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City transport
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The
public transport system
is improving, with a new line connecting Taksim and the northern suburbs and work under way to extend the single-line
metro
out as far as the airport. Single-journey metro tickets cost $0.40 from a counter (
gise
) at station entrances. There are two kinds of
buses
serving the same routes, both of which come in a confusing array of colours. The first is a private service, Halk Otobus, for which you pay the conductor on entry ($0.40). More common are the municipality buses (marked IETT), for which you have to buy tickets ($0.40) in advance from bus stations, newspaper kiosks or fast-food booths, or at a small mark-up from touts; some longer routes, usually served by double-deckers, require two advance tickets (look for the sign
iki bilet geA§erlidir
). Tickets should be deposited next to the driver on boarding. There are route maps at main bus stops. The European side has two
tram
lines, one running from EminAśnA? through Sultanahmet to Topkapi and outlying suburbs, the other running along IstiklA?l Caddesi from Beyoglu to Taksim using antique trams; buy tickets ($0.40) from a booth before you enter the platform. There's also a
municipal train
network, consisting of two lines running along the Marmara shore - west from Sirkeci station on the European side, and east from Haydarpasa on the Asian. Journeys cost the same as for buses; on the European side you buy a token to let you through the turnstile onto the platform, while on the Asian side you buy a ticket. There are also
dolmuses
or shared taxis (usually specially designed minibuses). They have their point of departure and destination displayed somewhere about the windscreen, and you can get on and off wherever you want en route: flag them down as you would a taxi.
Ferries
run between EminAśnA? and KarakAśy on the European side, and A?skA?dar, KadikAśy and Haydarpasa in Asia; dockside kiosks sell a small
jeton
($1) for the journey. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Turkey,
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