A Day of Exploring Istanbul Public Transport

A late May 2025 trip gave me at least a short opportunity to explore the Turkish city Istanbul. I felt rather exhausted and the summer heat was already approaching, so that I went for a “typical me” way of having a trip around it. My trip exploring most of the public transport options there took about four to five hours. I hope you like this kind of format, which is somewhere between a trip report, travel guide – and a Pictured Story.

Out of this trip, there will be two transportation spin-off posts, the nostalgic tramways and the funicular lines. Thus, I am having them in this posting in a more brief way, while others like the ferries are a bit more detailed.

 

Istanbul Public Transport – Tariff

I was quite surprised how difficult it was to find out information about Istanbul public transport tariffs. The easiest way to get around is the Instanbulkart. It is a pre-paid balance card, from which your fares are deducted. However, there is a 130 TRY (some 3 Euro) card fee if you need a new one. If you just have a few trips, you can easily touch your card or mobile phone at the gates of the transport. The fares are higher, though. As I did not read about that option before, I was quite surprised that the ticket machine offered a one day travel pass as well (some 500 TRY). For my trip, it was likely not the most economic, but a very convenient option.

Typically fares do not differ by the distance you travel. There are gates you pass when you enter, which take you a certain fare. When you leave, the gates only prevent others from using it as an entry. You don’t need to touch your card again. At buses, nostalgic trams (but not at modern trams), you touch your card at entrance. In nostalgic trams, you enter in the front and disembark in the rear of the car.

 

My (Half) Day Tour with Istanbul Public Transport

My trip started with the most traditional (and important) way of commuting through a city: I walked from my hotel, the Hilton Istanbul Bosphorus, to the famous Taksim Square, where my trip in fact began. It took me a while to find the first line which was on my list for that day – which also meant that I had some time to explore the square.

 

The Istanbul Funiculars – F1 Route

There are four funicular connections within the hilly Istanbul, my trip included two of them. The first one, the F1, is a rather modern one, built by the Austrian Doppelmay Garaventa Group and opened in 2006. It connects Taksim Square with Kabatas right at the Bosporus. The very modern and convenient ride is also a key element of public transport for the locals, as Kabatas offers a couple of ferry connections as well. The ride itself just took less than three minutes. Only one of the four Istanbul Funiculars, F3, is not an underground cable car.

 

Modern Tram Riding – Tram T1

I had two options to proceed from Kabatas. I just missed a ferry I would have loved to catch. Thus, I first went for one of the modern tram connections. For my trip, connecting to the T1 tram was very convenient, as Kabatas is in fact a terminal stop of that line. Thus, I could conveniently enter an empty tram and took a five stop, a little less than 15 minute ride along the Bosporus and across the Golden Horn before finally reaching Sirkeci.

The tram more and more filled with people, passing a couple of places with felt very interesting to put on the bucket list for a later visit of Istanbul, like the Tophane Pavillion or the Molla Celebi mosque. I loved watching the locals fishing from the bridge over the Golden Horn before leaving at my next stop, which gave me a brief visit at the Istanbul Railway Museum located in the picturesque station.

 

Commuter Rail – Marmaray Train

Istanbul is the city between two continents, Europe and Asia. The Bosporus is indeed splitting the city – and nothing illustrates that better than having a look at the public transport map. The network is very dense on the European side and reasonably well on the Asian side, regarding higher speed options like metros and trams. The connection between the two parts of the city, though, is majorly done by ferries. There are just two exceptions: a high speed bus using one of the Northern bridges – and the Marmaray Train, which is in fact a commuter train using the tunnel under the large waterway.

Unfortunately, I just had limited chance to take pictures from that part of my trip. First of all, the connection is very popular and the train was packed. Secondly, the car I rode was unfortunately full of graffiti. I just two two stations Eastbound to the Ayrilik Cesmesi station. At disembarking, I set foot on the Asian part of Istanbul for the first time. By the way: the first picture below proofs that I initially went to the wrong platform.

 

The Metro – M4

Even though the metro system is somehow the backbone of public transport in Istanbul, it played a comparably subordinate role on my trip. I just had one station with the M4 metro, from Ayrilik Cesmesi to Kadiköy. The latter is also the terminus of the metro line, which incepts at the Asian airport of Istanbul, Sabiha Gökcen (SAW, majorly used by airlines like A Jet or Pegasus).

The metro system feels very modern and well organized. In general, the walking distance when you transfer within a station can be long and bothering – the system reminded me a bit of London. In the British capital, it also sometimes feels more profitable to walk one or two stops on the ground rather than walking underground for a transfer. I really enjoyed my short M4 ride arriving at a rather vibrant part of the town.

 

Nostalgic Tramway – The T3 Kadıköy-Moda Nostalgia Tramway

As a public transport nerd, there were two reasons for going to Kadiköy. There are ferry connections from there as well as the tramway T3. The circular tramway is one of two nostalgic lines in Istanbul and thus great fun for tourists. As T3 is significantly less touristic and also much more practical for the locals. It was overall the more fun ride of the two ones (I come to the other one later). Another nice feature is, of course, that it is a circular line only operating in clockwise direction. I really enjoyed watching Istanbul life fro the nostalgic setting. At the end of the trip I stepped into the center of Kadiköy and especially enjoyed some Turkish food before heading to my next experience.

 

The Ferry To Karaköy

If you think about public transport in Istanbul, you have to think about ferries as well. Kadiköy offers a wide range of ferry connections. Thus, I might have chosen a better itinerary than I did. There are numerous quays there, all heading to different directions within the city. Finding the one to Karaköy, where I wanted to go next, likely took me about the same time as the ferry ride itself. At the right quay, there were also different operators. They all worked with the Istanbulkart, so it was overall convenient. There are even drink and snack services on board and I could enjoy the views of the city. I am sure you can make much more out of the ferry connections as a tourist than I did. My connection first stopped at Eminönü on the South pier of the Golden Horn before I disembarked at Karaköy.

 

The Istanbul Funiculars – F2 (The Tünel)

From a touristic perspective, I somehow saved the two best ones for last. You could also say that I was silly and should have done the trip in exactly the opposite direction. I would have likely shared these experiences with significantly less tourists. A short walk from the Karaköy pier is the entry to Tünel or the F2 funicular. The 573 meter long connection is a very special one. One reason (which you might not get during a visit) is that it is in fact rubber-tyred. Being opened in January 1875 already, this one is the second oldest subway tunnel in the world still operating.

Nonetheless, due to the steep hill connection, it is also used by the locals nowadays and not just a tourist attraction. It was still an amazing experience riding this one. I left the F2 at Beyoglu station, right at the end of Istiklal Avenue, likely the most important shopping street of Istanbul. My aim, however, was not to swipe my credit card a few times, but to just have a few steps (less than 100 meters) for the next, maybe most touristic piece of public transport in the city.

 

Nostalgic Tramway – The T2 Taksim-Tünel Nostalgia Tramway

As a tourist, you somehow have to ride the T2 – or Taksim-Tünel Nostalgia Tramway. You could alternative simply walk the 1.6 kilometers to Taksim Square, enjoying all the shops along the avenue – or take the metro M2, which does the connection significantly quicker. However, you would miss the trolley ride with original cars, which have been used until 1966, when this line has been operational. In fact, T2 has been re-opened majorly for touristic reasons in 1990. If you want to go for a ride, be there early and try to enter at one of the terminal station. I was lucky to get a seat and felt sorry for the few locals, who really felt to need that connection for their life. Nonetheless, I have to state that this ride is iconic and passes a lovely scenery until you are back at Taksim Square.

 

The Bus… Did not work out

I originally wanted to take the bus from Taksim Square back to my hotel to complete that trip. Unfortunately, I simply did not find the access to the Northbound bus stop located in the underground tunnel. I also did not have in mind that I could have included one of the two public cable cars, TF1 up to the Macka hill on my trip – the station was just a few steps away from the hotel.

Another measure of public transport are of course taxis. I have to say that especially for airport transfer, this one confused me a bit. First of all, the prices given by the taxameters and by Uber don’t at all match the prices I have found in the internet before. Secondly, if you want to have an Uber drive from the airport, there seems to be some sort of “licence wars” ongoing. The police at the airport prevented me to enter a cab I booked through the app. Nonetheless, this overall seems to be a reliable way of getting around the city as well.

 

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