How to get to Istanbul from Sabiha Gokcen and Ataturk airports? Let's consider all the inexpensive options for getting to the city center using transfers and give tips to help you plan your trip on your own.
How to get to Istanbul?
First of all, you need to get to two airports, from where we are already with you and we will begin to get to Istanbul on our own. First of all, I advise you to book cheap flights with Aviasales, here you can find very attractive prices for air tickets to Sabiha Gokcen and Ataturk.
- Search for tickets on Aviasales
- Hotel reservations via Booking.com
By the way, when booking air tickets, be sure to check the authenticity, I wrote about how to do this in the article ‘How to check the authenticity of air tickets’. If you book flights using these services, then there is nothing to be afraid of, here everyone works with trusted service providers.
From which airport is it easier to get to Istanbul?
As for the airports, and how is it easier to get from them to Istanbul? Here it should be noted where exactly you need to get. Ataturk Airport is located closer to the European side city, as for the second - Sabiha Gokcen, it is located closer to the asian side and is located very far from the historical part of the city.
When booking air tickets, you should know which airport is the best to arrive at for your onward journey. As for Sabiha Gokcen, earlier it was very difficult to get here, since not all airlines flew here, recently such air carriers as Pegasus, Turkish Airlines and Sun Express.
You may be interested in learning about the areas where it is better to stay in Istanbul ⇒
Where is the best place to stay in Istanbul?
I will step aside a little and propose to consider one more question, about where is the best place to stay in Istanbul and which hotel to choose. I always use only one hotel booking service, RoomGuru.
Many tourists often face such situations that when flying to Istanbul, they have not yet found places to stay, this service will allow you to find places in a matter of minutes, and the site contains a map that will help you choose a hotel in the right place.
What else is worth adding about this booking service, since your flight can arrive at night, then you cannot leave the airport until morning and far from the airport, this service allows you to find a hotel near the airport and not only, allows you to quickly book a place, you can get to the hotel by Taxi.
How to get from Sabiha Gokcen airport?
From here you can go to the city with only two types of transport:
- Minibuses and taxis
- Buses
It should be noted that while you are getting from the airport to Istanbul, not only is it farther from the city center, you will still collect all the traffic jams, so the journey will take a long time. As for the buses, the carrier here is the Havatas company, the buses (white) are right next to the exit.
As for the taxi, the approximate fare will be 50 euros, a taxi here is in line for each tourist before leaving the airport, so there are no problems with travel, as for buses, we go further.
All buses are clean and very comfortable, what I want to note is that the Turks know how to keep track of the buses, when I was not allowed on the bus guys without T-shirts, as a bare back can stain the fabric of the seats. Buses run in two directions:
- Before Taksim
- To Kadiköy
As for tickets for the Havatas buses, there is a separate kiosk at the exit from the airport, where tickets are sold. Here you can also buy a public bus ticket, or rather not a ticket, but an Istanbul card (plastic card).
How to get to Taksim from Sabiha Gokcen?
Buses run here every half hour, so you can safely not worry, wait a little and they will definitely take you there. The buses are open from 4 am to 12 am. A bus ticket to Taksim will cost you 15 liras, the journey time will be about 1 hour and 40 minutes.
Having reached the old part of the city, we change to the Hawatas funicular, take it down to the Kabatas station and take a tram or get to the city center by metro.
How to get to Kadikoy from Sabiha Gokcen airport?
The second way to get to Istanbul from Sabiha Gokcen Airport is to travel to the ferry crossing by the same bus from Hawatas to Kadikoy or by an ordinary city bus (yellow buses). The journey time is 50 minutes, the fare is 10 liras. Here you arrive at the ferry crossing, get off the bus and go to the ferry.
Here you need to take a ferry to Eminonu, cross the bay, then after the ferry you will need to cross the road to the Eminonu tram stop (the stop is called that). Now you need to decide where you get off, for example, Sultanhamed will be in three stops, if you need to go further to Laleli, Aksaray and others, then each carriage has a map with stops, here you will definitely not get lost.
How to get from Sabiha Gokcen to Ataturk?
Very often this question pops up when flying between cities, for example, you flew from Russia to the Sabiha Gokcen air port, but your next flight is at Ataturk airport, then you have to think about how to get from one place to another and in what ways.
The easiest and most expensive way is to catch a taxi, or rather, you don't need to catch them here, so there are plenty of them when you get out. The second way is to take a bus from the Hawtash company, or rather, we take a bus to Taksim, and here we take the same bus to the port of Ataturk.
There are other ways, but it is unlikely that you will travel around the city on the metro, trams and ferry crossings to get to the desired place, the options that I described above are the most worthy.
How to get to Istanbul from Ataturk Airport?
As I said, the Ataturk air port is located closer to the city center, in the European part, this is where most of the international flights arrive. The distance to the city center is 25 kilometers or 35 minutes at an average travel speed.
How to get there?
Everything is much simpler here than with the first option, the entire infrastructure is much better developed here, you can get from here in several ways:
- Atobus
- Underground
- Taxi
- Rent a car
The bus runs absolutely the same as in the first version, the fare will be 12 liras, the trip time is about 30-40 minutes to Taksim. A taxi ride will cost you 30 euros, just do not forget that a taxi here has two types of traffic: night and day. At night it is almost twice as expensive to take a taxi.
You can rent a taxi, either through the Kiwi Taxi online car booking service, or go to the car rental desk right at the airport. If you are late, then it is best to use the metro, because there are more chances to get to the right place and not stand all day in Istanbul's traffic jams. Now let's take a closer look at the way to get to the city by metro from Ataturk Airport.
How to get by metro from Ataturk port?
It is much easier to get to the metro than in any other way, we go down into the metro and look for a red line on the map (it is pasted at each station), it is designated as ‘M1A’.
We look at the map below and begin to draw up a route to the point that you need, here I will not advise you anything, by the way, to enlarge the map, you need to click on it. As for the sights of Istanbul, such as Sultanhamet or Galata Bridge, we take the metro and go to the Zeytinburnu station, then we get off and take the T1 tram, after a few stops you will be on the spot.
Be sure to visit the best sights of the city, in a separate review we have compiled a rating of the most interesting places in Istanbul for tourists.
