Turkey Travel Guide - Getting Around

Turkish Airlines (website: www.turkishairlines.com) provides an important network of internal flights from Istanbul, Ankara, Adana, Antalya, Dalaman, Izmir and Trabzon to all of the major Turkish cities. Recent liberalisation of the domestic air industry has allowed the proliferation of cheap, no-frills carriers operating routes from Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir to the main regional airports. Private airlines include Atlas Jet (website: www atlasjet.com), Onur Air (website: www.onurair.com.tr) and SunExpress (website: www.sunexpress.com.tr).

A frequent car ferry crosses the Dardenelles at Gallipoli, from Canakkale to Eceabat and Gelibolu to Lapseki. Istanbul Fast Ferries (tel: (0212) 444 4436; website: www.ido.com.tr) operates frequent seabus services from Bostanci, Kadiköy, Kartal, Yalova and Büyükada Island to Auça, Bakirköy, Karaköy, Yenikapi, Yalova and Bandirma. Deniz Cruise & Ferry Lines (tel: (0212) 444 3369; website: www.denizline.com) serves the Istanbul-Izmir route. Local travel agents can make reservations.

Many trains of the Turkish Railways (TCDD) (tel: (0212) 527 0050 or 520 6575 (reservations); website: www.tcdd.gov.tr) have sleeping cars, couchettes and restaurant cars. Some are air-conditioned. Fares are comparatively low, but are more expensive for express trains. Discounts of 20% are available for students (though a Turkish student card may be required), groups, round-trips and passengers over 60. Children aged seven and under travel free. Tickets can be purchased at TCDD offices at railway stations and TCDD-appointed agents. The journey from Istanbul to Ankara takes five to nine hours, depending on the type of train.

InterRail One-Country Pass: offers travel for three, four, six or eight days in one month within Turkey. Travel is not allowed in the passenger's country of residence. Travellers under 26 years receive a reduction. Children's tickets are reduced by about 50%. Supplements are required for some high-speed services, seat reservations and couchettes. Discounts are offered on Eurostar and some ferry routes. Available from Rail Europe (website: www.raileurope.co.uk/inter-rail).

There is currently huge investment in road building, but road conditions and standards of driving in Turkey can be poor. Serious road accidents are common. All visitors should be extra careful when using Turkey's road network. Traffic drives on the right. In case of an accident, call the traffic police (tel: 154) and do not move your car until they have arrived. The Turkish Touring and Automobile Club (Turkiye Turing ve Otomobil Kurumu) (tel: (0212) 282 8140; website: www.turing.org.tr) provides insurance and advice for foreign drivers.

Coach: Many private companies provide frequent day and night services between all Turkish cities. Services are faster than trains and competition between operators has led to lower fares. Tickets are sold at the bus or coach companies' branch offices either at stations or in town centres. Shop around for the best prices. Coaches depart from the bus stations (otogar) in large towns and from the town centre in small towns. There is generally a service bus (servis) from the centre to the bus station. The best coach operators are Varan (tel: (0212) 551 5000; website: www.varan.com.tr) and Ulusoy (tel: 444 1888, within Turkey only; website: www.ulusoy.com.tr).

Car hire: Both chauffeur-driven and self-drive cars are available in all large towns and resorts. All international companies are represented.

Regulations: The minimum driving age is 18 and front seat belts are compulsory. The speed limit is 120kph (75mph) on dual carriageway, 90kph (56mph) on highways and 50kph (31mph) in built-up areas.

Documentation: An International Driving Permit or photo-ID licence is required for visits of over three months. Green Card International Insurance, endorsed for Turkish territory in both Europe and Asia, and Turkish third-party insurance (obtainable from insurance agencies at frontier posts) are also required. Cars can be brought into Turkey for a maximum of six months in any year. On entering, an entry-exit form is filled out. For longer stays, it is necessary to apply to either the Ministry of Finance and Customs or the Turkish Touring and Automobile Club.

Bus and trolleybus: Extensive conventional bus (and some trolleybus) services operate in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. There are buses in all other large towns. These are generally reliable, modern and easy to use. Tickets are bought in advance from kiosks and dropped into a box by the driver.

Taxi: There are many types of taxi, share-taxi and minibus in operation. Taxis are numerous in all Turkish cities and towns and are recognisable by their chequered black and yellow bands. All taxis have a meter which must be switched on at the start of the journey. For longer journeys, the fare should be agreed beforehand. A dolmus is a collective taxi or minibus which follows specific routes. Each passenger pays according to the distance travelled to specific stops. The fares are fixed by the municipality. The dolmus provides services within large cities to suburbs, airports and often to neighbouring towns. This is a very practical means of transport and much cheaper than a taxi. Taxis may turn into a dolmus and vice versa according to demand.

Ferry: There are extensive cross-Bosphorus and short-hop ferries in Istanbul.

Metro: Ankara has a two-line metro system. Further expansion is planned. Istanbul has a single metro line.

The following chart gives approximate journey times (in hours and minutes) from Ankara to other major cities/towns in Turkey.

	Air	Road	Rail
Istanbul	0.45	6.00	7.00
Izmir	0.50	7.00	10.00
Antalya	1.00	8.00	-
Erzurum	1.15	11.00	18.00