If you have decided to visit Istanbul for your next holiday you’ve probably started to wonder what are the best transportation options in Istanbul, should you rent a car with a driver? or just join a package and avoid all those questions ? Well don’t make any decision before you read this.

Istanbul token and Akbil vending machine

As a matter of fact Istanbul has renovated itself in terms of public transportation especially in last 3 years as most of the crowded metropolitan all over the world. Therefore you can easily use the public transportation in Istanbul to reach out to the most of the popular must-visit or popular destinations within the city itself. There are city buses, underground metro, light rail systems, cable cars, ferries tripping between Asian and European States of Istanbul, airport shuttles to downtown and many more at real reasonable prices with ease and convenience of usage even for someone who can’t speak Turkish Language at all.

 

We will start off with the tram(T1 as they name it) and railway usage in Istanbul. If you are going to stay in Turkey more than one day or two, we recommend you to obtain an Istanbul Card (formerly was called Akbil and changed to Istanbul Card). This will reduce the cost down to 60% or even 50% off. You will pay 3 T.L (1.5 USD currently) for a single journey regardless of your destination as long as you use the same vehicle. However obtaining and Istanbul card you will only be charged for 1.95 T.L (1 USD) and the best part is when you need to transfer from one vehicle to another (from tram to ferry, or to bus) you will only be charged for 1 TL (50 cents) in the first time. Now if you are going to use the public transportation in this metropolitan it’s not worth it, however if you need to use the public bus and trams more than a few times you are highly recommended to have Istanbul Card (Istanbul Kart in Turkish).

 

Istanbul Card usage for local transportation

 

Where to buy Istanbul Card ?

There are small convenient stores (mostly selling newspaper, water etc.) located next to each tram or bus station , they will provide Istanbul Card.

How much is Istanbul Card’s Cost ?

You will have to pay 7 T.L as deposit, then you can put credit to your card to get it ready to use . (when you are leaving Istanbul you can return this card and get back your deposit)

Where to load money to Akbil / Istanbul Card ?

Once again next to each station (Especially tram station) there is a vending machine to buy tokens to use on Metro , where you put coins or banknotes (not greater than 20 T.L) , and there will be another machine to load money into your “card”, just put your card at the card locator, then insert your banknote money, and wait for a few seconds. That’s it your Istanbul card is loaded

 

Can i use this card on Tram / bus ? Ferry ? cable cars?

You can use Istanbul Card by almost all public transportation that includes Metro, Light Rail (that connects visitors from Airport to Downtown), Tram T1, Funicular System to reach to Taksim Square mostly from Sultanahmet Station, All of the government of municipality run vehicles, cable car near Taksim and Golden Horn (to Pierre Loti Hill), on Ferries from Eminonu / Sirkeci (Europe) to Kadikoy / Uskudar Asian Side and the other way around.

I forgot to mention you can also use this card on Marmaray (that is the metro under Bosphorus River running between Europe and Asia) and on Metrobus to reach the furthest points of Istanbul.

You can use the below picture to get an idea of the public metro, subway, tram and bus map (click on the picture to enlarge it).

 

Map of Istanbul’s rapid metro and public transportation