Turkey is a fairly large country that stretches from the Aegean Sea to the Caucasus Mountains. But it is quite convenient to get around thanks to a variety of transport – regular buses, planes, and trains will take you anywhere in Turkey if you don’t want to rent a car.
Turkey has good highways connecting diverse landscapes from the sea coast to mountain peaks. The larger cities have subways and trams, while even the smallest villages are usually served by at least one daily dolmush (minibus) or minibus.
Here’s a quick guide to the best ways to get around in Turkey.
Airplane
Almost 50 cities in Turkey have operating domestic or international airports. Although the smallest ones may have only one daily flight, usually connecting to one of Istanbul ‘s two airports or to the capital Ankara. Domestic tickets are generally cheap, provided you don’t plan to travel during one of the major Turkish holidays. And you can fly from one end of the country to the other in less than two hours.
| Date. | Name of the holiday |
|---|---|
| August 30 | Victory Day – Zafer Bayramı |
| October 29 | Republic Day – Cumhuriyet Bayramı |
| The end of the Muslim month of Ramadan | Ramazan Bayram – Ramazan Bayramı |
| 10th day of the month of Zulhiju | Eid al-Adha – Kurban Bayramı |
The main airlines flying within Turkey:
Turkish Airlines – direct flights from major airports in Europe, the US, Asia, and Australia to Istanbul (Istanbul Halawany Airport). Then – to any airport in Turkey, including those on the coast. The economy fare includes hand luggage and 23 kg of luggage.
Pegasus – This low-cost airline has a large selection of direct flights. Not only can you fly from Europe to Istanbul (Sabiha Airport), but there are also direct flights to Ankara and to the coast in Bodrum and Dalaman. The price of the cheapest ticket includes only hand luggage. They were the ones we used to fly from Istanbul to Kayseri when we were traveling to Cappadocia.
AnadoluJet is a Turkish low-cost airline, a subsidiary of Turkish Airlines.
Transfers from airports to the nearest cities are provided by the Havaş transportation company. It offers comfortable bus transfers to the nearest cities and towns from 19 airports. Other locations are served by local buses and minibuses, as well as taxis.
Antalya and Izmir also have rail trains connecting the city to the airport.
Bus and dolmush
At any hour of the day or night, buses of all sizes and standards run across Turkey. There are bus stations in big and small cities, and they are very nice: with 24-hour waiting rooms, and some of them can be called small shopping centers. Most intercity buses stop there every few hours so that passengers can smoke, eat, pray, go to the toilet, and buy local food and souvenirs.
Major bus companies such as Kamil Koç, Pamukkale, and Varan operate buses between major cities with reclining seats, snack services, and sometimes even seatback entertainment systems and Wi-Fi. Traveling can take a long time, and ticket prices are not always competitive with airline fares. But the locals love this way of traveling.
Tip: it is convenient to search for and buy bus tickets using an aggregator Omio. Here you can immediately access the schedules of all bus companies in Turkey.
To get to smaller towns and villages, you will probably have to change to a dolmuş or minibus at the nearest otogar (bus station). A dolmuş is most often a minibus, sometimes a van or sedan, that only leaves once it is full of passengers (dolmuş means “full” in Turkish). The wait can be long in areas with few people.
Dolmushes run along a set route, but passengers must tell the driver where they want to get off. Vehicles usually have signs in the window indicating the destination, and in busy cities you may see an advertiser giving the routes of the next departing dolmuş. In many places, dolmuş routes are turning into fixed-route taxis with regular departures and set stops.
Tip: Note that if the bus stations are located on the outskirts of the city, large companies usually offer a minibus or shuttle bus (service ) from the city center, which is included in the ticket price.
Car
An extensive and mostly well-maintained highway system, a large number of picturesque small villages and interesting sights make road trips in Turkey the most interesting way to get around. Renting a car with insurance from a large international company such as Avis, Budget, or Enterprise usually costs between $30 and $70 per day. As a rule, cars with both manual and automatic transmissions are available. For traveling to remote, off-road locations, such as the Black Sea mountainous region, we strongly recommend renting an all-wheel drive vehicle.
We were looking for a car through Rentalcars.com – here you can find a budget option, read reviews about rental companies.
Drivers in Turkey can be aggressive and not always follow the rules of the road. This happens most often in big cities, but we have not encountered it on the highways. Parking and traffic in Istanbul are often terrible, so it may be worth paying a higher rate for a rental at the airport and starting your trip from there rather than the city center.
Tip: a car, especially if you rent it in Istanbul, should be equipped with an electronic device for registering tolls on highways and bridges. The cost of traveling on toll roads will be added to your total bill after you return the car. However, if you rent a car in the eastern and southern part of the country (for example, Antalya), this device may not be available there, as there are no toll roads in this part of the country.
I advise you to read it: Route by car along the Lycian coast
Trains in Turkey
In Turkey, train travel is usually limited by the number of railroad tracks. Although new ones are added every year.
One of the main routes is a busy high-speed line connecting Istanbul, Eskisehir, and Ankara. Don’t forget to buy tickets for this route in advance. Also on the popular night train Doğu Ekspresi (Orient Express), which is more of a luxury leisurely trip, very beautiful to make a good Instagram portfolio. This train runs between Ankara and the border town of Kars. All trains are operated by Turkish State Railways including local trains around Izmir and to Konya and Adana.
A trip on the Lake Van Express train, which runs from Ankara to the eastern border of Turkey to the city of Tatvan, near which the Nemrut ski resort is located, can be very interesting. This is a train that goes through half the country, passing through the following cities: Ankara (the capital of Turkey) – Kayseri (Cappadocia) – Sivas – Malatya – Elazig – Tatvan (Lake Van on the border with Armenia).
On one side of Tatwan lies the second largest lake in the world, Crater Lake, and on the other is the beautiful Lake Van. From Tatwan on the western shore of Lake Van (25 km northeast of Bitlis), you can take a passenger or rail ferry to Van that runs across the entire lake.
Ferries and boats
Despite the fact that Turkey is washed by four seas, it does not have many options for traveling by boat. Ferries from Istanbul run across the Sea of Marmara to Yalova (where the Thermal Hot Springs are located) and Mudanya (near Bursa). There is also a ferry between Bodrum and Datce, two popular vacation destinations on the southwestern coast of the country.
Taxi
Taxis are available almost everywhere in Turkey, from big cities to small towns. In Istanbul, city taxis have a bad reputation for trying to cheat tourists. Use the local app BiTaksi (which is also available in Ankara) or Uber (which only offers rides in standard yellow and turquoise taxis due to protests by regular taxi drivers). In other places, such problems are much less common.
Public transport in Turkish cities
All major cities in Turkey, including Istanbul, Izmir, Ankara, and Bursa, have their own subway systems. Or light rail – in Antalya, Konya and Gaziantep. The Istanbul metro, by the way, is one of the oldest in the world. At the same time, it is very modern, and there is even a branch leading to Istanbul Airport.
Smaller towns are usually well served by buses, dolmus or minibuses. But the lack of route maps and signage can make it difficult for tourists to get around. The smallest towns and villages may have only infrequent taxis.
Useful articles and links:
- Cappadocia – how to fly in a hot air balloon
- Cappadocia in winter
- Kas – the most romantic and cozy city in Turkey
- Istanbul in transit – 4 routes around the city for several hours
Car rental – cheap car rental options at Rentalcars.com
Booking of hotels and apartments – Booking.com
