Traffic – right-hand.
Turkey is covered by an extensive network of roads, which can reach all corners of the country. An expressway is opened between Istanbul and Ankara. Trails E80, E90 and the Trans-European highway are the main roads leading to Turkey from Europe and connecting it with Iran and Iraq. Roads in the south-western part of Turkey and in the tourist centers are of high quality. There are many petrol stations of world famous companies (Mobil, Shell, British Petroleum, Total, Elf), and Turkish (Petrol Ofisi and Turk petrol).
Buses. Highways are the most popular way for travelling on long distances, and hundreds of transportation companies offers express routes from metropolitan areas in all the most remote cities. Leading transporters are next companies: Pamukkale, Ulusoy, Varan and Kamil Koc. The bus network is well developed, in most cases, buses are comfortable and air-conditioned, and the fare is relatively inexpensive.
Intracity buses, “dolmush”, are similar to route buses, they ply on short distances between neighboring cities and suburbs.
Taxi in Turkey can be found everywhere, it is a very spread transport. You can call taxi from any place in the city and get the car in few minutes. In resort zones there are two taxi fare – day and night. Taxi ride at night are 1,5 – 2 times more expensive than in a day time.
Trains. Another inexpensive and popular kind of transport is a rail road (TC Devlet Demiryollari, TCDD, DDY), which crosses Turkey from east to west. Special attention is paid to the railway development, its network is constantly expanding; besides, each year are entering into operation new high-speed trains. Travelling by train usually takes more time than by bus, but to travel between Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, is much easier. Tickets for all high-speed trains must be ordered or purchased in advance. There are a number of discounts: on return tickets – up to 20%, for students and couples – from 20 to 30%, and so on.
Metro and tram in Turkey are presented only in big cities such as Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Antalya.
Aircrafts. Air traffic every year becomes more and more accessible, this contributes the development of the Turkish aviation industry and a growing number of local airlines. The largest airline is Turkish Airlines (Turk Hava Yollari), recognized as the best airline in Europe at the end of 2012, operates both domestically and internationally. You can also use the services of airlines Onur Air, Sunexpress, Pegasus Airlines, Atlasjet. Almost 50 airports are located in all major cities of the country and time of flight between any two cities in Turkey does not exceed one hour, regardless of distance.
Main airports of Turkey are Esenboga in Ankara, Ataturk airport and Sabiha Gokcen Airport in Istanbul, Adnan Menderes in Izmir and airports in Antalya, Dalaman and Bodrum.
Water transport in Turkey. The main ports of Turkey are Antalya, Bandirma, Istanbul, Izmir, Mersin and Marmaris. In Istanbul, there are three major passenger ports: Kabataş Ferry Docks, Yenikapı Docks and Kadıköy Docks. From here there are domestic flights between Turkish cities. Popular, for example, the routes of “Istanbul – Bursa”, “Istanbul – Yalova” and others. Also, the ferry is a popular inland transport, ships ply between ports of Istanbul, allowing you to avoid traffic jams on the bridges. You can pay for such a trip with a usual jetton.
Car ferries run between cities such as Bodrum, Izmir, Marmaris, but from Istanbul there are only passenger trips. Also, from Turkey to the Greek islands are going private ferries. In summer there are daily departure, spring and autumn – several times a week, in winter the frequency is reduced to one weekly cruise.
Car rental. In Turkey, many companies provides services for car rental. They are located at airports, ports, some large hotels, in tourist areas. In order to take in Turkey car for rent, you must provide a passport and driving lisence. The company provides car documents and insurance. To rent a car in Turkey will cost about 25-75 € per day (depending on the class of the car). Mileage are not limited.
