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Anit Kabir, Ankara

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Ankara Local time

Travel to Ankara

Flying to Ankara

Flights to Ankara from the UK include a mix of low cost and scheduled airlines, including Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines and Turkish Airlines.

Flight times: 

From London - 4 hours; Istanbul - 45 minutes.

Travel by road

Summary:

In 2006, the road linking Ankara Esenboğa Airport with the Ankara ring road was expanded to ease the flow of traffic – yet congestion remains a major problem. Traffic drives on the right and the legal driving age is 18 years and. Speed limits are 120kph (75mph) on motorways, 90kph (56mph) on main roads and 50kph (31mph) in towns. Visiting drivers should also note that traffic lights are often poorly positioned and can be ignored by other vehicles as a result.

Drivers bringing cars into Turkey must show their registration documents, passport and international driving licence at the place of entry. If arriving from Europe, visitors must have a Green Card and insurance. A valid driving licence, passport, logbook, insurance certificate and vehicle registration must be carried at all times.

The Turkish Touring and Automobile Club (tel: (0212) 282 8140; www.turing.org.tr) provides insurance and advice for foreign drivers.

Emergency breakdown service:

To report an accident, call the Traffic Police (tel: 154). SOS phones are available on the roadsides on motorways.

Routes:

Routes are well signed and connect with the city’s main hotel districts as well as many major cities in Turkey’s Central Anatolia region.

Driving times:

From Istanbul - 6 hours; Izmir - 7 hours; Antalya - 8 hours; Erzurum - 11 hours.

Coaches:

Many private companies provide frequent services between Turkish cities. Services are generally faster than trains. The best coach operators are Varan (tel: (0212) 551 5000; www.varan.com.tr) and Ulusoy (tel: 444 1888, within Turkey only; www.ulusoy.com.tr).

Travel by rail

Services:

Ankara Gar is the capital’s main train station. Services arrive and depart on suburban commuter routes, overnight expresses (from Istanbul and Izmir) and regional routes. Ankara Gar also connects to the Maltepe Ankaray (subway system) – just follow the signs.

Suburban trains (Banliyö Treni), run by Turkish State Railways (TCDD) (www.tcdd.gov.tr), depart from the Sincan district in west Ankara to Kayaş in the city’s eastern tip. This slow service is cheap and therefore extremely crowded with carriages piled high with luggage, people and food wrappers.

Operators:

TCDD is the main rail operator in Turkey. Express trains link most major towns and cities, including Istanbul and Ankara. Some incorporate sleeper services.

By the end of 2010, Turkey’s new 533km (331-mile) high-speed train line will connect Istanbul (Haydarpasa Station) with the capital. The Ankara-Istanbul fast line is likely to be just the first of a series of such high-speed projects in Turkey.

Journey times:

Once the new high-speed train line is operational (by 2011), the Ankara-Istanbul journey time will be reduced from 6 hours 30 minutes to just 3 hours. The journey time from Izmir to Ankara is about 10 hours and from Erzurum is 18 hours.

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