Istanbul Airport

Hi Karen, the best way to get from Istanbul airport to the city center is by metro. For 25 Turkish Lira you can go to Gayrettepe metro station. On average it will take the same time as a taxi. Of course the location of the hotel is also important but personally I would use the metro in both options and then take a taxi to pay less for the taxi.

As noted you can take the metro but if your hotel is located in Sultanahmet area, it isn't very convenient and will require multiple changes. If you're jet lagged this is not super fun. I used Welcome Pickups shuttle for a private door-to-door transfer. It takes an hour (or more) to get from the airport to city center - traffic is horrible. If you're on a metered taxi this could add up.

There are many posts in this forum about airport transfers - have a look through and see if there are other options that might work for you (e.g., there are shuttle buses as well).

There are also express buses from the airport to a few locations in or near the center of the city. If one of those locations happens to be convenient to your hotel, it's a simple solution; those buses take credit cards, which relieves you of the need to immediately try to find an ATM that doesn't charge an exorbitant fee. Give us the name and address of your hotel and someone here may be able to provide more specific advice.

I used Welcome pickups because I wasn't sure how jet-laggged I would be. $45 and great service. My other alternative was the 16 coach which would have stopped across the street from my Taksim Square Hotel and been quite a bit cheater. If you are traveling with another person, I think Welcome Pickups is a no brainer.