The guidebook says that using public transportation from Ataturk Airport to the Old Town (Sultanahmet) is "cheap but complicated." Has anyone made that trip and is it any more complicated than any other big city's public transportation connections from the airport to the city? Compared to Paris for example.
Posted by
Seattle, USA
990 posts
I think it's more challenging than Paris. But it's certainly doable.
At the airport, get some Turkish money from an ATM. You'll need it for the metro and tram. Then follow signs to the Hafif Metro. You'll be in an underground concourse beneath the international terminal. Use your Turkish cash to buy either one or two Metro tokens (called jeton in Turkish). You'll need two to get all the way to Sultanahmet, or one if you buy an akbil later. (Istanbul transit ticketing does not take plastic and you cannot use cash on the actual vehicles.)
Board the Metro at Havalimani station going towards Aksaray. You'll get off at Zeytinburnu--I don't remember how many stops it is, but it's a few at least. Then change from the Metro to the tram system. Use another jeton to board the tram or buy an akbil--a little keyring device you pre-load with money and can use on trams, busses, metro, and ferries. You'll be looking for the tram marked for Eminonu or Kabatas. You will get out at Divan Yolu, on the edge of Sultanahmet. And...you're there. The whole thing takes about an hour and a quarter, as I recall.
Posted by
OP
Atlanta
3250 posts
Thanks so much JER! It does sound a little complicated but we're up for a challenge--especially if it means saving money for a future trip!