Smart spending in Istanbul / notes of Lale about city transportation:

Firstly, may I remind you that as of today (Dec 2010), we; as KSG Tours, have four 12-seater air-conditioned, very comfortable vans and a few private cars to be in your service. Please feel free to check our transportation services. This is at: 4 www.ksg-tasimacilik.com

Istanbul is a city of 15+ million people and there are over 3.5 million vehicles in traffic each day. So, yes, if you do not know what you are doing, you may waste lots of time in city traffic.

Starting with City Taxis:
yellow cabs in good shape... all with taximeters... having very reasonable tariffs... looking good so far !
Well... hassles with taxi drivers in Istanbul are even in guide books now !!! Even we; locals, find it hard to deal with taxi drivers, specially in rush-hour times.
Drivers do not speak English, some having no understanding of Euros or US Dollars and on top of this, many do not know the city well.

The good thing is; at any time of the day & night, guests arriving to Istanbul Airports will find taxis.
Before taking your first taxi in Istanbul, be sure to have:
• enough local currency (Turkish lira) with you,
• a good plan or detailed address of the hotel/location you need your driver to take you.

Giving an idea, from Ataturk Airport to your hotel in the Old City or Taksim area, taking a taxi will cost you appx 25-30 Euros, maximum.

Trams:
Running from Kabatas...
This is so nice... in times when not crowded.
Guests arriving Istanbul on board cruise ships, find these trams to be very useful since the location is where the starting point of the line is... this means; you are able to find a seat and isolate yourself a little bit from the crowds of the next stops.
The tram passes from the heart of the Old City... perfect !
Spending the day in the Old City... perfect !!
But then, when it is time to get back to the port...
it is not anymore that perfect !!!
unless you get a pleasure of being sandwiched...
Using trams from the starting points of the line is great. However, taking these trams from the middle stations may be a life-time experience !

Public City Buses:
Just please pass... do not even want to talk about this.

Ferries:
Saving Istanbulians from spending 10 years of their life-time in city traffic... Since the city streches on both continents, divided by the Bosphorus, the best means of travel is always taking ferries from one side of the city to the other, enjoying the view and having a cup of tea & coffee while cruising.
There are over 50 active ferry piers on both sides of the city, making life easier and more pleasant for Istanbulians.