Istanbul Turkey Travel Guide

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Istanbul (Turkish: İstanbul) is Turkey's most populous city as well as its cultural and financial hub. Located on both sides of the Bosphorus, the narrow strait between the Black Sea and the Marmara Sea, Istanbul bridges Asia and Europe both physically and culturally. Istanbul's population is estimated to be between 12 and 19 million people, making it also one of the largest cities in Europe and the world.We are always with your side through Istanbul Turkey Travel Guide . 

Districts

Sultanahmet-Old City  

Essentially the Constantinople of the Roman, Eastern Roman/Byzantine, and much of the Ottoman periods, this is where most of the famous historical sights of Istanbul are located.

Galata 
Housing many of the nightlife venues of the city, this district includes Beyoğlu, Istiklal Street, and Taksim Square also its own share of sights and accommodation.

New City 
Main business district of the city with many modern shopping malls and districts such as Elmadağ, Nişantaşı, and Etiler.

Bosphorus 
European bank of the Bosphorus dotted by numerous palaces, parks, water-front mansions, and bohemian neighbourhoods, such as Beşiktaş and Ortaköy.

Golden Horn 
Banks of Golden Horn, the estuary that separates the European side into distinctive districts. Eyüp, with an Ottoman ambience, is located here.

Princes’ Islands 
An excellent getaway from the city, made up of an archipelago of nine car-free islands—some of them small, some of them big—with splendid wooden mansions, verdant pine gardens and nice views—both of the islands themselves, and also on the way there.

Asian Side 
Eastern half of Istanbul, with lovely neighborhoods at the Marmara and Bosphorus coasts.
Western Suburbs 
Western chunk of the European Side.

History 
Expanding the ancient Roman colony of Byzantium by the order of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, the imperial city of Constantinople was for nearly a thousand years the last remaining outpost of the Roman (later termed Eastern Roman or Byzantine) Empire. It was finally conquered by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II on 29 May 1453, an event sometimes used to mark the end of the Middle Ages. It was the nerve centre for military campaigns that were to enlarge the Ottoman Empire dramatically. By the mid 1500s, Istanbul, with a population of almost half a million, was a major cultural, political, and commercial centre. Ottoman rule continued until it was defeated in WWI and Istanbul was occupied by the allies. When the Republic of Turkey was born in 1923 after the War of Independence, Kemal Atatürk moved its capital to the city of Ankara. However, Istanbul has continued to expand dramatically; today its population is approximately 14 million and increases at an estimated 400,000 immigrants per year. Industry has expanded even as tourism has grown.

Get in

Duty Free area, inside Ataturk Airport

 Ataturk Airport

Most planes arrive at Istanbul Atatürk Airport (IATA: IST), 20km west of the city centre. From the airport, there are various options for getting into Istanbul: you can take a taxi (about TRY60 to Taksim. There is no night fare in Istanbul anymore - the price would be the same at midnight or midday. About the same to Sultanahmet), the express bus service run by the local airport service called "Havataş" [1]which departs half-hourly between 4AM-midnight and costs TRY11 (July 2016) to Taksim and Aksaray, the public bus (line #96T) run by İETT costing TRY5 (TRY3.50 with İstanbulKart), which has fewer departure times now, due to Havatas, which is also a municipality engaged bus service. At the bus stop of your final destination, be wary of taxi drivers that come up to you or are overly friendly. Follow locals to a corner where most of the taxis are picking up customers.
Istanbul doesn't have services with local drivers such as Hailo or Lyft for the time being. However there is a service called Welcome Pickups, that selects and trains the best taxi drivers and connects them with you, to pick you up from the airport, drive you to your destination and give you a meaningful introduction to the city.
Then, there is the metro (06:00-00:05) (signposted "light rail" in the airport, when you get outside the baggage claim it's about a 10 minute walk in the airport to the metro line. Just follow the signs), which will take you directly to the Otogar (bus station) or to numerous stops within Istanbul (Aksaray in the city centre is the last stop, transfer stations for tram heading for deeper into old city is available at Zeytinburnu and Aksaray). It costs TRY3, by token (+an extra TRY4 when boarding the tram) and getting to Aksaray takes around 45 minutes. It is possible to be at your bus departing from Otogar within less than one hour after landing by taking the metro. (Actual travel time on the metro from the Aksaray station to the Airport station was 35 minutes and cost TL 2.15 with the Istanbulkart, January 2016. Obviously allow more time if you need to transfer on the way to the airport and keep in mind that you will have to pay for the transfer.)
When entering the metro station, you need to buy a jeton (token) for TRY4. Just hand the cashier TRY4 and he'll give you a token, or use the automatic dispenser (Jetonmatik), which accepts banknotes (TRY5, TRY10, TRY20) as well as coins. Use 'select' to choose the number of jetons and then push 'ok'. They don't accept credit card or foreign currency here. This will get you on the red metro line (towards Aksaray). From this line, if you are going to Sultanahmet, you can transfer at Zeytinburnu and buy another jeton (TRY4) - see the section on "Istanbulkart" if further travel within Istanbul's metro system will be undertaken. Note that the jeton token here is different than the first one. From Zeytinburnu, take the blue tram line T1, towards Kabataş which passes by: Sultanahmet, Eminönu and Tophane. The trip from the airport to Sultanahmet takes about 45min.
To get from Ataturk to the Asian side of Istanbul, the quickest way is to take a taxi to Bakikoy IDO Iskele (ferry pier), which takes about 10m and costs 20TL, and then take an IDO high-speed catamaran to Kadikoy (20m) or Bostanci (40m) for 7TL. This is much faster and cheaper than a taxi, which could take up to 2 hours if there is a lot of traffic. The boat runs from 7am to 9pm.
Other Notes: Note that people are working on commission at the airport trying to make you use special shuttle buses for very high fees (TRY30+), so for people who wish to travel more economically the Metro/tram-combination is easy and fairly quick, and offers very good value. Travel by metro/tram cost 1 token per trip which is equal to TRY3. No matter how long you travel, it costs 1 token per trip.
Visa: You probably need a visa to enter Turkey, which can usually be obtained online. Check if this applies to you, and apply in advance, at evisa.gov.tr. Do not rely upon any other website, even here at Wikitravel, as the rules may change suddenly as the security situation in Turkey evolves. Also some websites charge extra for no additional service. In general EU Schengen passport holders need no visa to enter, North American and UK residents need a visa costing US$ 20 valid for 90 days, residents of China pay US$ 60 for 30 days, and visa duration and price varies for other nations. Some travelers are not eligible for an evisa and must apply for a conventional visa via their local Turkish Embassy.
Apply at the same time as you book your trip - your 90 (or other) day visa validity will start from your stated arrival day in Turkey. Print it out and keep it with you, as well as a soft copy on your phone. As well as checks when flying, it could be demanded at an internal police check.
In theory you are permitted to arrive at Ataturk airport without a visa and use the visa office or machine to apply there.
Food and drink at the airport may cost up to five times more than in the city proper, like in other international airports. If you are travelling on budget and plan to spend some time at the airport, it may be wise to bring your own meals from town instead of buying them there. If you come from the Metro, there is a supermarket in the tunnel leading to the elevators / stairs to the airport proper where you can do some last-minute shopping.
Sabiha Gökçen Airport[edit]
Istanbul also has a second airport, Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (IATA: SAW), located in the Anatolian side of the city Sabiha Gökçen International Airport.
The cheapest way to arrive from Sabiha Gökçen to the European side of Istanbul is by bus (E10 or E11 lines, from Sabiha Gökçen to Kadiköy) + ferry (from Kadiköy to many ferry stations, including some in the Sultanahmet area). Using Istanbulkart or Akbil (see below), the price is less than TRY7. That's about €2.50 in total. Every other option priced at €10 and above (TRY23 and above-by Feb 2013 rates) makes sense ONLY if you can't use this. Be aware that last ferries are between 10 and 11pm, yet the E10 continues throughout the night.
A pricier option is the Havatas bus connects this airport with Taksim in the city centre for TRY14 (Aug 2014) and takes about an hour and a half (closer to two or more in heavy traffic). There is also a Havatas service to the ferry pier in Kadıköy, a transportation hub of Asian Side, which costs TRY9. If you arrive in the middle of the night, you can move to the departure hall after passing customs and rest on very comfortable seats — you will even find coin-operated Japanese massage chairs. Then, at 05:00 the first Havatas bus will take you to town. The Havatas bus schedule is sometimes linked to the arrival/departure times of planes.
Various private operators offer internet bookable shared minibuses to central locations — a good choice when arriving late. A typical price being €90 for 4 people to a hotel in Laleli. A taxi to Sabiha Gökçen airport from Taksim, which lies around 50km from the airport, takes c. 35 minutes at 03:30 with no traffic. The meter will show c. TRY75, plus there is c. TRY6 in tolls. Note the security screening is before the check-in counters, so add some extra time to make the cut-off times (45 minutes for international, 30 for domestic).
Beware of the company running the "Hotel Information" office in the Sabiha Gökçen airport which offers "shuttle-to-hotel" services from €15 (they pretend to make a discount based on your group size, you can get it as low as €12.50 for 4 people) because their drivers are totally uninformed about any hotel address and they may get lost/the trip may take 2-3 times more than normal because of their lack of knowledge with hotel addresses.

By train

Sirkeci Station in busier times

There are no mainline trains in central Istanbul. Trains to Europe via Bucharest or Sofia historically ran from Sirkeci station, but this line is disrupted by the Marmaray project and by other work in Bulgaria. There are replacement buses from Sirkeci, at the usual departure time of 10 pm, to link with the westbound train, and returning from the incoming train around 8 am (often very late). As the engineering work grinds on this link has variously been at Halkali at the city’s edge, at Cerkezkoy 115 km away, or at Kapikule on the Bulgarian border. The project has been interminably delayed and (as at 2016) no completion is in sight. Sirkeci was also the terminus for international trains to Thessaloniki and regional trains to Edirne and these too are suspended indefinitely (though a daily train runs between Halkali and Edirne). So the station has no trains, but the ticket office remains open. Also just outside is the escalator down to Sirkeci Marmaray station, for the metro across the Bosporus.


Sirkeci Station in busier times
You probably need a visa in advance to enter Turkey by train – see the note on visas in the section on Ataturk airport.
Trains east to Ankara and beyond historically ran from Haydarpasa, Asian side of the Bosporus, but this closed in 2012. High speed trains (“YHT”) now run from Pendik, 25 km east of city centre. The simplest way there is by Marmaray line under the Bosporus then metro to Kartal, then bus 251 or taxi the final 5 km to Pendik station. Allow at least 90 minutes for all this, and note that the first metro of the morning will not get you to Pendik in time for the first Ankara train at 6.30 am. However once Pendik is reached, it has a frequent service to Eskişehir (2 hours) and Ankara (3½ hours), and a twice daily service to Konya (4½ hours). Also Pendik is convenient for Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen airport (10 km, taxi or bus) so consider this route if you intend to fly in and immediately head east. Road transport for Pendik sets down, and picks up to return towards city centre, on the north side of the station. Walk through the subway to south side and turn right for the ticket office, platform access and other station facilities.

Haydarpasa Station has closed
For timings and reservations (strongly recommended) see Turkish railways website at tcdd.gov.tr. For destinations in eastern Turkey, take the YHT to Ankara and change, but see that page for disruptions to those services, expected to last till 2018. For Adana, travel via Konya. The international trains to Iran, Syria and Iraq are suspended indefinitely, but the train to Georgia may resume in 2017.
It is not known when the YHT line might be completed from Pendik into the centre of Istanbul, nor whether there will be a single central terminus or separate European and Asian stations as before. But the Marmaray line was designed to take mainline passenger and freight trains as well as the metro