Istanbul - Trains

Turkish State Railways (TCDD) (tel: 444 8233; website: www.tcdd.gov.tr) operates the national railway network, with rolling stock that is often slow and lacking air conditioning, although cheap. There are two stations in Istanbul - Sirkeci Station, Ankara Caddesi, near Eminönü on the European side (tel: (0212) 527 0051), and Haydarpaşa Station, Haydarpaşa Istasyon Caddesi, near Kadiköy on the Asian side (tel: (0216) 336 0475). Both stations are equipped with restaurants, newspaper kiosks and waiting rooms.

Rail services: Trains bound for Sofia, Belgrade, Bucharest and Budapest (with transfers to Munich and Vienna) leave from Sirkeci Station, departing in the evening. Trains for Turkish destinations (Asian side) leave from Haydarpaşa Station. There are express trains between major Turkish cities but cheaper rural routes can be painfully slow and crowded. There are several services to Ankara, some overnight, the quickest being the daytime Başkent Express (journey time - 6 hours 30 minutes). There are also daily trains to Izmir (journey time - 11 hours including ferry crossing to Bandirma), Gaziantep (journey time - 27 hours) and Denizli (journey time - 15 hours).