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

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

You can choose from:

• 🚇 Metro M4 – the cheapest option (but you’ll always need to change trains to get to the city centre)
• 🚌 Havabus – direct service to Taksim
• 🚌 City buses (IETT) – only for the surrounding neighbourhoods; not suitable for tourists
• 🚕 Taxi / Uber – the most comfortable

👉 If you’re visiting Istanbul for the first time, have a look at the article‘Istanbul in 3 days: the best route around the city’.

Find a hotel in the centre of Istanbul

What’s the best way to get from SAW Airport to the city centre?

The main factors to consider are where you’re heading and how much you want to spend.

If you’re travelling with large suitcases or there are three or more of you, I’d personally opt for a taxi to any part of the city, despite the high cost.

• Taksimand the area around Galata Tower
  • 🚌Havabus – direct service
    • 90 minutes
    • 440 try (payment by bank card 540 try)
  • 🚖 Unlike the bus, a taxi isn’t better value for money, even with several people
    • 75 minutes
    • 2 600 try
  • 🚇 + 🛳️ + 🚟 The cheapest option is a combination of the M4 metro, the Kadiköy–Kabataș ferry and the F1 cable car
    • 105 to 120 minutes
    • 142 try with an Istanbulkart / 230 try with your own contactless card
• Sultanahmet– the area around the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia
  • 🚇 + 🚉 + 🚋 The quickest and cheapest option is a combination of the M4 metro (Ayrilik Cesmesi station) + the Marmaray underground train to Sirkeci + the T1 tram
    • 115 to 130 minutes
    • approx. 160 try with an Istanbulkart (you cannot pay for the Marmaray train with your own contactless card)
  • 🚖 A taxi involves a long journey and is expensive, but with luggage it’s the only comfortable option
    • 90 to 120 minutes
    • 2 900 try

A complete guide to transport from SAW Airport

Route	Destination	Price	Journey time
Metro M4	Kadiköy	42 try	55 minutes
Havabus	Taksim	440 try	90 minutes
E3 bus	Levent	126 try	100 minutes

The prices shown are for payment with an Istanbulkart. I describe the details and my own experience of whether it’s worth buying an Istanbulkart in the article ‘Transport in Istanbul’.

The Metro in Istanbul

Sabiha Gökçen Airport is connected to the Asian shore of the Bosphorus by the M4 metro line, which terminates at Kadıköy station.

The journey by metro between SAW Airport and Kadiköy takes approximately 60 minutes.

• A hotel recommendation near the Kadiköy ferry terminal: My Dora Hotel ***

Fares and tickets

There are three types of fares.

IstanbulKart

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

When you buy the card, you can choose any amount to top up onto it. This amount will then be deducted as and when you use public transport.

The IstanbulKart is valid on the metro, IETT buses, trams, cable cars and ferries. A single metro journey costs 42 try regardless of the distance travelled.

From Kadiköy station, you can reach the opposite bank day and night roughly every 20 minutes by ferry on numerous routes. The crossing takes around 10 minutes and costs approximately 59 try with an Istanbulkart or 110 try with your own card.

Contactless card payment

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

Paying by card is therefore worth it if you travel by public transport fewer than 9 times during your trip to Istanbul, or even fewer times if you’re travelling by ferry.

When paying with a contactless card, you do not need to buy tickets from a machine. Simply tap your card against the turnstile when entering the station.

Unlimited all-day tickets

At the yellow ticket machine, you can buy 1-day, 3-day, 5-day, 7-day or 15-day tickets, which allow you to make an unlimited number of journeys on public transport.

However, the prices are high and aren’t worth it for most tourists.

The journey to Istanbul’s historic centre by metro, with a change to the ferry, takes approximately 105 to 120 minutes and costs 142 trywhen 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 side:

• 🚢 by ferry from Kadiköy station; ferries run approximately once every 20 minutes on three main routes
  • Eminönü in the historic district of Fatih (take the T1 tram towards the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and other sights)
  • Kabataș, where you can change to the F1 funicular towards Taksim
  • Karaköy, a popular neighbourhood for accommodation and a transfer to the historic Tünel funicular towards Galata Tower
  • Ferries can be paid for using a standard Istanbulkart or, at roughly double the price, with your own contactless card; see the information in the article‘Transport in Istanbul’
• 🚆 by Marmaray train (tunnel under the Bosphorus) from Ayrilik Cesmesi station
  • travel to Sirkeci station, where you can change to the T1 tram to reach the historic sights
  • You can only pay for the train using an Istanbulkart

Frequency and timetables

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

The first metro departs from the terminus at 6.00 am, and the last one leaves the airport at 11.59 pm.

Havabus buses to the city centre (no changes required)

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

The SG-2 service goesdirectly to Taksim Square. You can buy a ticket at the Havabüs kiosk in the arrivals hall or on the bus from the driver or conductor when you board. 

• Journey time to Taksim – 90 minutes (less than 45 minutes in the morning and at night)
• Frequency – every 30 minutes
• Fare – 440 try in cash / 540 try by bank card
• First bus from Taksim Square – 3.30 am
• Last bus from the airport – 0:30
• Official website:havabus.com
• Hotel tip right by the bus stop – Ramada By Wyndham İstanbul Taksim ****

The SG-1 line runs to Kadiköy station, but as it follows the same route as the metro and the fare is significantly higher (280 try), it’s only worth using at times when the metro isn’t running yet or has already stopped running. The first service from Kadiköy to the airport leaves at 4.15 am, and the last service from the airport to Kadiköy leaves at 0.30 am.

Public transport buses (IETT)

An alternative way of travelling, mainly to the surrounding neighbourhoods, is by public transport buses.

A single journey costs 126 try on express routes, or 42 tryon route 16S when using an IstanbulKart.

When paying directly by contactless card on board the bus, the fare is 180 try for express routes, or 60 tryfor other routes.

Yellow IstanbulKart vending machines, which accept card payments only, can be found at bus stops.

Most city buses run to districts on the Asian side of the city, such as Bostanci or the Kadiköy ferry terminal. These routes are not worth taking once the metro is operational, as they take significantly longer for the same price.

ThedirectE3 route(map and timetable: iett.istanbul/Route-E3) to the Besiktas district (Levent metro station) on the European side, if, for example, you have booked a hotel in that area and do not want to have to change from the metro to the ferry and then onto another metro.

Metro and bus map

To Istanbul Airport (IST)

The HAVAIST-13 express bus service provides a direct link between Istanbul’s two airports.

For detailed information, prices and the option to buy tickets online, please visit 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 traffic conditions.

A ticket costs 480 try.

Taxi

There are three types of taxi serving the airport, categorised by the quality of the vehicle. For the average tourist, the cheapest orange taxis are more than adequate. Fares are charged strictly by the meter and it is usually not possible to pay by card; only cash is accepted.

Fares are set according to individual districts. For example, from Taksim Square, depending on traffic, you’ll pay between2 500 try and 2 900 try.

Uber and Bolt operate at Istanbul Airport in such a way that you can only use them to book the official taxis mentioned above.

Car hire

We definitely do not recommend hiring a car for getting around Istanbul, but if you want to head straight from the airport into the Turkish countryside, hiring a car is, on the other hand, a great option.

Average prices for a week’s hire range from 250 eur.

You’ll find the counters of many multinational and local car hire companies 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 services to four major Turkish cities:

• Bursa– 1–2 times an hour, operated by BBBUS
• Sakarya– once an hour, operated by Havasak
• Izmit– 1 to 2 times an hour, operated by Kocaeli Bus
• Balikesir– once an hour on route 250, operated by BTT