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.]

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

Ajanta wrote in news:030620081435411343%
:



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.

[P

Most likely your local agent know more than others in the only way that
counts, booking travel from your home base. The rules are all different
depending on the point of origin so if you have a good source in general
at home you should trust them on air fare structure (but not necessarily
the local knoweldge that Jack just gave about the nature ofthe bus trip
to Ankara :-)

--
Joseph Coulter, cruises and vacations
www.josephcoulter.com

877 832 2021
904 631 8863 cell

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

"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

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

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.

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

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 didn’t 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