Take the train - an
excellent way to get around Turkey!
Guidebooks
may tell you that Turkey has a good bus
network and that 'buses are faster than trains'. The
thing is,
do you really want to spend 12 hours
in a bus? When you can
travel on a civilised inexpensive air-conditioned train, with a bed to sleep in
in your own private sleeper, a restaurant car for
your meals & space to move around, through fantastic
Turkish scenery that's unspoilt by roadside development?
Travellers who take the train, ignoring the misguided advice to always 'take
the bus', rave about their train experiences.
Turkey's best trains are now modern & air-conditioned.
Savvy travellers will use a train
for long distances (for example, Istanbul to Konya,
Ankara, Kars or Pamukkale) then a short bus trip where
necessary to reach places off the
rail network, for example the South coast resorts or
Cappadocia.
Much of the rail network was built by the Germans, and the
joke goes that the Turks paid them by the mile, hence the
twisting & curvaceous nature of Turkish railways!
However, the best Istanbul-Ankara trains now travel at up to
95mph and take just 5 hours after major improvements.
The first section of a brand-new high-speed line from
Istanbul to Ankara opened in March 2009, and journey time
will be reduced to just 3 hours by 2013, beating both buses
& flights. Overnight trains with sleeping-cars, most
now air-conditioned, provide a civilised, romantic &
time-effective way to travel between major cities.
Train routes, schedules & fares within Turkey...
There is an excellent
train route map at Turkeytravelplanner.com, or see the
map above.
There
are no
trains to Antalya,
Marmaris, Bodrum, Alanya, nor to Gorëme in Cappadocia, so use
a combination of train+bus to reach
these places.
Here are train times and fares for key
routes:
You can check train times & fares
at the Turkish Railways (TCDD) website, www.tcdd.gov.tr,
although the Turkish version is often more up to date than the
English version. In the top red bar, click 'anahat
trenleri' for mainline trains, 'bölgesel
trenleri' for regional trains, 'Ortadogu yönlü trenleri' for
international trains to the Middle East or 'Avrupa trenleri'
for international trains to Europe..
Istanbul Haydarpasa station completely closed to
long-distance trains from 1 February 2012 until
2015...
Major railway rebuilding work in connection with the
new Bosporus Rail Tunnel project & Istanbul-Ankara
high-speed line project will affect all trains
between Istanbul Haydarpasa and Asian Turkey in 2012
and for several years.
No trains at all will run to or from Istanbul
Haydarpasa. Some trains will start from
Arifiye, including the Bogazici Express to Eskisehir
with high-speed connection to Ankara, and a re-timed
'Içanadolou Express' to Konya and Adana. The
Istanbul-Konya 'Meram Express' is cancelled.
Trains to/from eastern Turkey will start in Ankara.
-
feedback
would be appreciated! This situation will last
for several years, until the Bosphorus rail tunnel
opens serving a new station in central Istanbul on
the European side of the Bosphorus, with high-speed
trains linking Istanbul with Ankara and Konya.
Above: Tur-ISTA Travel in Istanbul can
arrange your train tickets by email.
Above: Haydarpasa station, seen from the deck
of an approaching Bosphorus ferry... Photo courtesy of
Stuart Baker
It's easy to buy
tickets at the station when you get to Turkey. Most
major stations have a computerised ticketing & reservation
system, so can book any journey in Turkey. It's not
usually difficult to get seats or berths on the day of
travel or a day or two before, although sleepers can
sometimes get fully-booked. Alternatively, you can buy
tickets in advance either online or via a TCDD-authorised
agency as shown below. Stations accept Turkish lira
cash, and may now accept credit cards. Booking for
Turkish domestic trains opens 14 days before departure.
The Turkish Railways
(TCDD) website has an online booking facility, now available in
English. If the English version plays up, it really isn't
difficult to book using the Turkish version with minimal knowledge of Turkish using
the step-by-step instructions below.
The system will book most long distance trains within Turkey
(but not international trains), including seats, couchettes
& sleepers. You print out your reservation details
and pick up the tickets at the station in Turkey.
Online reservations for
Turkish trains open 14 days before departure, you cannot
book online further in advance than this.
How to buy tickets from outside Turkey, via an agency...
If buying tickets online proves difficult,
you can book your Turkish train tickets in
advance by
emailing (or calling) one of these authorised travel agencies
in Istanbul:
Tur-ISTA Tourism Travel Agency,
Divan Yolu Caddesi No. 16/B, 34410 Sultanahmet, Istanbul,
Turkey. Telephone +90 (212) 527 7085 or 513 7119. Fax
+90 (212) 519 3792. E-mail
erdemir@tur-ista.com. I can personally recommend
their service. They are near the Sultanahmet tram
stop, a short way from the Blue Mosque.
Tur-ista gets good reports and I've used them myself, I yet
to receive any reports about Backpackers Travel, but they
are a well-known agency.
If you book with one of these agencies, you will need to
pick up your tickets at their offices in Istanbul.
They can't book International trains from Turkey in their
capacity as official TCDD agents, but they may be willing to buy tickets
for international trains on your behalf as a private
transaction, for a booking fee.
Haydarpaşa
station...
Trains for
Asian destinations leave from Haydarpaşa Station
(pictured right), a ferry ride across the Bosphorus
from Sirkeci Station where the European trains arrive.
Ferries sail to Haydarpaşa station every
10-30 minutes from the Karaköy ferry terminal next to the
Galata Bridge on the European side of Istanbul. The
fare is 1.50 YTL. The Haydarpaşa ferry terminal is
right in front of the station. Haydarpaşa station
was built in 1908, a gift from the German Kaiser to the
Ottoman Sultan, and named after one of the Sultan's
generals. It may be closed in 2013, when a new rail
tunnel under the Bosphorus is supposed to open, allowing both suburban and
long-distance trains to run through from Asian Turkey to the
European side of Istanbul.
Map of Istanbul showing Haydarpaşa & Sirkeci stations.
What are Turkish trains like?
Trains in Turkey have several types of accommodation to
choose from:
Pullman seats. 1st class reclining seat in a carpeted
open-plan saloon.
1st class ordinary seats, usually in 6-seat compartments.
2nd class seats, usually in 8-seat compartments.
Sleeping-cars ('yatakli wagon' in Turkish). Private 1-
and 2-bed rooms with washbasin.
Couchettes ('kuşet' in Turkish). Shared 4-bunk
compartments (6-berth on some routes).
The best Turkish trains now use modern air-conditioned
'TVS2000' coaches like the ones shown below, which are as
good as anything in western Europe. TVS2000 trains run
from Istanbul to Ankara, Istanbul to Denizli/Pamukkale,
Ankara to Izmir, Ankara to Adana, and Ankara to Erzurum &
Kars. Brand-new 250
km/h high-speed trains are also now operating on the
Istanbul-Ankara route,
see photos here.
Turkish Railways'
air-conditioned TVS2000 cars are modern, clean & carpeted.
The reclining Pullman seats (below left) are more spacious
& comfortable than any cramped bus seat, and the coaches ride on smooth air
suspension.
Restaurant cars are
available on a number of trains, serving inexpensive meals
& beer. A 3-course meal and a half-bottle of
wine cost only about TL11 (£5 or $8).
Eating in these elegant
restaurant cars on proper china beats balancing food on your knees
on a bus, any day...
The best overnight trains in
Turkey use modern air-conditioned TVS2000 sleeping-cars. Sleeper compartments have beds and a
washbasin, soap and towels provided, plus a small fridge
with mineral water. There's even a
shower at the end of the corridor. Compartments
convert from a bedroom at night to a private sitting room
with armchairs and small table for the daytime part of a
journey. Trains with TVS2000 sleeping-cars
include the Ankara Express from Istanbul to Ankara, the
Pamukkale Express from Istanbul to Denizli, the Meram
Express from Istanbul to Konya, the night trains
from Ankara to Izmir, the Curacova Express
from Ankara to Adana, and the Erzurum Express from Ankara
to Erzurum & Kars. Travelling in these sleepers is
like staying in a good hotel, a great way to travel that
saves on hotel bills, too.
Above left: A 2-berth sleeper compartment
in night-time mode, with upper and lower berths folded
out, and (above centre) in daytime mode with beds
folded away. Interior photos courtesy of Shigeki Murao. More sleeper photos.
Far left: Light and
airy. A TVS2000 sleeping-car corridor, just like a hotel
corridor. Photo courtesy of Shigeki Murao.
Left: A 2-bed sleeper in daytime mode,
looking towards the door to the corridor. The
photo shows the washbasin in the corner, the beds folded
away & seats folded out.
Couchettes are
basic padded bunks, with 4 bunks per
compartment. Couchettes convert to ordinary seating
compartments for the daytime part of a journey. On
some trains, couchettes are provided without bedding, but on
other trains there are 'covered couchettes' (örtülü kuşet),
with sheet, blanket and pillow supplied. The best
overnight trains such as the Istanbul-Ankara,
Istanbul-Konya and Ankara-Izmir trains now have modern air-conditioned TVS2000
couchette cars like the one below. Older trains
may have the old type, shown further below.
Above:
TVS2000 air-conditioned 4-berth couchettes, shown here in daytime position, with
the berths
folded against the wall.
The first section of
Istanbul-Ankara high-speed line is now open...
The first section of the Istanbul-Ankara high-speed line opened
in March 2009, and conventional trains from Istanbul to
Eskişehir (with modern air-conditioned
TVS2000 pullman seats) now connect with brand-new 250 km/h
high-speed trains (YHT or Yüksek Hızlı Treni
in Turkish) for the remainder of the journey from Eskişehir to Ankara
(see the services marked 'A' in the timetable below. One
remaining conventional train with
TVS2000 pullman seats runs direct and is marked 'B').
The rest of the high-speed line is due to be completed by
2013, with
direct 250 km/h Istanbul-Ankara trains taking just 3 hours.
Photos showing what the the new Turkish high-speed trains
are like.
Or take the
overnight sleeper...
The best
overnight train is the Ankara Express (marked 'sleeper' in
the timetable below), a rolling hotel with
modern air-conditioned TVS2000 sleeping-cars and a TVS2000 restaurant car
for breakfast, see the sleeper photos
above. Other night trains have seats and
couchettes.
ALL TRAINS
TO/FROM ISTANBUL CANCELLED DUE TO ENGINEERING WORK IN 2012 -
SEE HERE.
B = Boğaziçi Express, one remaining conventional (non-high-speed) train runs
direct between Istanbul & Ankara, the Bogazici Express, with TVS2000 reclining pullman seats.
Important: the
Boğaziçi Express will not run from 10 May to 9 October 2011
due to engineering work on the Eskisehir-Istanbul line.
These fares are one-way per person.
Return tickets cost 20% less than two one-way fares.
Children under 8 go free, children 8-11 travel for half the
adult fare, children 12 & over must pay the adult fare. You can check train times and
fares at www.tcdd.gov.tr,
which now has some English pages. Also see
www.turkeytravelplanner.com. Buy your ticket at
the ticket office in Istanbul or use one of the travel agencies
in Istanbul recommended above.
The
new face of Turkish train travel: Above
left, a high-speed YHT train at Ankara station.
Above right, the Economy class interior.
Photos courtesy of Malte Furhrmann.
Easily the best way to travel
between Istanbul and the historic city of Konya is the daily
overnight 'Meram Express', with sleeping-car and restaurant
car, a wonderful way to travel.
There's also the Içanadolou
Mavi Train (shown as 'Mavi' below) also with an
air-conditioned sleeping-car & restaurant. Westbound, the Içanadolou
Mavi Tren can arrive in Konya from Adana running late, so
the Meram Express is the better choice. TVS2000 cars
are modern, sound-proofed and smooth-riding,
see the photos above.
ALL TRAINS
TO/FROM ISTANBUL AFFECTED BY ENGINEERING WORK IN 2012 -
SEE HERE. MERAM
EXPRESS CANCELLED, IÇANADOLOU MAVI TRAIN RETIMES AND WILL
START FROM ARIFIYE.
Travel tip:
If for any reason you are told there's no sleeping-car on
the
Içanadolou Mavi Tren,
this is probably due to engineering work and a late-night
bus replacement for part of the way. This happened for
odd periods in 2010, and may be happening on odd dates in
2011. If you have any problems with booking a
comfortable sleeper on this direct train, simply use the
following alternative route via Ankara instead, which has a
sleeper:
New
high-speed service: The opening of the new
Ankara-Konya high-speed line in Spring 2011 will also
benefit Istanbul-Konya passengers. Details will be
posted when available.
Above: The snow-capped Taurus
Mountains, seen from the
Içanadolou Mavi Tren
from Istanbul to Adana. Photo courtesy of
Conor Meleady.
Fares
Reclining
pullman
seat
Couchette
in 4-berth
Sleeper -
sharing 2-bed room
Sleeper
-
single-bed room
Istanbul-Konya
TL 28 (£12 or $19)
TL 38 (£16 or $25)
TL 61 (£25 or $41)
TL 78 (£32 or $52)
Istanbul-Adana
TL 40 (£17 or $27)
-
TL 73 (£30 or $49)
TL 90 (£38 or $60)
All
fares one-way per person. Return
tickets cost 20% less than the cost of two one-way fares.
Children under 8 go free, children 8-11 travel for half the
adult fare, children 12 & over must pay the adult fare. You can check times and
fares at www.tcdd.gov.tr.
Above:
A private 1 or 2 bed sleeper, in daytime mode with
beds folded away. Easily the nicest way to travel
between Istanbul & Konya or Adana. Inexpensive,
relaxed & civilised, no airport stress, no long cramped
bus journeys. Interior photo courtesy of Heather
Williams.
It's easy to travel by train
from Istanbul to Denizli for the magnificent natural spa at
Pamukkale. The 'Pamukkale Express' links Istanbul and
Denizli overnight, with an air-conditioned
TVS2000 sleeping-car with comfortable 1- & 2-bed rooms with
washbasin, a modern
TVS2000 couchette car with 4-berth compartments,
TVS2000 pullman
reclining seats cars, and an
elegant
TVS2000 restaurant car. This train was re-equipped with ultra-modern,
fully-air-conditioned, soundproofed and smooth-riding
TVS2000 cars in 2005, see the photos above.
Istanbul ► Denizli
(Pamukkale)
Denizli ►Istanbul
Cancelled *
Cancelled *
Istanbul (Haydarpaşa
station) depart
17:35
*
Denizli (for
Pamukkale) depart
17:00
*
Denizli (for
Pamukkale) arrive
08:20
*
Istanbul (Haydarpaşa
station) arrive
08:34
*
* Train cancelled until 2013. No news of it resuming yet! Long
term engineering work on this route means this train has not
run for several years and is unlikely to resume until 2013.
Please don't ask me, as soon as I have confirmation of when this train will
resume, I will post it here. No post here = No more
info yet available.
The line from Izmir to Denizli has now reopened for local
trains, even if the Pamukkale Express has not resumed.
So an alternative is to go
Istanbul to Izmir, then
Izmir to Denizli.
All
fares one-way per person. Return
tickets cost 20% less than the cost of two one-way fares.
Children under 8 go free, children 8-11 travel for half the
adult fare, children 12 & over must pay the adult fare.
There are direct buses from
Istanbul to Antalya, Marmaris and the Mediterranean coast, but this is a nightmarishly long bus
journey, especially if done overnight slumped in a cramped
bus seat. A much better, more civilised way is to take
the comfortable air-conditioned 'Pamukkale Express'
overnight from Istanbul to Denizli with reclining seats,
couchettes (6-bunk), a modern sleeping-car (1- and 2-bed
rooms) and a restaurant car for your dinner and breakfast.
Then take a bus from Denizli the last bit to Antalya,
Marmaris, Bodrum or Fethiye.
See above for train times &
fares for the Pamukkale Express. Buses run every
few hours from Denizli to Antalya, taking a few hours, and
buses also run from Denizli to Marmaris, Fethiye and Bodrum.
Cappadocia is an incredible land of strange rock
formations and cave dwellings that should not be missed.
Taking the sleeper train from Istanbul to Ankara or Konya
then a relatively short bus ride to Gorëme in Cappadocia is
a great way to get there, avoiding a nightmare 12+ hour bus
journey all the way from Istanbul. It lets you sleep
in a comfortable sleeper on the train, with breakfast in the
restaurant car, before taking a bus ride for the last bit.
Alternatively, for a really short bus section, take the
train to Kayseri just 70 km from Gorëme and take a bus from
there.
Option 1:
Take a train from Istanbul (Haydarpaşa station) to
Ankara as shown above.
Take the metro from the station to Ankara's long-distance
bus terminal, located a couple of miles out of the city
centre (allow an hour for this). Buses run from Ankara to Nevsehir
& Gorëme in
Cappadocia every couple of houres throughout the day, taking 4
hours 30 minutes to Nevsehir and 5 hours to Gorëme, fare 30
YTL (£13 or $21). You can simply buy a bus ticket at
the bus station. If you take the excellent 'Ankara
Express' sleeper train
leaving Istanbul Haydarpaşa at 22:30 arriving Ankara a
07:07, there's a bus at 11:00 from Ankara to Gorëme arriving
16:00, see
www.nevsehirlilerseyahat.com.tr.
Option 2: Take the overnight 'Meram Express'
from Istanbul to Konya
as shown
above. Konya, home of the whirling dervishes,
is well worth a stop in itself. Buses run several times a day
from Konya to Gorëme, taking about 5 hours.
Option 3: Take a sleeper train from Istanbul to
Kayseri as shown
below. Kayseri is only 70 km from Gorëme, so this
is the shortest bus journey (maybe 1.5 hours) though a
longer overall trip.
Izmir Alcansak
station: The old station bell at Izmir
Alcansak, with the train to Bandirma (for
the ferry to Istanbul) in the background.
Photo courtesy of Malte Furhrmann.
Istanbul to Izmir by
ferry+train via the
Sea of Marmara...
An enjoyable year-round way from Istanbul to Izmir is across
the Sea of Marmara to Bandirma by fast ferry, then on the
connecting air-conditioned '6 Eylül Express' to
Izmir. Much nicer than 9 hours stuck in a bus!
The service runs daily except Tuesdays.
Istanbul ► Izmir
(by ferry + train)
Izmir ► Istanbul
(by train + ferry)
By SeaCat fast ferry:
By '6
Eylül Express'
train (daily except Tuesdays):
Istanbul (Yenikapi
ferry terminal) depart:
07:00
Izmir (Alsancak station) depart
08:40
Bandirma arrive:
09:00
Balikesir depart:
13:17
By '6
Eylül Express'
train (daily except Tuesdays):
Bandirma arrive:
14:23
Bandirma depart:
10:15
By connecting SeaCat fast ferry:
Balikesir
arrive:
11:31
Bandirma depart:
15:30 *
Izmir (Alsancak station) arrive
16:15
Istanbul (Yenikapi
ferry terminal) arrive:
17:30 *
* On Mondays to
Thursdays & Saturdays from late September to mid-April, the ferry
connection runs much later, departing Bandirma at 18:30 &
arriving Istanbul at 20:30. From mid-April to
mid-September, there's a 15:30 sailing every day.
How much does
it cost?
Izmir to Bandirma in a pullman seat is YTL 15. A
combined ferry & train fare from Istanbul to Izmir is YTL 32 (about £13
or $22). Children under 8 go free, children 8-11
travel for half the adult fare, children 12 & over must pay
the adult fare.
Traveller's report:
Ryan White travelled in 2008. "I went Istanbul to Izmir &
back with the ferry+train and it was great. The train
and ferry were both very comfortable and on time. One
way Izmir to Istanbul or visa versa was about 30 YTL ($20
dollars).
For onward travel from Izmir to Selçuk (Ephesus) and
Denizli (Pamukkale)see this section.
Istanbul to Izmir by direct ferry...
There used to be
a cruise ferry from Istanbul to Izmir, run by
Deniz Lines, but this no longer runs.
There are direct fast ferries
to Bursa from Istanbul's Yenikapi ferry terminal.
Departures from Istanbul are at 07:30 (daily except Sundays),
13:20 (Fri, Sat & Sun only), 15:20 (Mon-Thurs), 17:30
(daily), 20:30 (Fridays & Sundays only).
Journey time 1 hour 30 minutes. Departures from Bursa are at
07:30 (daily except Sundays), 09:00 (daily), 15:30 (Fri, Sat
& Sun only), 18:00 (daily) and 20:30
(Fridays & Sundays only). More services are run
between June & September. See www.ido.com.tr
to check ferry times and fares (the ferry terminal in
Istanbul is called 'Yenikapi'). You'll also find more
frequent ferries between Istanbul (Yenikapi) and Yalova,
from where you can reach Bursa by minibus taxi.
You can check times and
fares at www.tcdd.gov.tr
- some pages are now in English, but
www.turkeytravelplanner.com will help you understand the
Turkish parts. It's reported that the trains now (as of 2010) use Izmir's
Alsancak station, they no longer use Basmane, please check
locally.
All fares one-way per person.
Return tickets cost 20% less than the cost of two one-way
fares. Children under 8 go free, children 8-11 travel
for half the adult fare, children 12 & over must pay the
adult fare.
All fares one-way per person.
Return tickets cost 20% less than the cost of two one-way
fares. Children under 8 go free, children 8-11 travel
for half the adult fare, children 12 & over must pay the
adult fare.
NEW ROUTE! A brand-new high-speed line
linking Ankara with Konya opened in August 2011. 250
km/h (150mph) high-speed trains with economy and business class
air-conditioned seating and a cafe-bar car now link these
cities in just 1 hour 40 minutes when previously, you
could only travel between these cities via a
roundabout route that took over 10 hours. The service
shown here is the expanded service from 1 December 2011, it
may be further increased
to an hourly service as traffic builds up, and there
may be further cuts to journey time too. If you use these
new trains, any feedback
or photos would be appreciated. The journey from
Ankara to Konya is around 309 km (193 miles), including 212
km of new high-speed line. The Turkish term for
high-speed train is YHT or Yüksek Hızlı
Treni.
Ankara ► Konya &
Karaman
Karaman & Konya ► Ankara
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Ankara depart:
07:00
09:30
12:00
14:30
17:00
19:30
21:45
(Karaman depart)
(05:40)
(07:25)
(10:30)
-
-
(17:30)
-
Konya arrive:
08:52
11:1256
13:55
16:22
18:55
21:20
23:37
Konya depart:
07:00
09:30
12:00
14:30
17:00
19:30
21:45
(Karaman
arrive)
(10:21)
-
(15:23)
(18:28)
(20:30)
-
-
Ankara arrive
08:45
11:21
13:46
16:21
18:51
21:14
23:31
The Karaman connection:
To/from Karaman, you must change trains at Konya, that's
why the times shown above are in brackets. The
change takes just a few minutes, onto a special train
designed to connect with the high-speed service.
Fares
Business class
Economy class
TL 35 (£14 or $23)
TL 25 (£10 or $17)
All fares one-way per person.
Return tickets cost 20% less than the cost of two one-way
fares. Children under 8 go free, children 8-11 travel
for half the adult fare, children 12 & over must pay the
adult fare.
New
'YHT' high-speed trains: At present,
Turkish Railways use the same type of train on the
new Ankara-Konya route as the Ankara-Eskisehir line.
Above left, a YHT train at Ankara. Above
right, Economy class seats. Photos courtesy
of Malte Furhrmann.
It's a long way to eastern Turkey, but the trains have
sleeping-cars, couchettes, and a restaurant car for a
comfortable and wonderfully scenic journey, making the train far more
comfortable, civilised and enjoyable than a long-distance
bus. Most trains now use modern air-conditioned
'TVS2000' sleeping-cars and reclining seat cars.
Istanbul ► Eastern Turkey
Train:
4 Eylül Mavi Tren
Doğu Express
Güney Express
Van Gölü Express
Trans-Asia Express
Days:
Daily
Daily
Tue, Thur
Fri, Sun
Mondays &
Wednesdays
Wednesdays
Istanbul (Haydarpaşa)
depart
-
-
-
-
-
Ankara
depart
15:10 day 1
18:30 day 1
01:33 day 2
01:33 day 2
10:25 day 2
Kayseri
arr/dep
22:05 day 1
01:50 day 2
09:14 day 2
09:04 day 2
17:33 day 2
Sivas
arr/dep
01:41 day 2
05:43 day 2
12:52 day 2
12:52 day 2
21:42 day 2
Erzurum
arr/dep
|
16:53 day 2
|
|
|
Kars
arrive
|
22:15 day 2
|
|
|
Malatya
arr/dep
07:00 day 2
18:48 day 2
18:48 day 2
|
Diyarbakir
arr/dep
01:13 day 3
|
|
Kurtalan
arrive
05:06 day 3**
|
|
Elazig
arr/dep
21:26 day 2
xx:xx day 3
Tatvan
arrive
-
11:32
day 3
Trains
are NOT serving Istanbul from 1 February 2012 until 2013 or
even 2015, due to the engineering work
explained here.
Güney Express. Eastbound, runs
from Istanbul to Diyarbakir & Kurtalan on Tues, Thurs, Fri,
Sun, leaving Ankara the following morning. Westbound,
runs from Kurtalan & Diyarbakir on
Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun.
TVS2000 sleeping-car (1 & 2-bed rooms),
TVS2000 reclining pullman seats,
ordinary seats. No restaurant car, so take provisions
and some beer or wine...
Van Gölü Express.
Runs from Istanbul to Elazig on Monday & Saturday (departing Ankara
the following morning). Westbound, runs from Elazig on
Tues & Thurs.
TVS2000 sleeping-car (1 & 2-bed rooms),
TVS2000 reclining pullman seats,
ordinary seats.
Trans-Asia Express.
Carries International passengers only. Runs from Istanbul on Wednesdays, departing Ankara on
Thursdays. Westbound, runs from Tatvan on Saturdays.
Air-conditioned TVS2000 4-berth couchette cars &
TVS2000 restaurant car
Istanbul-Ankara-Tatvan-Tehran. See the London to Iran page.
Fares for other
journeys will be broadly similar. Return tickets cost 20% less than
the cost of two one-way fares.
Children under 8 go free, children 8-11 travel for half the
adult fare, children 12 & over must pay the adult fare.
Great scenery on
the train to Kars:
Two views from the Dogu Express, alongside the
Euphrates river between Sivan & Erzurum.
Away from road development, you'll see great scenery
from the comfort of your train. It's the
inexpensive & relaxed alternative to airport stress
or a nightmare journey in a cramped bus.
Photos courtesy of Conor Meleady.
Civilised comfort on board the train: A
private 1 or 2 bed sleeper, in daytime mode with beds
folded away. Photo courtesy of Heather
Williams.
Above: The
same compartment, looking towards the door to the
corridor. Photo courtesy of Heather Williams.
Traveller's
report:
Traveller
Matt Dwyer reports on a trip from Istanbul to Kars on the
Dogu Express: "We went directly to the Haydarpaşa
train station to buy tickets. It was quite simple to tell
the ticket guy the date, train, and "Yatakli Vagon"
('sleeper') and he handed us our tickets. We paid 53
YTL one way, but that was with our teacher discount (I think
any teacher or student can get that discount, he wasn't very
strict about proof), but I expect a regular ticket would be
about 70 YTL (£29 or $50). Our Yatakli Wagon was the
last car on the train, behind the cafe car, had 10 cabins
with two beds each. They were not full, but we did pick up
several groups along the way, especially in Ankara. The
porters were very helpful and nice, announcing meals, making
beds, etc. Our cabin was not luxurious, but certainly
comfortable with a working sink, soap and hand towels, lock
on the door from the inside (all my female friends asked me
about that!), clean linens, etc. We felt no worries
about leaving stuff in our cabin when we went to the cafe
car. There was a restaurant car, serving decent grub.
Beer on the train is expensive, I suggest people bring some
along! The toilet at the end of the car was clean for
the first day, then started to get pretty grubby. The
scenery is spectacular, especially the second day as you go
along the Euphrates and the mountains and gorges are
striking." Note: This was written before the Dogu
Express was equipped with modern air-conditioned TVS2000
sleeping-cars.
The station for Ephesus is
Selçuk, 78km by train from Izmir. The ruins at Ephesus
are walking distance from the modern town of Selçuk.
Denizli is the station for the magnificent natural springs
at Pamukkale.
The railway to Denizli was closed for some time for major
rebuilding work, but reopened in June 2011.
Izmir ► Selçuk
(Ephesus) ► Denizli (Pamukkale)
Note:
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Izmir (Basmane
station)
depart
08:09
10:22
14:20
15:30
17:35
19:10
Selçuk for Ephesus
arr/dep
09:27
11:36
15:42
16:57
18:53
20:39
Aydin
arr/dep
10:19
12:85
16:34
17:56
19:46
-
Nazilli
arr/dep
11:04
13:13
17:20
18:43
20:30
-
Denizli for
Pamukkale
arrive
12:22
-
18:43
20:01
-
-
All trains have 1st & 2nd class seats, and are now operated
by comfortable modern air-conditioned diesel trains.
Change in Aydin for buses to Bodrum, Marmaris, Datca.
Denizli (Pamukkale) ► Selçuk (Ephesus) ► Izmir
Note:
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Denizli for Pamukkale
depart
-
-
05:45
08:35
-
16:10
Nazilli
arr/dep
-
05:45
07:04
09:53
13:25
17:30
Aydin
arr/dep
-
06:31
07:55
10:40
14:13
18:18
Selçuk for Ephesus
arr/dep
06:49
07:27
08:54
11:35
15:10
19:18
Izmir (Basmane)
arrive
08:22
08:45
10:21
12:45
16:33
20:33
You can check times &
fares at www.tcdd.gov.tr.
Children under 8 go free, children 8-11 travel for half the
adult fare, children 12 & over must pay the adult fare.
There is now a
good and cheap train
service from Istanbul to Thessaloniki & Athens: A new
air-conditioned Istanbul-Thessaloniki sleeper train was
introduced in July 2005, with connections by modern Greek InterCity train
to/from Athens.
TRAIN
CANCELLED
UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE AS FROM 13 FEBRUARY 2011
Greece is in a dire
economic state, and massive rail cuts are being implemented.
All international trains between Greece
and the rest of Europe (including the Thessaloniki-Istanbul
train) have been cancelled until further notice from February
2011. Greece is now cut off from the rest of Europe!
Istanbul ► Thessaloniki ► Athens
Athens ► Thessaloniki ► Istanbul
Filia Express
InterCity
Istanbul (Sirkeci)
depart
21:00 day 1
Athens
depart
13:23 day 1
Uzunköprü (T frontier)
arrive
00:00 day2
Larissa
depart
16:59 day 1
Uzunköprü
(T frontier)
depart
00:30 day 2
Thessaloniki
arrive
18:17 day 1
Pithion (Gr.
frontier)
arrive
02:08 day 2
Change trains...
Filia Express
Pithion (Gr.
frontier)
depart
02:50 day 2
Thessaloniki
depart
19:38 day 1
Alexandroupolis (Dialogi station)
arrive
04:15 day 2
Alexandroupolis (Dialogi station)
depart
00:39 day 2
Thessaloniki
arrive
09:20
day 2
Pithion
(Gr. frontier)
arrive
01:56 day 2
Change trains...
InterCity
Pithion
(Gr. frontier)
depart
02:51
day 2
Thessaloniki
depart
10:21 day 2
Uzunköprü (T frontier)
arrive
02:59 day 2
Larissa
arrive
11:40 day 2
Uzunköprü (T frontier)
depart
03:55 day 2
Athens
arrive
15:16 day 2
Istanbul (Sirkeci)
arrive
08:07
day 2
Filia Express
= FILIA-DOSTLUK ('FRIENDSHIP') EXPRESS. Daily
sleeper train, introduced in 2005, highly recommended. This train
has modern air-conditioned sleeping-cars with 1- & 2-bed
rooms (no seats or couchettes, only
sleepers). One set of coaches is Greek, with
second-hand French
'T2' sleeping-cars, the other Turkish with
modern Turkish TVS2000
sleeping-cars. You will need to get off
the train briefly at the Turkish frontier (Uzunköprü) to have your
passport stamped (and, eastbound, buy a Turkish
visa), but this does not take long and you are soon back
in bed... Expect to arrive an hour
or two late, just build this into your schedule and don't plan any tight connections.
InterCity
= Fast modern air-conditioned InterCity train with
cafe car.
Highly recommended. The scenery on the Thessaloniki-Athens
route is excellent, especially on the section through the
mountains south of Larissa, over the viaducts famously blown
up by the British SOE (Special Operations Executive) in
world war 2. Just south of Thessaloniki, the train
passes right by Mt Olympus, mythical home of the Greek gods.
You can confirm
times and fares at
www.ose.gr
(English button top right) or
www.tcdd.gov.tr which will also confirm fares. The
Turkish version of
www.tcdd.gov.tr
is often more up to date than the English version. In
the top red bar, click 'Avrupa trenleri' for international trains to Europe,
and remember that Turkish for Salonika (Thessaloniki) is 'Selanik'. A useful link is
www.letsgoistanbul.com/tren.htm. There are lots
more trains between Athens, Larissa &Thessaloniki, in case
you want to stop off and see something of Thessaloniki.
There was a
daytime Istanbul-Thessaloniki service, with several changes,
but this was withdrawn in late 2009.
If using the Filia-Dostluk Express, add a sleeper
supplement of 25 euro to the 2nd class fare for a bed
in a 2-bed sleeper, add 50 euro to the 1st class fare
for a single-bed room. Add an InterCity
supplement for Thessaloniki-Athens, approximately 20
euro.
You can easily buy tickets at
Istanbul, Athens or Thessaloniki stations. You cannot
book online.
Istanbul to Thessaloniki on
the Filia-Dostluk Express...
There
are no direct ferries between mainland Greece & Turkey,
but you can take a ferry between southern/western Turkey
& several Greek islands, then a domestic Greek ferry
between those islands & Piraeus (the port of Athens).
Step 1, take a ferry from southern Turkey to either Kos,
Lesvos, Samos or Rhodes:
Ferries between Kusadasi & Samos sail once or
twice daily (08:30 & 17:00) between early April & late October.
See
www.meandertravel.com/ferrytosamos/ for details.
Journey time 1 hour 15 minutes minutes, fare around 30
euro (50 euro open return).
Ferries between Ayvalik (a few hours north of
Izmir by bus) & Lesvos (Mytilini) sail daily
Monday-Saturday, crossing 1 hour 10 minutes, fare 30
euro.
A hydrofoil sails every day between Bodrum & Kos,
fare 28 euro, crossing 1 hour, Bodrum depart 09:30,
Kos depart 15:30, see
www.bodrumexpresslines.com.
You may or may not need to overnight on the island,
depending on schedules, but always allow several hours
for connections at least.
Step 2: Take a ferry from Kos, Lesvos, Samos or Rhodes
to Piraeus. Piraeus is the port of Athens, 25 minutes from
central Athens by metro. The port on Lesvos is
called Mytilini.
For Lesvos (Mytilini) to Piraeus, see
www.hellenicseaways.gr to check sailing dates,
times, fares and to book online. The voyage
takes 9.5 hours.
For Kos-Piraeus or Rhodes-Piraeus see
www.bluestarferries.gr to check sailing dates,
times, fares and to book online. Ferries
normally sail Rhodes-Piraeus overnight, with cabins
available.
This train has a
Bulgarian sleeping-car between Istanbul & Sofia with 1, 2 &
3-bed compartments with washbasin, see the pictures below.
All sleeper compartments lock securely with locks that
cannot be undone from the outside, and the sleeping-car is
looked after by a sleeper attendant. Travel in the
sleeper is safe and comfortable and can even be recommended
even for women travelling alone. You can use the
seats cars for daytime travel between Sofia & Belgrade. This train
used to have an Istanbul-Belgrade sleeping-car, but in June
2010 this was replaced by a much more basic Turkish
couchette car with 6-bunk compartments. The greater
privacy, security & comfort of the sleeping-car is
recommended over the couchettes. The train also has several very basic 2nd class seats cars, but travel in
the seats is neither comfortable nor secure, so is not
recommended. You can double-check train
times at
http://bahn.hafas.de or using the Turkish website,
www.tcdd.gov.tr
which will also give fares, although the Turkish version of
www.tcdd.gov.tr
is often more up to date than the English version. In
the top red bar in the Turkish version, click
'Avrupa trenleri' for international trains to Europe.
Important update for Autumn/winter 2011: Latest
reports in September 2011 say that BDZ (Bulgarian Railways)
are short of serviceable sleeping-cars, and can no longer
provide a sleeping-car on this train until at least the
end of 2011. Couchettes may be available, and seats.
IMPORTANT UPDATE FROM 22 FEBRUARY 2012:
Engineering work will affect the 'Bosfor' & 'Balkan
Express' to and from
Istanbul Sirkeci from 22 February 2012 for up to two years.
The combined Balkan Express/Bosfor from
Belgrade/Sofia/Bucharest will terminate at either Kapikule
or Cerkezköy (it hasn't yet been decided which) and
a bus will take passengers on to Istanbul.
This will apply in both directions from 22 February
2012, for up to two years. This is while
railways in Istanbul are transformed with the new
Bosphorus rail tunnel, and a new underground station
in European Istanbul, serving train to both Europe
and Asia.
Feedback
would be appreciated if you go this way!
Add a
sleeper supplement
to this,
about 23 YTL (£10 or 11 euro) for a bed in 3-bed compartment (with
2nd class fare) or 35 YTL (£15 or 17 euro) for a bed in 2-bed
compartment (with 2nd class fare) or 81 YTL (£35 or 39
euro) for sole
occupancy of a single bed compartment (with 1st class
fare).
Istanbul - Belgrade:
112 YTL (£48 or 53 euro) one-way 2nd
class, 169 YTL (£72 or 80 euro) one-way 1st class.
Add a
sleeper supplement
to this,
about 42 YTL (£18 or 20 euro) for a bed in 3-bed compartment (with
2nd class fare) or 70 YTL (£30 or 33 euro) for a bed in 2-bed
compartment (with 2nd class fare) or 140 YTL (£60 or
66 euro) for sole
occupancy of a single bed compartment (with 1st class
fare).
How to buy tickets...
You can easily buy tickets at
Istanbul Sirkeci station (ticket window 4), Sofia station or
Belgrade station, but you cannot book this train
online.
You can also arrange
reservations for journeys starting in Belgrade through the
Wasteels travel agency located at Belgrade station,
Note that you will need to get off the train
briefly at the Kapikule on the Turkish frontier to have
your passport stamped (and, on arrival eastbound, buy a
Turkish visa in pounds sterling or euros at the visa
office first, see the
Turkish visa information). This is no real problem, and you are
soon back in bed. Take your valuables with you, of
course, but you can leave you main bags in your
compartment on the train.
Above: A Bulgarian sleeping-car of
the old communist-era sort.
Istanbul
► Aleppo (Syria),
Damascus, Amman (Jordan), Petra, Cairo (Egypt)
There's a daily
train & bus option from Istanbul to Syria. Take the daily
air-conditioned sleeper train through great scenery from
Istanbul Haydarpaşa station to Adana (see
above) then a bus to Aleppo in Syria. Then catch a
100mph air-conditioned train from Aleppo to Damascus. From
Damascus you can catch regular daily buses to Amman in Jordan
(a 4-5 hour journey), with onward
buses & ferries to Petra, Aqaba & Egypt. See the London
to Syria, London to Jordan &
Egypt pages for information about
each stage of this great journey. You might be
inspired by a blog about travel from the UK to Egypt this
way,
www.unplaned.com.
Sadly, the
weekly direct sleeping-car from Istanbul to Aleppo is still
suspended, and has been for a few years now, showing no sign
of resuming. There's a new Gaziantep-Aleppo train
twice a week, but as train service from Istanbul to
Gaziantep is also suspended due to long-term engineering
work, this isn't much use for travellers from Europe!
Details of all options from Istanbul to Syria are shown on
the Syria page.
A weekly
express train, the 'Trans-Asia Express', with modern
air-conditioned sleeping-berths and restaurant car, runs from Istanbul
& Ankara to Tabriz &
Tehran in Iran. See the London to
Iran page for full details.
You can travel
by air-conditioned sleeper train across Turkey through great
scenery, then bus to the Georgian border, then train to
Tbilisi. See the Caucasus page
for details.
The
Turkish/Armenian border is currently closed, and there is no
train service between Turkey and Armenia. However, you
can easily travel from Turkey to Armenia by first travelling
from Istanbul or Ankara to Tbilisi in Georgia), then
travelling from Tbilisi to Yerevan in Armenia by direct overnight
train. See the Caucasus page
for details.
You can travel by air-conditioned sleeper train across
Turkey through great scenery, then by bus to the Georgian
border, then train to Tbilisi, then by overnight train from
Tbilisi to Baku. See the
Caucasus page for details.
Istanbul &
Gaziantep
► Mosul & Baghdad (Iraq)
In February 2010, a new weekly
train started between Gaziantep in south eastern Turkey and
Mosul in northern Iraq, restoring train service between
Turkey and Iraq. The train leaves Gaziantep on
Thursdays at 21:00 arriving Mosul at 14:00 on Friday some 18
hours later. Westbound, it leaves Mosul at 12:00 on
Tuesdays, arriving Gaziantep at 05:40 next morning
(Wednesday). The fare 25 euros plus 5 euros if you
want a berth in a 4-berth couchette car. The train
cuts through a short section of Syria, so a Syrian transit
visa is required. Check security and visa information
for Iraq before even thinking of travelling there, and Mosul
has particular security issues. Unfortunately, train
service from anywhere else in Turkey to Gaziantep is still
suspended due to long-term engineering work, so even though
a Gaziantep-Iraq train has been restored, Istanbul-Gaziantep
trains haven't been, so you still can't get to Iraq
from Europe without a bus ride somewhere along the line!
Latest update April 2010: Gaziantep-Mosul train now
discontinued, permanently!
Istanbul
► Odessa (Ukraine)
Weekly passenger
ships link Istanbul with Odessa in Ukraine across the Black
Sea, taking about 36 hours. For sailing times, days
and fares, see
www.gess-tour.com/teplohod.shtml (in Russian only, but
open it in Google Chrome and use the translate facility).
The ship 'Prinses Elena' sails from Istanbul weekly on
Mondays at 18:00 arriving Odessa at 10:00 on Wednesdays.
She sails from Odessa at 20:00 on Fridays arriving Istanbul
at 10:00 on Sundays.
Fare from US$360 including cabin berth in shared cabin.
Feedback if you use
this Istanbul-Odessa ferry would be appreciated. For onwards train times to Kiev and Moscow, see
www.poezda.net.
A daily fast ferry and regular
conventional ferry link Taşucu in southern Turkey with Girne
(Kyrenia) in northern Cyprus, just north of Nicosia.
See
www.fergun.net
for ferry times, fares and booking. For train
connections from Istanbul to Taşucu via Karaman, see the
Cyprus page.
Thomas
Cook Timetables
There
are two truly remarkable books that are a 'must' for
serious overland travellers and an inspiration for
armchair travellers:
This is probably the most adventurous timetable ever
produced. It has train, bus & ferry times for every country in
Asia, Africa, North and South America and Australasia,
including non-European Russia, Asian Turkey, Mongolia, China and the
Trans-Siberian Railway. Sadly, the Nov/Dec 2010
edition was the very last to be published, but you may
still be able to buy
a copy of the final edition at Amazon.co.uk,
Overseas Timetable
Winter 2010/2011 edition.
The Thomas Cook Rail Map of
Europe...
This is the best and most comprehensive
map of train routes right across Europe, from Portugal in the
west to Istanbul, Moscow & Ukraine in the east, from Finland
in the north to Sicily & Crete in the south. High speed
&
scenic routes are highlighted. Highly recommended!
Buy online
at Amazon.co.uk with worldwide delivery. See an extract from the map
The Turkish Railways website has a good online booking
facility, now available in English. The system
will book most long distance domestic trains within Turkey,
including seats, couchettes and sleepers. You print
out your reservation details and pick up the tickets in
Turkey.
To buy tickets online in
English...
You can only book 14 days or less before
departure.
Go to the
www.tcdd.gov.tr home page and click 'English'
top right.
Hover over
'Passenger Transportation' and click 'Domestic Trains'.
Now click 'New Registration' and
register. You'll need to give a Turkish address,
so use a real address and phone number of (say) a hotel
in Istanbul. Nothing is actually sent to you, so
the address you use doesn't matter, just find an address
that it accepts. It seems to check phone area
codes against addresses, so make sure you use area phone
code '212' (Istanbul). Your password must be 8
letters or less. Registering may take a few attempts,
but persevere!
Tick the 'Non-Turkish' box when
it appears. Under 'TC Vatandaşlık No' enter your
passport number, adding zeros at the front to make 11
digits. Then click 'Giriş' (= 'enter') to
continue.
Click 'ticket sale' and either
(1) 'Sale (Choosing train)' if you know the train name
you want, or (2) 'Sale (Choosing Path)' if you only know
the route you want and it's a direct train, or (3)
'Combined Ticket' if you want (say) a multi-leg Istanbul
to Ankara ticket using a combination of normal train to
Eskisehir and high-speed train from there to Ankara.
Remember that Istanbul appears as
'Haydarpasa' and Izmir will be listed not as 'Izmir' but
as either 'Alsancak' (the station used by the Ankara
trains) or 'Basmane'.
Make the booking and pay with
your credit card.
You collect the ticket at any
main ticket office when you get to Turkey, a minimum of
1 hour before departure.
If for any reason the English
version gives you problems, it really isn't difficult to
book using the Turkish version with minimal knowledge of
Turkish using the step-by-step help below.
Feedback from
travellers who use this system would be welcome.
To check train times in Turkish...
Go to the
www.tcdd.gov.tr home page. The Turkish
version is often more up to date than the English version.
In the top red bar, click 'anahat trenleri' for
mainline trains, 'bölgesel
trenleri' for regional trains, 'Ortadogu yönlü
trenleri' for international trains to the Middle East or
'Avrupa trenleri' for international trains to Europe.
To book online in Turkish...
If you can't get it to work in
English, here's how to book in Turkish...
Remember that
you can only book 14 days or less before departure.
Go to the
www.tcdd.gov.tr home page, in the red bar
at the top click 'Bilet satiş
yerleri' then 'Online Bilet Satiş Rezervasyon'.
One report
suggests it currently works better in Firefox than
Internet Explorer, so if you have any problems, try
switching browsers.
On the almost empty page which
then appears, click the first of the 3 options at the top
of the page beginning 'TCDD Bilet Satiş...'
On the login page, click 'Yeni
Kayit' (new user)
On the
registration page, enter your details as follows (only the
compulsory items with an asterisk need to be filled in):
'Kullanici adi' = user name. Just pick one!
'Şifre' =
password (max 8 letters). Just pick one and
confirm it in the second 'Şifre' password box.
'Ad' and
'Soyad' = your first name & surname
'Dogum
tahiri' = your date of birth
'Bay' =
man, 'Bayan' = woman
In the 'Ögrenim
Durumu' section, select the first option under 'Seçiniz'
('Ilk - Orta Ögrenim') to indicate you want 'normal
fares' with no concessions.
Enter a
Turkish address in the top address box marked 'Ev Adresi:'
(only the upper address box needs to be filled in).
Pick a real address, for example a hotel in Istanbul.
In the
drop down box, pick any random Turkish city, e.g.
Istanbul as it doesn't have an 'overseas' option.
It seems
to check phone area codes against addresses, so use area
phone code '212' (Istanbul), perhaps using the real
phone number of the hotel you're using.
When
you're finished, click 'Onay' to continue.
When it
accepts your registration, it will give you a
registration confirmation number.
If you
are given a screen asking for 'TC Vatandaşlık' (Turkish
citizen ID number) ticket the 'non-Turkish' box and use
your passport number.
Once it has accepted your
registration, log on using your new user name and
password and click 'Giriş' (= enter) to
enter the reservation process.
From the next menu, select 'Bilet
Satişi' then Satiş (Tren Seçerek)' to buy tickets including reservation
if you know the train name you want, or select 'Bilet
Satişi' then 'Satiş (Parkur Seçerek)' if you only know the
route you want not the train name. Select 'Rezervasyon'
to make just a reservation without a ticket. 'Danisma'
means 'information'. 'Kombine Bilet satiş' means
'Combined ticket sales': Select this if you want
(say) a multi-leg Istanbul to Ankara ticket using a
combination of normal train to Eskisehir and high-speed
train from there to Ankara.
Remember that Istanbul appears as
'Haydarpasa' and Izmir will be listed not as 'Izmir' but
as either 'Alsancak' (the station used by the Ankara
trains) or 'Basmane'.
Find and book your train.
Yatakli = sleeper, kuşetli =
couchette. It may also offer you upper, middle or
lower berth options for these.
Bay = male, bayan = female
(your sex is necessary to book sleepers).
Once you have booked, print
off the confirmation page ('Internet Bilet Satiş Sonuc
Ekrani').
You can now pick up your
tickets up to an hour before departure from any Turkish
Railways computerised reservation office, which includes
Istanbul Sirkeci and Haydarpasa stations.
With thanks to Philip Dyer-Perry.
Feedback from
travellers who have used this system is always welcome.
www.hotelscombined.com
is probably the best hotel search system I've seen, a free search tool
which checks all the main hotel booking sites (Opodo, Expedia,
Booking.com, Hotels.com, AsiaRooms, Travelocity, LateRooms and
others) to find the cheapest hotel rates. Set up in
2005, it's probably the best place to start for booking any
hotel online in any country, worldwide.
Personal recommendations
in Istanbul...
Without a doubt, the
famous and historic
Pera Palas Hotel, where Agatha Christie, Mustafa Kemal
Attaturk and even King George V have stayed, is the most
interesting place to stay, see the section below. It
wasn't that expensive, by grand hotel standards, although
prices have risen after its recent complete refurbishment. The
nearby Grand Hotel de Londres offers similar affordable
grandeur,
www.londrahotel.net, just 35 euros for a basic single,
50 euros for a double, more for a renovated room. It's
apparently a favourite with archaeologists working in
Turkey! Alternatively, the
Yasmak Sultan
is a good choice. For a good cheap hotel in the
Sultanahmet travellers' area, try the
Park Hotel. If
you are on a tight budget and want a backpacker hostel room
or dorm bed at a rock-bottom price, see
www.hostelbookers.com.
Other hotel sites worth a look...
www.tripadvisor.com
is a huge resource, a good place to browse independent travellers' reviews of all the main hotels.
www.booking.com is my own preferred hotel booking system
(Hotels Combined being a booking site comparison system). It
has a simple interface, a good selection in most countries
worldwide, useful online customer reviews of each hotel, and
decent prices, usually shown inclusive of unavoidable extras
such as taxes (a pet hate of mine is systems that show one
price, then charge you another!).
Backpacker hostels...
If you're on a tight budget,
don't forget the hostels. For a dorm bed or an
ultra-cheap private room in backpacker hostels in most
European cities use
www.hostelbookers.com.
Travel insurance & health card...
Get travel insurance, it's essential...
Never travel without insurance from a
reliable travel insurer, with at least £1m or preferably £5m medical cover. It should also cover loss of
cash (up to a limit) and belongings, and cancellation. An annual
multi-trip policy is usually cheaper than several single-trip
policies even for just 2 or 3 trips
a year (I have an annual policy myself).
Don't expect travel insurance to bail you out of every missed
connection, but European international rail conditions of
carriage (known as the 'CIV') contain consumer protection
provisions that entitle you to travel forward by the next
available train if you miss a connection because of a delay to
the first train, irrespective of who operates which train, and
even if your ticket is in theory train-specific and
non-changeable.
Feedback from using
insurance for rail & ferry travel is always welcome. Here are some suggested insurers.
Seat61 gets a small commission if you buy through these
links.
If you're a
UK citizen travelling in Europe, you should apply for a free
European Health Insurance Card, which entitles you to free or
reduced rate health care if you become ill or get injured in
many European countries, under a reciprocal arrangement with
the NHS. This replaced the old E111 forms
as from January 2006. The EHIC card is available from
www.ehic.org.uk. It doesn't remove the need for
travel insurance, though.
Get a spare credit card, one designed for foreign travel with no currency
exchange loading & low or no ATM fees...
It costs nothing to take out an extra credit card.
If you keep it in a different part of your luggage so you're
not left stranded if
your wallet gets stolen, this is a form of extra travel insurance in itself. In addition,
some credit cards are significantly better for
overseas travel than others. Martin Lewis's
www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money explains which
UK credit cards
have the lowest currency exchange commission loadings when you buy something
overseas, and the lowest cash withdrawal fees when
you use an ATM abroad. Taking this advice
can save you quite a lot on each trip compared to using your
normal high-street bank credit card! You can save money on ATM charges and exchange rates using a
Caxton FX euro currency Visa Card, or indeed the
multi-currency 'Global Traveller' Visa Card,
find out about these cards & sign up here.
Get an international SIM card
to save on mobile data and phone calls...
Mobile phones can cost a fortune to use abroad, and if you're
not careful you can return home to find some huge bills
waiting for you. I've known people run up over £1,000 in
data charges just by leaving their iPhone connected during a
simple trip to Europe. However, if you
buy a global SIM card for your mobile phone from a company
such as
www.Go-Sim.com you can slash the cost by up to 85% and
limit any damage to the amount you have pre-paid. Go-Sim
cuts call costs in 175 countries worldwide,
and you can receive incoming calls and texts for free in 75 countries. It's pay-as-you-go, so no nasty bills
when you get home. It also allows cheap data access for laptops
& PDAs. A Go-Sim account and any credit on it doesn't
expire if it's not used between trips, unlike some
others, so a Go-Sim phone number becomes your 'global phone
number' for life.
In
the UK, try
If you live in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland or the
EU, try
If you live in the USA or Canada, try
