TRANSPORT
There are many options for transport in Ankara which are set out below. The Buradan Oraya service provides timetables and route maps for transport in Ankara as does the app Moovit.
TAXIS
Taxis are generally cheap, clean and friendly. You can call a taxi by pressing a button on a yellow box located on many electricity poles or sometimes in the foyers of buildings. They don’t usually have seat belts, or if they do they don’t have the clip part. It is customary to ride in the back. They will say hello (merhaba!), and where are you going (nereye?). All you have to do is show them a written address or say the street and possibly the number. Taxi drivers like to talk and will ask you where you are from (nerelisiniz?). Generally they are very happy to hear that you are from “Avustralya”. Make sure that if you call a taxi that you get into the one that you called (the name of the taxi group will usually be on the call box). If you get into taxi from another taxi company the drivers will get very irate! On busy roads/streets it is often easier just to hail a passing taxi rather than summon one via a button. By law, all taxis are smoke free. If your driver is smoking and it irritates you then ask him to put it out. (“Sigara yok, lütfen”)
All taxis have a meter and the driver puts it on automatically. You are not required to pay a tip in taxis but generally the fee is rounded up to the next TL or ½ TL. Taxi drivers in Ankara are uniformly honest and will often round down fares – this may not always be the case in Istanbul.
Avoid taxis that do not have a company name displayed as they are pirate taxis and if there is an incident they cannot be traced.
The app BiTaksi can help you find a taxi in Ankara or Istanbul and the app Taksiliye allows you to check taxi prices and much more.
LOCAL BUSES
Ankara has a frequent, cheap and adequate bus system. There are two main providers,
1. 'EGO' or the Government buses. You need an EGO Kart to use these buses. The cards are tricky to buy, but can be typically found in cigarette and newspaper kiosks in the Kızılay and Tunalı areas. They come in at least 15TL and 25TL denominations;
2. Halk Özel Otobus, or private buses. These run over largely similar routes to EGO buses but you buy a ticket on board from a tiny desk (2.00 TL)
Bus Routes: The EGO and Halk Özel Otobus buses run along similar routes. For example, the 112 shuttles between Kızılay and the bottom of Uĝur Mumcu just past the MNG Building where it does a U-Turn and heads back to Kızılay via Tunalı. There are bus routes marked, with numbers, on most of the bus shelters that have a glass wall.
A rule of thumb is to have an EGO Kart and change and then get on any bus that has the route number you wish (in the above example, 112 or 114). The private buses may have another number, such as 448, but also 112 or 114 (in the above case) clearly marked.
Buses in Ankara and Istanbul have destinations on the side window nearest the front entrance. You would look for Kızılay, Ulus, GOP or whatever your destination.
Buses can be very crowded in peak hour and in summer there is often a reluctance to turn on air-conditioning in the newer models. Outside these times and seasons, they offer a very frequent and cheap service.
There are other buses, for example double-decker private buses that run from places such as Oran through Kızılay and onwards.
THE DOLMUŞ
The Dolmuş (meaning: stuffed, like Dolma, but with people) is an interesting and cheap way to travel. They will stop anywhere to set down or pick up. In Istanbul, however, they can only pick up at certain marked stops.
You hail one that is going in your direction. You can either give your money to the driver (who may give you your change while talking on his mobile phone while changing gears and tooting his horn) or you can sit down, tap the shoulder of the person in front and pass your money down the line. Any change will be passed back. If it is not yours, just keep passing it back. If you sit behind the driver you may be expected to handle the fares. It can be a very communal experience. To get off, you go to the door and say in the direction of the driver, "Inecek Var [Inerrjek Varr)", or "someone wants to get off".
To use them for the first time, select one going to a destination you know, Ulus, for example. Note where the terminus is; note the destination sign in the front windscreen and then return to the same place, choose a dolmuş with the same destination options and then alight using the tips provided above.
Dolmuş run all through Turkey. They are a wonderful Turkish institution, but bear in mind the previously mentioned caveats concerning peak hour and climate, as they are invariably never air-conditioned.
ANKARAY, ANKARA METRO and TREN BANLIYO
Ankara has two modern rail transit systems and an ageing east-west suburban rail system. The former have stops in Kızılay and Kolej that many people may notice. EGO cards work on Ankaray and Ankara Metro but you need separate tickets for the Tren Banliyo (same price, 2.00 TL)
It is often not appreciated that you can get to ASTI (Long Distance Bus Terminal) and ANKAMall by Ankaray. A new line is being built west and will incorporate a stop at the Armada Shopping Centre.
The Tren Banliyo is probably less useful, running from Mamak in the East to Sincan in Ankara's West. Trains run at about 15 or 20 minute intervals, are slow and quite old. There is a stop at the main Ankara Station (Ankara Gar).
LONG DISTANCE TRAINS
There is a good modern rail service between Ankara and Istanbul, Konya, Izmir, Eskisehir and Adana. Tickets and information can be ordered and paid for over the internet (http://www.tcdd.gov.tr/home/detail/?id=2518), but you must collect your ticket from a counter at any station. You may also find useful information on train travel on this website at http://www.seat61.com/Turkey2.htm#.VHRKC_mUf9s
LONG DISTANCE BUSES
Turkey has an excellent network of modern long distance buses. There are large companies, whose buses you soon recognise out on the road, like Varan, Metro, Kamıl Koç, Vangolu etc. There are offices in Atakule (for Varan, in the Atakule complex), and there are websites such as http://www.biletall.com/Otobus-Bileti where you can reserve a ticket.
Many buses depart from ASTI on the Konya Yolu, near ANKAMALL. ASTI is a multi level complex with separate arrival and departure floors. Parking is available within the complex (entry travelling towards Konya, not Samsun) but you often get caught in special no-stop lanes where everyone stops. Always check where your bus departs from or arrives to. Varan, for example, has its own terminal on the Eskişehir Yolu (travelling west).
There are some 50 counters selling (and spruiking) tickets to any point imaginable. To get to Göreme in Cappadocia, for example, the Nevşehir Bus Company, at around counter 50 or so, will oblige. With this company, for example, a bus goes to Nevşehir and then there is a Dolmuş transfer (included in the price) to the Otogar in Göreme. This is a useful service for visitors who wish to see Cappadocia on their own.
There are two Otogars in Istanbul, one on each side of the Bosphorus. The European Otogar is between Aksaray and Atatürk Airport and is connected by the light rail service running from the Airport to Aksaray. Connection can be made with the excellent Istanbul Tramway at Aksaray. Taxis, too, have been known to be at the Otogars.
TAXIS
Taxis are generally cheap, clean and friendly. You can call a taxi by pressing a button on a yellow box located on many electricity poles or sometimes in the foyers of buildings. They don’t usually have seat belts, or if they do they don’t have the clip part. It is customary to ride in the back. They will say hello (merhaba!), and where are you going (nereye?). All you have to do is show them a written address or say the street and possibly the number. Taxi drivers like to talk and will ask you where you are from (nerelisiniz?). Generally they are very happy to hear that you are from “Avustralya”. Make sure that if you call a taxi that you get into the one that you called (the name of the taxi group will usually be on the call box). If you get into taxi from another taxi company the drivers will get very irate! On busy roads/streets it is often easier just to hail a passing taxi rather than summon one via a button. By law, all taxis are smoke free. If your driver is smoking and it irritates you then ask him to put it out. (“Sigara yok, lütfen”)
All taxis have a meter and the driver puts it on automatically. You are not required to pay a tip in taxis but generally the fee is rounded up to the next TL or ½ TL. Taxi drivers in Ankara are uniformly honest and will often round down fares – this may not always be the case in Istanbul.
Avoid taxis that do not have a company name displayed as they are pirate taxis and if there is an incident they cannot be traced.
The app BiTaksi can help you find a taxi in Ankara or Istanbul and the app Taksiliye allows you to check taxi prices and much more.
LOCAL BUSES
Ankara has a frequent, cheap and adequate bus system. There are two main providers,
1. 'EGO' or the Government buses. You need an EGO Kart to use these buses. The cards are tricky to buy, but can be typically found in cigarette and newspaper kiosks in the Kızılay and Tunalı areas. They come in at least 15TL and 25TL denominations;
2. Halk Özel Otobus, or private buses. These run over largely similar routes to EGO buses but you buy a ticket on board from a tiny desk (2.00 TL)
Bus Routes: The EGO and Halk Özel Otobus buses run along similar routes. For example, the 112 shuttles between Kızılay and the bottom of Uĝur Mumcu just past the MNG Building where it does a U-Turn and heads back to Kızılay via Tunalı. There are bus routes marked, with numbers, on most of the bus shelters that have a glass wall.
A rule of thumb is to have an EGO Kart and change and then get on any bus that has the route number you wish (in the above example, 112 or 114). The private buses may have another number, such as 448, but also 112 or 114 (in the above case) clearly marked.
Buses in Ankara and Istanbul have destinations on the side window nearest the front entrance. You would look for Kızılay, Ulus, GOP or whatever your destination.
Buses can be very crowded in peak hour and in summer there is often a reluctance to turn on air-conditioning in the newer models. Outside these times and seasons, they offer a very frequent and cheap service.
There are other buses, for example double-decker private buses that run from places such as Oran through Kızılay and onwards.
THE DOLMUŞ
The Dolmuş (meaning: stuffed, like Dolma, but with people) is an interesting and cheap way to travel. They will stop anywhere to set down or pick up. In Istanbul, however, they can only pick up at certain marked stops.
You hail one that is going in your direction. You can either give your money to the driver (who may give you your change while talking on his mobile phone while changing gears and tooting his horn) or you can sit down, tap the shoulder of the person in front and pass your money down the line. Any change will be passed back. If it is not yours, just keep passing it back. If you sit behind the driver you may be expected to handle the fares. It can be a very communal experience. To get off, you go to the door and say in the direction of the driver, "Inecek Var [Inerrjek Varr)", or "someone wants to get off".
To use them for the first time, select one going to a destination you know, Ulus, for example. Note where the terminus is; note the destination sign in the front windscreen and then return to the same place, choose a dolmuş with the same destination options and then alight using the tips provided above.
Dolmuş run all through Turkey. They are a wonderful Turkish institution, but bear in mind the previously mentioned caveats concerning peak hour and climate, as they are invariably never air-conditioned.
ANKARAY, ANKARA METRO and TREN BANLIYO
Ankara has two modern rail transit systems and an ageing east-west suburban rail system. The former have stops in Kızılay and Kolej that many people may notice. EGO cards work on Ankaray and Ankara Metro but you need separate tickets for the Tren Banliyo (same price, 2.00 TL)
It is often not appreciated that you can get to ASTI (Long Distance Bus Terminal) and ANKAMall by Ankaray. A new line is being built west and will incorporate a stop at the Armada Shopping Centre.
The Tren Banliyo is probably less useful, running from Mamak in the East to Sincan in Ankara's West. Trains run at about 15 or 20 minute intervals, are slow and quite old. There is a stop at the main Ankara Station (Ankara Gar).
LONG DISTANCE TRAINS
There is a good modern rail service between Ankara and Istanbul, Konya, Izmir, Eskisehir and Adana. Tickets and information can be ordered and paid for over the internet (http://www.tcdd.gov.tr/home/detail/?id=2518), but you must collect your ticket from a counter at any station. You may also find useful information on train travel on this website at http://www.seat61.com/Turkey2.htm#.VHRKC_mUf9s
LONG DISTANCE BUSES
Turkey has an excellent network of modern long distance buses. There are large companies, whose buses you soon recognise out on the road, like Varan, Metro, Kamıl Koç, Vangolu etc. There are offices in Atakule (for Varan, in the Atakule complex), and there are websites such as http://www.biletall.com/Otobus-Bileti where you can reserve a ticket.
Many buses depart from ASTI on the Konya Yolu, near ANKAMALL. ASTI is a multi level complex with separate arrival and departure floors. Parking is available within the complex (entry travelling towards Konya, not Samsun) but you often get caught in special no-stop lanes where everyone stops. Always check where your bus departs from or arrives to. Varan, for example, has its own terminal on the Eskişehir Yolu (travelling west).
There are some 50 counters selling (and spruiking) tickets to any point imaginable. To get to Göreme in Cappadocia, for example, the Nevşehir Bus Company, at around counter 50 or so, will oblige. With this company, for example, a bus goes to Nevşehir and then there is a Dolmuş transfer (included in the price) to the Otogar in Göreme. This is a useful service for visitors who wish to see Cappadocia on their own.
There are two Otogars in Istanbul, one on each side of the Bosphorus. The European Otogar is between Aksaray and Atatürk Airport and is connected by the light rail service running from the Airport to Aksaray. Connection can be made with the excellent Istanbul Tramway at Aksaray. Taxis, too, have been known to be at the Otogars.