Getting from Istanbul Airport to the city

The turnstile that looks like a scam and is not

The M11 fare is distance-based, and the gates handle that in a way nobody warns you about.

• On entry the turnstile deducts the full maximum fare.
• When you tap out at your destination, the difference is refunded to the card.
• If you tap in with barely enough credit for your actual journey, the gate will refuse you even though you can afford the trip you intend to make. Load more than you think you need.

The result is that the number on the display at the airport is not what the journey costs. That is by design.

Getting an Istanbulkart

• Buy it from the machines at the airport metro station. They take Turkish lira and bank cards.
• The card costs about 165 TRY before you load any credit, and a single ride on the flat fare is 42 TRY. A one-off ticket without a card costs 60 TRY, so the card pays for itself quickly.
• It works on the metro, buses, the metrobus, trams and the ferries - which in Istanbul means everything.
• One card can pay for several people on most services, though tapping through a metro turnstile is one person at a time.

The M11

• Airport to Gayrettepe, on the European side, in roughly 30 to 35 minutes.
• Gayrettepe connects to the M2 line for Taksim, Sisli and the Golden Horn.
• The station is beneath the terminal.

Havaist coaches

• Comfortable, 24 hours, and running to most parts of the city.
• Cash is not accepted. Pay with a contactless bank card on board, through the Havaist app, online, or with an Istanbulkart.
• Fares vary a lot by destination and Turkish prices move with inflation - read them on the operator's own channel rather than from a guide.

Two Istanbul airports

Sabiha Gokcen (SAW) is on the Asian side of the Bosphorus and is where most low-cost flights land. Getting between the two is a serious cross-city journey. It has its own page here.