Sabiha Gökçen Airport (SAW) is located on the Asian side of Istanbul, about 40 km from the city centre.

The journey to tourist areas usually takes 60 to 100 minutes, even longer in heavy traffic.

You can choose from:

• 🚇 Metro M4 - the cheapest transport (to the centre but always with a transfer)
• 🚌 Havabus - direct connection to Taksim
• 🚌 C ity buses (IETT) - only for the surrounding districts, unusable for tourists
• 🚕 Taxi/Uber - most convenient

👉 If you're visiting Istanbul for the first time, also check out the Istanbul guide for neighbourhood tips and itineraries.

Find a hotel in central Istanbul

What transport to choose from SAW Airport to the city centre?

The key is where you are going and how much you want to spend.

If you're travelling with large luggage or 3 or more, I would opt for a personal taxi to any part of the city, despite its high price.

• Taksim and the area around Galata Tower
  • 🚌 Havabus bus - direct connection
    • 90 minutes
    • 440 try
  • 🚖 Taxi has no price advantage over bus even with more people
    • 75 minutes
    • 2 600 try
  • 🚇 + 🛳️ + 🚟 the cheapest is the combination of metro M4 + ferry Kadiköy - Kabatas + cable car F1
    • 105 to 120 minutes
    • 142 try with Istanbulkart / 230 try with your own contactless card
• Sultanahmet - area around the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia
  • 🚇 + 🚉 + 🚋 the fastest and cheapest is the combination of metro M4 (Ayrilik Cesmesi station) + underground train Marmaray to Sirkeci + tram T1
    • 115 to 130 minutes
    • approx. 160 try with Istanbulkart (Marmara train cannot be paid with your own contactless card)
  • 🚖 taxi has a long route with high price but with luggage is the only comfortable option
    • 90 to 120 minutes
    • 2 900 try

Complete SAW airport transport overview

Route	Destinations	Price	Travel time
Metro M4	Kadiköy	42 try	55 minutes
Havabus	Taksim	440 try	90 minutes
Bus E3	Levent	126 try	100 minutes

Prices are quoted when paying with Istanbulkart. For details and my own experience on whether buying an Istanbulkart is worth it, see the article Transport in Istanbul.

Metro to Istanbul

Sabiha Gökcen Airport is connected to the Asian Bosphorus waterfront by the M4 metro line, which terminates at Kadiköy station.

The metro runs between SAW Airport and Kadiköy for about 60 minutes.

• Tip for a hotel at Kadiköy harbour: My Dora Hotel ***

Fares and tickets

There are 3 types of fares.

IstanbulKart

You can buy an IstanbulKart from the blue machine for 165 try, which is a non-refundable card issuance fee (you cannot use it to pay fares).

You can also choose any amount of money to load onto the card at the time of purchase. This will then be debited depending on how many times you take public transport.

The Istanbulcard is valid for the metro, IETT buses, trams, cable cars and ferries. One metro ride costs 42 try regardless of the distance travelled.

From Kadiköy Station, you can reach the other side of the river every 20 minutes or so on many ferry routes throughout the day and night. The cruise takes about 10 minutes and costs about 59 try with an Istanbulkart or 110 try with your own card.

Paying with a contactless card

You can also pay your fare on the metro, buses, ferries and trams with your own card. In this case, the fare is 60 try.

It is therefore worth paying by card if you will travel less than 9 times by public transport during your trip to Istanbul, or even less if you travel by ferry.

When paying with a contactless card, you do not need to buy tickets from a ticket machine. Just put your card to the turnstile when you enter the station.

Unlimited day tickets

You can buy a 1-day, 3-day, 5-day, 7-day or 15-day ticket at the yellow ticket machine, with which you can make an unlimited number of public transport journeys.

However, the prices are high and not worth it for most tourists.

The journey to the historic centre of Istanbul by metro with a ferry transfer takes about 105 to 120 minutes and costs about 142 try when paying with an IstanbulKart, or 230 try when paying with your own contactless card.

How does the journey to the city centre work?

From Kadiköy you can reach the European part:

• 🚢 by ferry from Kadiköy station, about once every 20 minutes there are boats on 3 main routes
  • Eminönü in the historic Fatih district (direction tram T1 to the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and other sights)
  • Kabatas, where you change to the F1 cable car towards Taksim
  • Karaköy, a popular neighbourhood for accommodation and transferring to the historic Tünel cable car towards Galata Tower
  • Ferries can be paid for with a regular Istanbulkart or for about 2x the price with your own contactless card, see info in the article Transport in Istanbul
• 🚆 Marmaray train (tunnel under Bosphorus) from Ayrilik Cesmesi station
  • go to Sirkeci station where there is a transfer to the T1 tram to the historical monuments
  • the train can only be paid for via Istanbulkart

Frequencies and timetables

• Interval - 8 minutes
• Official Metro website: www.metro.istanbul
• Official IETT website (buses, trams, boats, cable cars): iett.istanbul/en

The first metro departs from the terminus always at 6:00, the last one from the airport departs at 23:59.

Havabus buses to the city centre (without transfer)

If you're heading to the city centre in the Taksim area and don't want to change from the metro to the ferry, you can use the special Havabüs airport bus service (previously operated by Havaist).

Line SG-2 goes directly to Taksim Square. You can buy your ticket at the Havabüs kiosk in the arrivals hall or from the driver/conductor when you board the bus.

• Travel time Taksim - 90 minutes (morning/night even under 45 minutes)
• Frequency - every 30 minutes
• Price - 440 try
• First bus from Taksim Square - 3:30
• Last bus from airport - 0:30
• Official website: havabus.com
• Tip for hotel right by the bus stop - Ramada By Wyndham İstanbul Taksim ****

The SG-1 line runs to Kadiköy station, but due to the identical route with the metro and the significantly higher ticket price (280 try), it is only worth using at times when the metro is not yet/already running. The first connection from Kadiköy to the airport runs at 4:15, the last from the airport to Kadiköy at 0:30.

Public buses (IETT)

An alternative way to mostly reach the surrounding neighbourhoods is by public transport buses.

Individual fares cost 126 try for express lines, or 42 try for line 16S when purchasing an IstanbulKart.

When paying directly with a contactless card inside the bus, the fare is 180 try for express lines or 60 try for other lines.

Yellow IstanbulKart machines, where only card payments can be made, can be found at bus stops.

Most of the city's buses go to neighbourhoods on the Asian side of the city, such as Bostanci or Kadiköy Ferry Terminal. These lines are not worthwhile once the metro is operational, as they run significantly longer for the same money.

The direct line E3 may be worthwhile (map and timetable: iett.istanbul/Route-E3) to the Besiktas district (Levent metro station) in the European part if, for example, you have a hotel booked in the area and don't want to change from the metro to the ferry and another metro.

Metro and bus map

To Istanbul Airport (IST)

Direct connections between Istanbul's two airports are provided by the HAVAIST-13 express bus service.

Detailed information, prices and online ticketing can be found on the website: hava.ist.

Buses on this route run approximately once every 90 minutes and the journey time is between 120 and 150 minutes depending on the traffic situation.

The ticket costs 480 try.

Taxi

There are three types of taxis to the airport, graded according to the quality of the car. For the average tourist, the cheapest orange taxis are sufficient. They are strictly metered and usually you cannot pay by card, only cash.

Prices are set by district. For example, in Taksim Square you can pay depending on traffic 2 500 try to 2 900 try.

The way Uber and Bolt work at Istanbul Airport is that you only call the aforementioned official taxi through them.

Rent a car

We definitely don't recommend renting a car for travelling around Istanbul, but if you want to head straight to the Turkish countryside from the airport, renting a car is a great option.

Average weekly rental prices range from 250 eur.

The counters of many multinational and local car rental companies can be found right in the arrivals hall.

Intercity buses

In front of the terminal, between the bus stops for buses to Istanbul, there is also a stop for direct buses to 4 major Turkish cities:

• Bursa - 1 to 2 times per hour by BBBUS
• Sakarya - 1x per hour by Havasak
• Izmit - 1 to 2 times per hour by Kocaeli Bus
• Balikesir - 1x per hour BTT line 250