How To Reach Turkey

The seat of the erstwhile Ottoman empire, today Turkey is a modern country of mosques and bridges, minarets and sky-scrapers. With its natural endowment of varied landscapes, Turkey straddles the two continents of Asia and Europe, and has a unique mix of cultures. In the ancient days, this country was a part of the silk route and also accessible via sea. Today though, you can reach Turkey by a lot of other comfortable means; like flying. Or driving from Europe/Asia. Read on to find out about each in detail.

When planning a trip from India, your best bet is to book a flight to Turkey. Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport will be your landing spot when you fly from Indian cities like Mumbai, Delhi or Bangalore. There are options of direct as well as stopover flights with the shortest time of travel being 6 hours from Mumbai. Some of the major airlines flying to Turkey from India are Air India, Ukraine International Airlines, Oman Air, Aeroflot, Turkish Airlines etc. You will find ample taxis and cars on hire outside the airport when you reach there.

The land of Turks is very well connected with both Asia as well as Europe when it comes to railway lines. Even though trains are not the most preferred mode of transport here anymore, you will find that they run just as frequently and efficiently. When coming in from Asia, you will have to do a bit of juggling across waterways to get to the train. Lake Van Express runs between Asia and Istanbul thrice a week, while trains from Europe come to Turkey too, bringing European travellers. There is also an efficient network of railways for domestic travel in the country but people always prefer air. Yet, you will find people happily traveling in high speed trains on the routes between Istanbul, Konya, Ankara and Eskisehir. Book a few days in advance, especially when traveling during holidays or festive season.

There are a few roads that lead to Turkey but we do not live in the silk route era and we do not like discomfort. Therefore, we do not recommend road travel from India to Turkey. However, for those who are interested, it is a long 11-12 days journey, requiring visa for all countries that fall in-between; including Pakistan, Quetta, Zahedan and Teheran. Roughly, by car you will be travelling a total of 8000 km between India and Turkey.

Turkey boasts of many beautiful ports that become docking points for quite a few Mediterranean cruises. You can avail one of the these cruises that dock in either Istanbul, Bodrum, Izmir or Antalya. Locally, ferries and yachts are used to cross streams and straits, like in Istanbul, where ferries ply between the two shores of River Bosporus.

In Turkey, the best and fastest way of commute is by flight. However, you can book trains or even buses for road journeys or hire a car. In a town or city, you are welcome to hail a yellow cab or just keep a reserved car for your transport. For smaller towns, bikes and cycles will be available for hire to explore the town in all its glory.