Air Travel

Most international and domestic flights arrive at Istanbul's Atatürk Airport, although an increasing number of both domestic and international flights on low-cost carriers fly into the newer Sabiha Gökçen Airport on the Asian side of the city.

There is a metro link directly from Atatürk Airport to the Yenikapı transit hub, where you can transfer to the Taksim-bound metro or the Marmaray rail line. The ride from the airport to Taksim takes about 50 minutes, give or take, and costs from around 3.60 TL with an İstanbulkart to 8 TL with single-ride tokens. Quicker, if not as cheap, is to take one of the regular shuttle buses operated by the Havataş company (11 TL to Taksim) or a taxi (approximately 55 TL to Taksim). Taxis and shuttle buses can be found at the main exit from the terminal building. There is no rail link to Sabiha Gökçen Airport, so you’ll need to take a Havataş shuttle bus (14 TL to Taksim) or a taxi (www.havatas.com).