Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport (SAW) to the city
The M4 metro runs to Kadikoy in 52 minutes on the flat 42 TRY fare, but Sultanahmet is on the other continent.
- Sabiha Gokcen is on the Asian side of Istanbul. If your hotel is in Sultanahmet, Beyoglu or Taksim, you are crossing the Bosphorus after you leave the airport - that is the part people do not budget for.
- The M4 metro runs from the terminal to Kadikoy in about 52 minutes for 42 TRY, the standard Istanbul flat fare.
- You need an Istanbulkart to ride it. The card itself costs about 165 TRY before you load any credit, and it is what the metro, the ferries and the buses all read.
- The M4 runs around the clock from Friday to Sunday and roughly 06:00 to midnight on other days.
- Havabus coaches are the no-card option, paid in cash on board, taking an hour to Kadikoy and up to an hour and a half to Taksim depending on traffic.
The thing to understand before you land
Istanbul has two airports and they are on different continents. Istanbul Airport (IST) is the big one, on the European side. Sabiha Gokcen (SAW), where the low-cost airlines fly, is on the Asian side, about 50 km from the historic centre with the Bosphorus in between.
That does not make it a bad airport - the metro is quick and cheap - but every route into the European side involves a crossing, and no timetable headline includes it.
The metro
The M4 line runs from the terminal to Kadikoy in about 52 minutes. The fare is the standard Istanbul flat fare, 42 TRY in 2026, which is remarkable value for the distance. Trains run 24 hours from Friday to Sunday, and roughly 06:00 to midnight on the other days.
You cannot pay cash on the metro. Buy an Istanbulkart from a machine in the terminal - the card is about 165 TRY before credit - and load it. The same card works on the ferries and buses, which is exactly what you will need next.
From Kadikoy, the ferry across to Eminonu or Karakoy is the pleasant way onto the European side, and the Marmaray rail tunnel is the fast one.
Havabus
If you would rather not deal with a card at midnight, Havabus coaches run to Kadikoy and Taksim, paid in cash on board. Reckon on an hour to Kadikoy and up to an hour and a half to Taksim, entirely depending on traffic, which in Istanbul is not a small variable.
Turkish fares move with inflation faster than any guide can keep up with, so read the price off the operator's own site rather than trusting a figure quoted last season.
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