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Tainan
Joined: 01 Apr 2009
Posts: 120
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 Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2011 1:43 am Post subject: Six hours in Istanbul? |
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Hi Guys,
Sorry to bother you, but I have a rather delicate situation and I think only someone who really knows Istanbul or has recently been from the airport to downtown can help. I'm flying from New York to Seoul with a six-hour layover in Istanbul: the flight arrives in Istanbul at ten in the morning and leaves for Seoul at four in the afternoon. That's way too long to just sit in an airport (especially after sitting on the plane for ten hours and before sitting on another plane for another ten hours!) but it seems a little short for any real activity. I would have to 1. Go through customs, 2. Get a Turkish visa, 3. Find transportation, 4. Get to downtown. 5. Have an hour or two to look at Hagia Sophia or something, and 6. Get back to the airport, go through customs again, etc. Realistic? A nightmare? Any advice is appreciated! Thanks! |
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_smaug
Joined: 08 Sep 2010
Posts: 92
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| Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2011 5:20 am Post subject: Re: Six hours in Istanbul? |
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| Tainan wrote: |
Hi Guys,
Sorry to bother you, but I have a rather delicate situation and I think only someone who really knows Istanbul or has recently been from the airport to downtown can help. I'm flying from New York to Seoul with a six-hour layover in Istanbul: the flight arrives in Istanbul at ten in the morning and leaves for Seoul at four in the afternoon. That's way too long to just sit in an airport (especially after sitting on the plane for ten hours and before sitting on another plane for another ten hours!) but it seems a little short for any real activity. I would have to 1. Go through customs, 2. Get a Turkish visa, 3. Find transportation, 4. Get to downtown. 5. Have an hour or two to look at Hagia Sophia or something, and 6. Get back to the airport, go through customs again, etc. Realistic? A nightmare? Any advice is appreciated! Thanks! |
My experience: Customs is fast. Visa is fast. Step outside, take a cab: 30TL and as many minutes downtown. Avoid the guys inside the airport offering transfer services like the plague. You could be at Hagia Sophia is 90 minutes from the time you get off the plane -- depending on traffic.
Traffic being the wildcard around here.
Also depends on what time of day you're traveling. Mid-day (noon-three) is pretty good. Mornings and evenings can be a nightmare . . . I'm talkin' ghouls and zombies chasing you through fields of razor wire. Naked. That kind of nightmare. |
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gloomyGumi
Joined: 29 Dec 2010
Posts: 353
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| Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2011 7:16 am Post subject: |
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| I'm talkin' ghouls and zombies chasing you through fields of razor wire. Naked. That kind of nightmare. |
nothing worse than understatements. |
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PC Parrot
Joined: 11 Dec 2009
Posts: 459
Location: Moral Police Station
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| Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2011 7:30 am Post subject: |
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Or there is always the tramway from the airport.
Change lines at Zeytinburnu and take the tramway from there to Sultan Ahmet.
Costs a lot less and theoretically avoids the traffic. |
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gloomyGumi
Joined: 29 Dec 2010
Posts: 353
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| Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2011 7:38 am Post subject: |
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| PC Parrot wrote: |
Or there is always the tramway from the airport.
Change lines at Zeytinburnu and take the tramway from there to Sultan Ahmet.
Costs a lot less and theoretically avoids the traffic. |
awesome. Zeytinburnu to Sultan it is.  |
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delal
Joined: 04 Oct 2005
Posts: 251
Location: N Turkey
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| Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2011 5:54 pm Post subject: |
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| Er, underground is definitely better than a taxi, having done it recently with a small kid in tow even, for all the above reasons, but doesn't that depend on which airport you are flying into? |
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PC Parrot
Joined: 11 Dec 2009
Posts: 459
Location: Moral Police Station
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| Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2011 4:23 am Post subject: |
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Can you even fly to South Korea from Sabiha Gokcen airport? I seriously doubt it.
It's normally for low cost airlines to/from Europe and the UAE ... not for long haul flights. |
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delal
Joined: 04 Oct 2005
Posts: 251
Location: N Turkey
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| Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2011 12:24 pm Post subject: |
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| No need to be sarcastic |
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PC Parrot
Joined: 11 Dec 2009
Posts: 459
Location: Moral Police Station
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| Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2011 12:37 pm Post subject: |
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What ????
You questioned our assumption that the OP was flying into Ataturk Airport ... and I provided a pretty obvious basis for our assumption ..
Where is the sarcasm ?? |
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NurC
Joined: 17 Mar 2011
Posts: 16
Location: Istanbul/Texas
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| Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2011 9:15 pm Post subject: |
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| Please be careful about getting back to the airport to check in a full one hour before your scheduled departure. I met two people in Istanbul just last month that were refused boarding because they missed the 60 minute cut off. And please don't underestimate the power of bad traffic and long passport check lines. |
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lucia79
Joined: 18 Jun 2011
Posts: 156
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| Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 9:30 am Post subject: Re: Six hours in Istanbul? |
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| Tainan wrote: |
| I would have to 1. Go through customs, 2. Get a Turkish visa, 3. Find transportation, 4. Get to downtown. 5. Have an hour or two to look at Hagia Sophia or something, and 6. Get back to the airport, go through customs again, etc. Realistic? A nightmare? Any advice is appreciated! Thanks! |
It's realistic. Picking up a tourist visa and going through customs doesn't take that long to do. The tourist visa window is right next to customs so you don't have to walk all over. I don't think you'll have any real traffic issues to deal with at 10am (I never had for all the time I lived in Istanbul), but I'd be concerned about the afternoon traffic, that can always be a wild card. You should have enough time to see the Hagia Sophia, the Basilica Cisterns and do a little walking around before having to head back to the airport. |
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