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#1
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Istanbul to Ankara?
Please forgive my newbie questions but I would appreciate some
guidance. My family needs to stop in Ankara for a few days en route between India and USA. Time frame is late December - not good for low fares. A first check with local travel agents shows that Istanbul would be much more affordable stopover. In that case, what would be the best options for going to Ankara from there? How long do trains or buses take and are they safe/comfortable? Of course it is possible that these agents don't have the right picture. If Ankara can be inserted in an affordable way, please let me know. [Please leave soc.culture.Indian in the group list. That is where I can most reliably check the replies. Thanks.] |
#2
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Istanbul to Ankara?
My family needs to stop in Ankara for a few days en route between India
and USA. Time frame is late December - not good for low fares. A first check with local travel agents shows that Istanbul would be much more affordable stopover. In that case, what would be the best options for going to Ankara from there? How long do trains or buses take and are they safe/comfortable? It's very cheap on the bus. About six hours, I think. (Almost every time I've done it, I've been on way somewhere further east, so I didn't take in exactly how long it took). There are two ways to get the bus. The simplest is to get the metro from the airport to the main bus station (otogar). This takes only a few minutes. BUT the bus to Ankara will go via Harem on the Asian side, and may take two hours of very boring choked motorways to get there (worst at rush hour). You can cut that out by getting the metro to Zeytinburnu, switching to the tram, getting off at Eminonu, and then getting the ferry to Harem so you can start from there. Sounds complicated (and you might not want to deal with the tram if you have a lot of luggage) but it'll be a lot faster. You could also fly, internal flights are pretty cheap. The train is supposed to be good but I've never managed to book a seat on it. You would have to do the same transport-switching to get to the train station on the Asian side (Haydarpasa - get the ferry from Eminonu going to Kadikoy, it stops at Haydarpasa first). I guess if you're used to Indian public transport, even the worst Turkey can throw at you is going to feel like being chauffeured in a limo. ==== j a c k at c a m p i n . m e . u k === http://www.campin.me.uk ==== Jack Campin, 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland == mob 07800 739 557 CD-ROMs and free stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, and Mac logic fonts |
#4
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Istanbul to Ankara?
Thank you so much. They'll be traveling from India to US for a few
months, so will have heavy luggage. The wish to see a friend in Ankara who is in poor health and cannot travel to Istanbul himself. So I'd like to find a comfortable travel option. (You are right that they are used to worse commute in India. However, they know the place, have people to help them, and travel much lighter on domestic trips, so this is a very different situation.) They could stay in Istanbul a night or two, and take a bus/train when traffic is less problematic. You said internal flights are pretty cheap. Are they cheaper if bought in Turkey? Is there a travel website I could use in English? Thanks. Jack Campin - bogus address wrote: My family needs to stop in Ankara for a few days en route between India and USA. Time frame is late December - not good for low fares. A first check with local travel agents shows that Istanbul would be much more affordable stopover. In that case, what would be the best options for going to Ankara from there? How long do trains or buses take and are they safe/comfortable? It's very cheap on the bus. About six hours, I think. (Almost every time I've done it, I've been on way somewhere further east, so I didn't take in exactly how long it took). There are two ways to get the bus. The simplest is to get the metro from the airport to the main bus station (otogar). This takes only a few minutes. BUT the bus to Ankara will go via Harem on the Asian side, and may take two hours of very boring choked motorways to get there (worst at rush hour). You can cut that out by getting the metro to Zeytinburnu, switching to the tram, getting off at Eminonu, and then getting the ferry to Harem so you can start from there. Sounds complicated (and you might not want to deal with the tram if you have a lot of luggage) but it'll be a lot faster. You could also fly, internal flights are pretty cheap. The train is supposed to be good but I've never managed to book a seat on it. You would have to do the same transport-switching to get to the train station on the Asian side (Haydarpasa - get the ferry from Eminonu going to Kadikoy, it stops at Haydarpasa first). I guess if you're used to Indian public transport, even the worst Turkey can throw at you is going to feel like being chauffeured in a limo. ==== j a c k at c a m p i n . m e . u k === http://www.campin.me.uk ==== Jack Campin, 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland == mob 07800 739 557 CD-ROMs and free stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, and Mac logic fonts |
#5
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Istanbul to Ankara?
"Ajanta" wrote in message ... Thank you so much. They'll be traveling from India to US for a few months, so will have heavy luggage. The wish to see a friend in Ankara who is in poor health and cannot travel to Istanbul himself. So I'd like to find a comfortable travel option. They could stay in Istanbul a night or two, and take a bus/train when traffic is less problematic. You said internal flights are pretty cheap. Are they cheaper if bought in Turkey? Is there a travel website I could use in English? Turkey travel info can be found he- http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/trans/index.html Regards Gerry |
#6
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Istanbul to Ankara?
Thank you so much. They'll be traveling from India to US for a few
months, so will have heavy luggage. The wish to see a friend in Ankara who is in poor health and cannot travel to Istanbul himself. So I'd like to find a comfortable travel option. In that case getting a bus from the otogar will be easiest. The first bit of the trip round the outskirts of Istanbul is not that interesting but they can just sleep. Turkish long-haul buses are mostly very good. The way the otogar is laid out, it's a horseshoe shape of bus company offices with pedestrian access on the inside and bus stances on the outside. The companies are roughly grouped by the destination they aerve. It's run like a street market, people will come up and try to get you use their company. They won't rip you off but it does help to have an idea of what you want. Two companies with consistently good buses are Kamil Koc and Pamukkale. There are restaurants and shops in the block in the centre of the horseshoe - these are MUCH better value than the airport (where everything is outrageously overpriced). The metro between the airport and otogar is very easy to use. They could stay in Istanbul a night or two, and take a bus/train when traffic is less problematic. I'd suggest they do that on the way back. They'd have to negotiate Istanbul's transport system to get to a hotel and it would be easier to locate something suitable once they know how things work. And they'd get more out of Istanbul that way - they shouldn't miss the opportunity to see round it properly. You said internal flights are pretty cheap. Are they cheaper if bought in Turkey? Is there a travel website I could use in English? You can buy them on the web from the THY site at the same price you'd pay in Turkey. My girlfriend (who speaks no Turkish) has done it a couple of times. The other airlines doing internal flights in Turkey tend to have flaky websites, fly at weird times of day, and are generally not worth the savings to deal with. Booking trains, on the other hand, is a pain in the bum. There isn't enough capacity on the Istanbul-Ankara route so it seems they ration the service by making it hard to book. ==== j a c k at c a m p i n . m e . u k === http://www.campin.me.uk ==== Jack Campin, 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland == mob 07800 739 557 CD-ROMs and free stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, and Mac logic fonts |
#7
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Istanbul to Ankara?
Jack Campin - bogus address wrote:
The way the otogar is laid out, it's a horseshoe shape of bus company offices with pedestrian access on the inside and bus stances on the outside. The companies are roughly grouped by the destination they aerve. It's run like a street market, people will come up and try to get you use their company. They won't rip you off but it does help to have an idea of what you want. Two companies with consistently good buses are Kamil Koc and Pamukkale. There are restaurants and shops in the block in the centre of the horseshoe - these are MUCH better value than the airport (where everything is outrageously overpriced). The metro between the airport and otogar is very easy to use. ... You can buy [domestic air tickets] on the web from the THY site at the same price you'd pay in Turkey. My girlfriend (who speaks no Turkish) has done it a couple of times. The other airlines doing internal flights in Turkey tend to have flaky websites, fly at weird times of day, and are generally not worth the savings to deal with. Booking trains, on the other hand, is a pain in the bum. There isn't enough capacity on the Istanbul-Ankara route so it seems they ration the service by making it hard to book. Thanks. All this info is extremely useful. If prices seem reasonable, we might just fly to Ankara, but try for a couple days sight-seeing stop in Istanbul on the way back. Is there a safe way to store luggage for a few days at IST? I mean they don't really need all that stuff for a side trip to Ankara. |
#8
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Istanbul to Ankara?
Is there a safe way to store luggage for a few days at IST? I mean
they don't really need all that stuff for a side trip to Ankara. Not that I know of, but I tend to travel light anyway. Domestic flights in Turkey tend to have high baggage allowances so it might not be a problem. ==== j a c k at c a m p i n . m e . u k === http://www.campin.me.uk ==== Jack Campin, 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland == mob 07800 739 557 CD-ROMs and free stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, and Mac logic fonts |
#9
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Istanbul to Ankara?
On Jun 4, 6:34 am, Ajanta wrote:
Jack Campin - bogus address wrote: The way the otogar is laid out, it's a horseshoe shape of bus company offices with pedestrian access on the inside and bus stances on the outside. The companies are roughly grouped by the destination they aerve. It's run like a street market, people will come up and try to get you use their company. They won't rip you off but it does help to have an idea of what you want. Two companies with consistently good buses are Kamil Koc and Pamukkale. There are restaurants and shops in the block in the centre of the horseshoe - these are MUCH better value than the airport (where everything is outrageously overpriced). The metro between the airport and otogar is very easy to use. ... You can buy [domestic air tickets] on the web from the THY site at the same price you'd pay in Turkey. My girlfriend (who speaks no Turkish) has done it a couple of times. The other airlines doing internal flights in Turkey tend to have flaky websites, fly at weird times of day, and are generally not worth the savings to deal with. Booking trains, on the other hand, is a pain in the bum. There isn't enough capacity on the Istanbul-Ankara route so it seems they ration the service by making it hard to book. Thanks. All this info is extremely useful. If prices seem reasonable, we might just fly to Ankara, but try for a couple days sight-seeing stop in Istanbul on the way back. Is there a safe way to store luggage for a few days at IST? I mean they don't really need all that stuff for a side trip to Ankara. We rode the night train from Ankara to Istanbul last month for $106 for a two person sleeper. A comfortable and relative inexpensive to cover the distance especially since we didnt have to pay for lodging for the night. We also rode busses in Turkey. Busses are comfortable but the 5 hour ride to 6 hour ride seemed awfully long. Especially given that there was a 4 hour stretch without a bathroom stop. Steve G |
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