Dirt Cheap Istanbul

Istanbul has two airports, the big one – Atatürk Airport – on the European side and the smaller one – Sabiha Gökcen Airport – on the Asian side. Consider the location of your hotel when you book your flight and that most of the Sightseeing-stuff is on the European side.

Most of the cheap airlines fly to Sabiha Gökcen Airport and with being very small, over 2 Million passengers a year is quite a number (Atatürk has around 20 Million a year). Don’t expect any architectural highlights, as both airports are built to be functional, not pretty. If you love airport-shopping, pick Atatürk Airport!
Atatürk Airport (ataturkairport.com) is 25 km (15 miles) away from Taksim, Sabiha Gökcen Airport (www.sgairport.com) 50 km (31 miles).

Cheap travel to the city centre from the airport
The easiest and most comfortable way is to take the airport-bus provided by a company called Havas (speak: Hawash). No matter at which airport you arrive, it costs 10 Liras (one way, approx. 5 Euro) and takes 1 hour (Atatürk Airport) up to 1 ½ hours (Sabiha Gökcen Airport) to go to Taksim. From there you can take a cab to your final destination (cabs are really cheap in Turkey!). The last bus departs at 1 am, the first at 4 am. Consider this, because most of the cheap flights to Sabiha Gökcen Airport arrive during 1-4 o’clock in the night and you might have to spent a little time waiting for the next bus, if you don’t want to take a Cab (Atatürk Airport – Taksim: 35 YTL = 17 Euro, Sabiha Gökcen – Taksim: 80 YTL = 40 Euro).

Unfortunately there is still no Metro-Line to Sabiha Gökcen Airport, but there sure is one to Atatürk Airport. It doesn’t go directly to the city centre Taksim though. First you have to take the Metro, switch at Zeytinburnu to the Tram and then again at Kabatas to the so called “Füniküler” (= funicular). As you see, the Turks like it complicated. The public transport is really cheap, only 1, 40 YTL (= 70 cent) for one trip. You either buy coins or the so called Akbil (smartcard) but as you have to use three different vehicles for the way from the airport to Taksim you also have to pay those 1, 40 YTL three times. The public transport operates from 5 am to 10 pm, so, just a little advice, stick to the Havas busses!

Visiting European cities on a tight budget? Check out our other dirt cheap guides!

Amsterdam budget travel guide.
Barcelona budget travel guide.
Berlin budget travel guide.
Birmingham budget travel guide.
Copenhagen budget travel guide.
London budget travel guide.
Madrid budget travel guide.
Rome budget travel guide.
Vienna budget travel guide.