The Best & Cheapest Way to Get Around Istanbul

Istanbul, Türkiye is largest city in Europe in terms of population and is one of the most visited locations in Türkiye. As one of the largest aviation hubs in Europe, with the Bosphorus Strait also being the gateway between Asia and Europe, Istanbul has become a mecca for thousands. Making this city one of the busiest cities in Europe, thereafter, leading to more traffic in the area.

With traffic being a constant issue, getting around the city can be challenging. However, Istanbul is very walkable. But walking isn’t the only way to get around Istanbul, and believe me, there’s a lot of walking.

Of course, there’s the taxi and Uber. However, I have heard mixed stories about the taxis in Istanbul. UBER is also used frequently, but I have also heard it’s not often reliable. There’s also the option to drive on your own, but I heard it’s advisable not to drive in Istanbul as a tourist. So, instead of utilizing either mode of transportation, we found that taking public transportation worked best for my family.

We hesitated using this route; we were nervous about how to navigate the whole process. But I’m so glad we did it. All that walking was a bit much for my kiddos.

One of my research involved finding the easiest and cheapest way to get around this bustling city. I had a hard time finding information regarding getting on the local ferry. When I dug deeper, I found a way to utilize the public ferry, public trams, and buses with the IstanbulKart.

Here’s my tip: Buy the ISTANBUL KART!!

What is an Istanbul Kart?

Istanbul Kart (or Istanbul Card) is a contactless card (the size of a credit card). It’s Istanbul’s public transportation card that allows you to take the public tram, ferries, buses, and more.

What kind of Istanbul Kart do I need as a tourist?

For tourists, you only need one Istanbul Kart. There are many types of Istanbul cards, but the one suitable for tourists is the anonymous (anonim) card, without a picture. One card holds up to 5 people in a family.

Where can I buy an Istanbul Kart?

You can purchase an Istanbul Kart from one of the ticket machines called “Biletmatik.” Find these machines at the airport, tram, metro, and public ferry stations. We bought ours from the Eminönü ferry station.

How Much is an Istanbul Kart?

70TL for one card (that’s all we needed for my family of four); approximately €2,11 (November 2023)

How do I use an Istanbul Kart?

After you buy the card, you load however much amount you would like to put into the card at the same kiosk. For instance, my husband put 200TL on the card to pay for our public ferry ride across the Bosphorus Strait; each ferry ticket costs about 20TL per person (about €0,60)- this was in November 2023. The same goes for the tram rides. The machine accepted credit cards.

What can I use the Istanbul Kart for?

The Istanbul Kart can be used on any public transportation in Istanbul, such as buses, trams (including the famous Istiklal Caddesi), metros, ferries, and funiculars.

How do I use the Tram?

Use the Istanbul Kart. The Trams are especially helpful in moving to and from different neighborhoods, such as colorful Balat and Fener. We used Google Maps to find which tram we needed to take. It was really easy to navigate through Google Maps.

How do I navigate the public ferry schedule?

The local ferry was definitely something we had to learn to navigate during our stay in Istanbul, but it was the easiest and cheapest way to get around if we wanted to utilize the ferries to get across the Bosphorus Strait.

The main thing is to find where you want to take the ferry to and from what ferry dock. Using the timetables from the local ferry site was helpful. Find the local ferry site here. For instance, we wanted to get from Sultahnamet (European side) to Üsküdar ( Asian side), so we located the Eminönü ferry domestic dock (this will be called Üsküdar Hatti- aka Üsküdar Line), bought our Istanbul Kart, and inputted the amount we wanted on the card from the same Biletmatik. We located the Eminönü ferry entrance (aka Üskükar Line) and swiped our card for each guest.

You can also find the ferry lines here: https://www.sehirhatlari.istanbul/uploads/pdf/Sefer-Haritasi-Line-Map-2022.pdf

There was also a staff member there to help us. They were able to answer my questions regarding if the ferry we were taking would take us to Üsküdar (on the Asian side) and back to this ferry dock (Eminönü). They said it would take us back but that we would have to pay again to get back on the same ferry for Eminönü from Üsküdar.

What About the Bus?

I can’t attest to using the public bus as we mainly took the trams and ferries to get around. However, I heard the buses are slow. But to get around the city and major hub areas, the tram worked best for us, and the rest of the time was spent walking towards our desired location. We don’t mind the walks, but the tram helped us to visit more neighborhoods without the miles and miles of walking.

What’s the Best Way to Get from the Airport (on the Asian Side) to the Main Istanbul Sites (on the European Side)?

We also struggled to find the best way to get from the Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (SAW) to our hotel. We had a good 45-minute drive from the airport, give or take with traffic, to Sultanahmet in the city. However, we luckily found that Welcome Pickups worked really well for my family of four. Welcome Pickups is a car pickup transfer service. I booked this transfer pick-up a few weeks before our trip, which was very easy.

Like UBER, you place your pick-up location when booking online and your desired drop-off location. They give you the exact price for that trip; in this case, it costs €45 for one trip from the airport to our hotel, easily the cost of a taxi or UBER (or slightly more). Once we booked our trip, we were notified via the Welcome Pickups App for our driver information and any changes up to the day of our pickup.

Book Your Istanbul Airport Transfer below

On our pickup day, we communicated with the driver through the app. The driver then communicated with my husband via WhatsApp or the Welcome Pickups App. We were picked up in an oversized van, clean and stocked with water. Traffic was horrible on the way to our hotel, but our driver was amazing and got us to our hotel door within an hour and a half. I definitely recommend this route if you’re considering transportation to and from the airport in Istanbul. We used Welcome Pickups for our return transfer back to the airport on our final day in Istanbul. We had a different driver on our final day and although he was a bit more aggressive with driving, he got us to the airport well before our scheduled flight time.

Final Thoughts

These are my tips for how to get around Istanbul, Türkiye on the cheap. It is just what was easiest for my family of four. However, the best way to truly immerse yourself in Istanbul is to really walk through all of it and utilize the transportation system as needed.

Hopefully, you have found these tips to be helpful. Have any other questions or anything I should add to this that I missed or got wrong, please comment below, ⬇️ ! I’d love to hear others’ thoughts and tips.

I hope this helps you plan your Türkiye trip!

Until next time friends! Bir dahaki sefere kadar arkadaşlar!