The Transportation in Istanbul city is considered one of the most important tourist information that a tourist needs to know before traveling to Turkey. Istanbul is a very big city and there are multiple means of transportation that a person has to use to reach the destination he wants to visit. In this article, I am going to write about how to search and select the appropriate transportation from/to the Airports, whereas the next coming articles, I will write a little about how to buy and use the public transportation card, and how to use Google Maps to find the easiest and fastest ways to get to the place you want to visit in Istanbul.
Airport Transportation options
The moment a traveler arrives at Istanbul Airport, whether it is Istanbul International Airport or Sabiha Airport, he has several options to reach his accommodations:
– First Option: to pre-book a car or a hotel shuttle through his hotel in order pick up him to his accommodation. For me, This is not a recommended, because it is somehow expensive, the reservation can reach 50 Euro or more.
– Second Option: to book through the Booking.com website as there is an option on the Website dedicated to booking an Airport taxi from the Airport to your accommodations. The prices vary based on number of guests and bags. However, the Airport Taxi prices range between £ 23-50 with a free cancellation option. When the guest completes his booking, He would receive an email about his Airport taxi booking details and the meeting point at the Airport with the name of the name of the taxi company name. I used this option when I brought my parents to Istanbul and I found it very good option with reasonable prices.
– Third Option: to take a taxi directly from the Airport. This option is somehow expensive, because the distance between Istanbul International Airport and the city is far away, It may take one or two hours depend on the traffic. Also, most of taxi drivers in Istanbul do not use the taxi meters when they pick up tourists.
– Fourth Option: It is the cheapest option. As the traveler can use official Airport shuttle which is called Havaist. You could find the Havaist buses in Istanbul International Airport & Sabiha Airport. These buses cover 50 destinations in Istanbul. If you arrive to Istanbul Airport, try to follow the signs that show a bus drawing after you reach the arrivals door, follow the signs till you reach an elevator and press on -2 floor. Then, you will find a large bus station, and each bus has its own number that assigned to a specific station in Istanbul.
A representative of Havaist company will great you and ask you about your destination, you could show him the accommodation address and he will inform you the name of the nearest station to your accommodation and bus number. Then, he will ask you to go and buy the bus ticket. Please make sure to keep 100 -200 Turkish Liras in your pocket as they only to buy the bus tickets is through cash payment and it must be in Turkish currency. However, The Havaist prices usually range between 25 to 50 Liras per person. In case you arrive to Sabiha Airport, you could ask about Havaist buses outside the Airport. If you intend to go to the European part of Istanbul, there is a bus that can pick you up to Taksim square station and then you could take a taxi to your hotel.
On the other hand, when you finish your trip and you want to go to the Airport, same options are applied. However, you have to visit the main bus station in your area and check the Havaist Time schedules. If you find the times are not suitable with your flight departure time , then You could use any of the three previous options
One more final advice. Istanbul is a very crowded city and the distance between the city and the Airport is very long. So, it is recommended to leave your hotel at least 3 hours before your flight departure.