Lonely Planet İstanbul Guide

have to wait for a servis – it’s probably easier to go to Esenler. 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 suburbs, 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 station on the European side of the city at 9.40pm daily in high season (approximately 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 at €27.90. The Marmaray (direction Gebze, every 15 minutes) links Sirkeci Station and Halkalı. Passengers can change in Sofia for Belgrade in Serbia. The Bosfor Ekspresi operates in high season (June to October) only; its carriages are attached to the İstanbul–Sofya Ekspresi until it crosses the Bulgarian border, where the Bosfor Ekspresi branches off at Dimitrovgrad, heading north to Bucharest. The journey from Halkalı to Bucharest takes 21 to 22 hours and ticket prices start at €31.40. Note that services, timetables and ticket costs change regularly. Travellers wanting to make their way to Iran can take the high-speed train to Ankara and then connect with the weekly Trans-Asya service to Tabriz and Tehran; the trip from Ankara takes 2½ days. A fast-train service operates up to eight times daily between Ankara and İstanbul. This takes approximately 4½ hours and ticket prices start at ₺ 71. The most convenient place to board the train is at Söğütlüçeşme station in Kadıköy, which is easily accessed from Sirkeci Station via the Marmaray (direction Gebze, every 15 minutes). Car & Motorcycle Sensible locals never drive into or within the city due to the horrendous traffic conditions, and we recommend you follow their lead.