Taxi!
If you want to avoid the hassle of consulting the map, consulting the bus charts, doing numerous transfers and hunting for a kiosk to buy a ticket, then a taxi is for you. Of course, it’s more expensive than the bus or the tram, but it does away with the inconveniences connected to the other public means of transport. But all in all, it’s not that expensive. There usually is a flag-down rate, with an additional fee for each tenth of a kilometer.
Other things you should know:
- If you need a taxi, ask your hotel concierge or the bar man to call one for you.
- Avoid taxis that line up at the airport or bus station. Also avoid taxis from touristy areas such as Sultanahmet. These usually charge more than taxis you can hail off the street.
- Yellow taxis are the most reliable. The taxis with other colors are usually from other cities and run at a rating system different than the system in Istanbul.
- Always ask the driver to use the meter before the start of the ride. When the driver refuses to use the meter, it would usually be because he wants to charge you with a fixed price – one that is usually higher than the actually cost based on the meter. You can simply leave and take another taxi.
- When paying, take note of the bill you handed to the driver. One scam would be that the driver would pretend that you handed him a 5 lira note when it fact you gave him a 50 lira note.
- There is a premium charge for taking the taxi at nighttime – this is about 50% higher than rates during the day. “Nighttime” here would mean midnight until 6:00 in the morning. If you’re riding from 6:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m., check that the meter flashes the word “Gunduz” when it starts. When riding from 12:00 midnight to 5:59 p.m., the word flashed should be “Gece”.
- Be prepared for heavy traffic, which is normal in Istanbul.
Dolmus
This is another version of the taxi. Like the normal taxi, these are yellow in color, but with a Dolmus sign at the top. This is actually like a bus, but in smaller proportions. There are definite routes and rates for every kind of dolmus. You share the taxi with other passengers. The usual number of passengers is 8. Prepare for a bit of a wait, as they will not leave until the taxi is filled up. And that is where the name dolmus came from. Dolmus is Turkish for “full”. The fare rate for the dolmus is usually higher than that of the buses. If you want to get off you can just say “inecek var”, which means this is my stop.
Here are some of the routes that the various dolmuses:
- Kadikoy to Uskudar (Stops at the ferry port)
- Kadikoy to Bostanci (Stops at the Bostanci ferry port)
- Kadikoy to Taksim
- Taksim to Eminonu (Stops at the Ataturk Cultural Center)
- Taksim to Aksaray (Stops near the Taksim Square, at Tarlabasi Avenue)
- Taksim to Tesvikiye (Stops at Taksim square)
- Nisantasi to Besiktas (Stops at the ferry port)