Looking for anyone wanting to share ride RS Best of Turkey

What an exciting trip Hank! We’d really enjoy having you join us again at our travel group meeting (2nd saturday of every month at 12:00) at Marin Brewing to hear all about it when you get back. Bon Voyage!

You might ask your hotel if they offer free airport transportation.
My tour hotel in Istanbul did, but that was in 2002...
Happy trails. The tour was fabulous!

Hi Hank,
I am arriving about 8 days ahead of you. Enjoy your trip!

I stayed at the Azade Hotel when I was on the RS Turkey Tour in 2016. The hotel provides a shuttle for a very reasonable price ... I believe it was $35 US, comparable to sharing a ride. Email ahead with your travel arrangements and they’ll set it up for you. I used their service and found it was friendly, efficient and reliable. It was a welcome sight to see their driver waiting for me with my name on a sign at the arrivals hall! It’s absolute mayhem on the taxi stand outside at the old Ataturk Airport, so I doubt that the new airport will be all that different :)

By the way, the Azade Hotel is wonderful and welcoming, and the RS Turkey tour will blow your mind! Have a fabulous trip.

Ozone - the new airport is a lot farther away so a quote from 3 years ago from Ataturk airport may not be relevant.

I also land at the new airport. I may be daring and try the HAVAist bus to Sultanahmet, where the hotel lies. From there it looks like I will be able to walk to my hotel. I arrive in Istanbul on Sunday around 6:30pm and will stay at a different hotel the first night. If interested, look online at route #20, to Sultanahmet. The bus is 18TL, about $3.00 US. If you take a taxi, most are advertising online for about $60US now. It's not cheap because there is a strong taxi lobby. Uber was actually run out of Turkey. The new airport is about 31 miles from the hotel. If you do take a bus from the airport, the station is on the 2nd floor on the land side (as are the ATMs). I've been doing a lot of internet searches :-). There are ticketing machines there and allegedly there is a desk with a live body too, but may require Google Translate to communicate. It probably takes about an hour by bus or taxi. See you next week.

I may be daring and try the HAVAist bus to Sultanahmet

That sounds like a great choice (and great value). The buses in Istanbul are nice and modern, you don't need to be courageous to take one. Either way, you'll be stuck in (the same) traffic, so why not take the cheapest option?

Thank you so much for the bus info. I will try it also from the new Istanbul Airport to the Sultanahmet, then walk to my hotel. I am getting there 5 days before the BO Turkey starts, on June 27.

I just returned from Istanbul. Used the new airport three times. The Havas buses are very comfortable buses (like Greyhound buses in the USA). The 18 TL fare to Sultanahmet can be sometimes paid by credit card as you board the bus (but the machine wasn’t working all the time). You can buy an Istanbul Kart (public transit card you load money onto) at a kiosk and pay for the Havas Bus with the card. You cannot pay the bus driver cash. Also, the Havas buses are two floors below the arrivals floor at the airport. They call this level -2.

Hi Hank, it appears that you are on the same tour as me and my wife. We are however arriving a day earlier and we plan to stay a couple of days in Galata to experience the other side of the Golden Horn first before moving over to the Hotel Azade on the Sunday before the start of the tour. We look forward to meeting you. My wife and I have booked a hotel but we have free cancelation rights. We are staying at the Georges Hotel Galata. Does anyone have experience with this hotel or any other hotel on this side of the Golden Triangle? Recommendations are greatly appreciated. Jim and Lori Minnesota

Jim and Lori, looking forward to meeting you. We just chose the Azade so we won't have to move. I was disappointed, though, when I booked, because I told them we were staying a total of 4 days, 2 on our own and 2 with the tour. I asked if we qualified for the free airport shuttle, which is offered for those staying 3 or more days. They told me no, because the tour stay did not " qualify. Oh, well. We may take the bus. Happy Travels, Hank

Thanks for your response Hank. We have been debating whether or not to stay at the Azade Hotel the whole time. Right now we are staying in the New District for a couple of nights just to get a flavor of a different part of the city. We may change our mind. If we do, I will let you know. Our hotel in the New District offers a private transfer but for 79 Euros which seems awfully steep to me. We will probably find a different transfer method.

Just got on the U.S. Gov. travel update. U.S. Dept. of State. Glad we are going to be in western and south Western Turkey, as they don't want people going to the East anywhere near Syria or Iraq. Looks like we are in for an adventure, looking forward to sharing it with you. Hank and Geri Ryan Novato, Ca