you let him just charge you what he wants at the end of your trip.
As the driver starts the meter it should flash the rate: TL 2.50 to start, and TL1.40 for each kilometer traveled.
The rate is the same day and night. (There used to be separate Gündüz (Day) and Gece (Night) rates. Now there is just one rate.)
The fare for the 15- to 25-minute ride between Sultanahmet and Taksim Square is 13-20 TL.
The fare from Sariyer , on the Northern Europe Shore of the Bosphoros near the Black Sea, to Galata Bridge is about 85 TL.
If you have any problem how you can complain?
Toplu Ulaşım Hizmetleri Müdürlüğü
Beylerbeyi Cad. No:4
Edirnekapı - İSTANBUL
Tel : +90 (212) 453 78 78
Fax : +90 (212) 453 78 77
topluulasim@ibb.gov.tr
topluulasim1@ibb.gov.tr
