Transport Around Turkey
If you’ve done any research into Turkey as a country, or if you’ve ever attempted to find out how to get from one spot to another, you’ll know that we’re talking about a large area of land. Turkey is massive, and even to fly from one end to the other can take you two hours or so!
So, if you want to venture around a little, perhaps if you don’t want to stay in one spot, how do you get from A to B?
Thankfully there are many options to talk about transport around Turkey, and they’re quite low in cost too.
Flights
You can fly from one large spot to another quite easily in Turkey, and it’s just like taking a bus! For the most part, you don’t pay for luggage internally either! Big named airlines such as Pegasus, Sun Express, and Turkish Airlines operate around the country, as well as out of it, and this means that you can travel in comfort, much faster than going by road!
You can book online, where you’ll find the best prices, or you can head to an agent on the street, where you’ll be able to book tickets too. Turkish Airlines even feed you for free!
Buses
Despite the ease and cheapness of flying, many people still take the long distance bus from city to city and town to town. This takes quite a long time, but it is relatively comfortable compared to long distance coach travel that you might be used to. There are some large named bus companies who run regularly to the big destinations in the country, such as to the south coast resorts, Istanbul, Izmir, Ankara, and to the south eastern towns and cities too. It’s not unusual for locals to travel for endless hours on the bus – if you’re trying to get from Izmir to Batman, in the south, it will take you around 26 hours! In this case, sleeping is the only option!
You will be fed snacks regularly and tea and coffee, and you’ll get a seat back TV with Wi-Fi to, so it’s not all bad! Big named tour operators to look out for include Metro, Pamukkale, and Kamil Koc.
Driving
You can drive around Turkey, but you will need to keep your passport with you at all times, your driving licence, and your insurance papers, plus your visa information too. You could be stopped at any time by the Jandarma, which is the army police. This is nothing to be alarmed about, buses are stopped regularly and you will see a solider getting onto the bus, taking everyone’s national ID card and passports, checking them, and then returning them, before letting you go on your way. The Jandarma are just carrying out random checks, and you shouldn’t be worried, so just give your ID and let them do their thing.
The roads in Turkey are quite good, and you’ll find some fantastic motorway stretches, particularly around the large cities, such as Izmir and Istanbul. There are some toll roads, so that’s something to be aware of. If you venture away from the main towns and cities, the roads can become windy, especially as you get closer to the sea, or into the central regions with the large mountain ranges. In this case, keep your wits about you, always stick to the speed limit, and drive with caution. Yes, some locals do drive quite crazily, but that doesn’t mean you have to follow suit!
Trains
You won’t see that many trains in and around Turkey, but they do operate. Train travel can often stop at many different towns and cities before you arrive at your destination, so it can end up taking you longer, but the scenery along the way is certainly beautiful, and you’ll travel in comfort.
Not all towns and cities have train access, but places such as Istanbul, Izmir, Aydin, and over towards the south eastern regions, certainly do.
As you can see, getting around Turkey isn’t hard, so you should definitely look towards exploring this beautiful country a little more!
