Istanbul Guide

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in front of the Point Hotel near Taksim Meydanı be tween 4am and 1am. There are also services to Kadıköy (₺14). If you’re heading towards the Old City from Taksim, you can take the funicular from Taksim to Kabataş (₺5, or ₺2.60 on an İstanbulkart) followed by the tram from Kabataş to Sultanahmet (₺5, or ₺1.85 on an İstanbulkart). From Kadıköy, ferries travel to Eminönü (₺5, or ₺2.60 on an İstanbulkart). HOTEL SHUTTLE Many hotels offer hotel shuttle services to/from the Note that the M4 metro line from Kadıköy is being extended to Sabiha Gökçen; completion is expected some time in 2021. TAXI Taxis from this airport to the city are expensive. To Beyoğlu you’ll be looking at around ₺165; to Sultanahmet around ₺175. airport. METRO Boat Cruise ships will arrive at the new Galataport dock and terminal in Karaköy when it opens in 2021. They cur rently arrive at a temporary dock near the Fındıklı tram stop.

route to Esenler. From here passengers can take a servis (shuttle bus) to Taksim; the transfer is included in the ticket cost. The only prob lem with this option is that drivers rarely speak English and passengers sometimes have to wait for a servis – it’s probably easier to go to Es enler. Note that no servises go to Sultanahmet. With the new T5 Golden Horn tram recently opened, it is also possible to take a tram from here to Eminönü. The city’s third otogar is in Ataşehir, on the Asian side at the junction of the O-2 and O-4 motorways. From Ataşehir, servises transfer passengers to Asian sub urbs, including Kadıköy and Üsküdar. Train There are two international sleeper train services to/ from İstanbul: the İstanbul– Sofya Ekspresi to Sofia in Bulgaria and the Bosfor Ekspresi to Bucharest in Romania. At the time of writing the İstanbul–Sofya Ekspresi was departing Halkalı sta tion on the European side of the city at 9.40pm daily in high season (approxi mately June to September) and 10.40pm daily in the low season (approximately October to May); the trip from Halkalı takes 10 to 11 hours and ticket prices start

Bus The Esenler Otogarı (Büyük İstanbul Otogarı, Big İstanbul Bus Station; % 0212 658 0505; m Otogar) is the city’s main bus station for both intercity and interna tional routes. Often called simply ‘the Otogar’ (Bus Station), it’s located at Esenler in the municipal ity of Bayrampaşa, about 10km west of Sultanahmet. The metro service between Aksaray and the largely decommissioned Atatürk International Airport stops here (Otogar stop). From the Otogar you can take the metro to Zeytinburnu (₺5) and then easily connect with a tram (₺5) to Sultanahmet or Kabataş/Taksim; both of these trips will be cheaper if you purchase and recharge an İstanbulkart (travel card; ₺10, including ₺4 credit) from the machines at the metro entrance. If you’re going to Beyoğlu, bus 830 leaves from the centre of the Otogar every 15 minutes between 6am and 9.50pm and takes approximately one hour to reach Taksim Meydanı (Taksim Sq). You’ll need an İstanbulkart. A taxi will cost approximately ₺45 to Sultanahmet and ₺50 to Taksim. There’s a second, much smaller, otogar at Alibeyköy, where buses from central Anatolia (including Ankara and Cappadocia) stop en

Transport Arriving in İstanbul

CLIMATE CHANGE & TRAVEL Every form of transport that relies on carbon-based fuel generates CO 2 , the main cause of human-induced climate change. Modern travel is dependent on airplanes, which might use less fuel per kilometer per person than most cars but travel much greater distances. The altitude at which aircraft emit gases (including CO 2 ) and par ticles also contributes to their climate change impact. Many websites offer ‘carbon calculators’ that allow people to estimate the carbon emissions generated by their journey and, for those who wish to do so, to offset the impact of the greenhouse gases emitted with contributions to portfolios of climate-friendly initiatives throughout the world. Lonely Planet offsets the carbon footprint of all staff and author travel.