Open main menu

Changes

Istanbul

10 bytes added, 01:23, 16 September 2010
no edit summary
====Bus 83O====
You can take bus 83O for 1,50 TL from Taksim Square to the big bust station ''Bayrampaşa Otogar'' on the European side, which is just along the highway motorway to Edirne / Bulgaria. Take the bus to the last stop, get off and walk back to the entrance. From there, you'll be hitching directly along the highwaymotorway. A sign works well here, and there is plenty of space for drivers to pull over since a lot of busses and minibusses stop for passengers just outside). While exiting, you'll notice a petrol station to your right that is a possible alternative starting point where you can ask drivers for lifts (or just use the toilet).
====Metro====
Get into the metro at Taksim Square and take a train towards ''Atatürk Oto Sanayi''. This is currently the last station for the trains departing from Taksim. One ticket costs 1,50 TL (~0,75 Euro). At the ''Sanayi Mahallesi'' station (not to be confused with Atatürk Oto Sanayi which is the last station en route), get out of the Metro. You will find yourself along the ''Büyükdere Caddesi'' avenue. Walk along the main street direction north (watch out for big signs that are leading drivers to the highway motorway to Edirne. After 3-4 min and passing a military camp you'll see the [[on-ramp]]. Unfortunately, there is no way to cross the street from right to left then by attempting suicide, because the main street is mostly full of fast traffic. If you are not brave enough to do so, walk another 10 min further and cross the street over a bridge and walk back the way along the other side.
Or better, you may get off the metro at ''İTÜ-Ayazağa'' station (the first one after ''Sanayi Mahallesi''), cross the street on an pedestrian overpass close to that station's exit and then walk ''south'' for about 10 min to get to the on ramp to the motorway. You will have to walk past the military park on the right side of the road, and then you will see the big highway motorway below.
Go somewhat down the ramp and you can find a good spot to stand and stop cars. Also try to get short lifts (even some kilometres can help in Istanbul).
After getting a lift at the on-ramp, you'll notice that a few kilometers further on the highwaymotorway, there is a [[toll booth]] where you can easily catch rides (the breadsellers might help you get a lift to your preferred destination).
====Other buses====
Buses 98H (from Bakırköy, a suburb in the west) and 146T (from Yenikapı and Aksaray, near Sultanahmet) among others pass the [[toll booth]]. These buses pass adjacent the westbound lanes of E80. On on the other side of the highway motorway is 'TEM Hospital' Crossing the highway motorway here is not challenging.
=== Westwards towards [[Greece]] (via [[Tekirdag]]) ===
Take the suburban train (''banliyö treni'') from the very city center (Sirkeci) towards Halkali. It's only 1,50 lira. Get off at ''Küçükçekmece''. If the train station is 6 o'clock, walk in the direction of 12 o'clock in order to find the on ramp towards [[Tekirdag]]. This is the same road that will take you directly to Greece, although you will still be well within the congested highways motorways of suburban Istanbul. Be aware that you cannot cross this border walking! You have to find somebody to take you across. Knowing [[German]] will help you a lot to explain that you need help to cross the border due to many drivers with a Turkish-German background.
Another way to get to city's western outskirts is to take the metro from Aksaray close to Sultanahmet in the old city centre, and ride it till ''Yenibosna'' station (1.50 TL pp, roughly €0.75). Then, take the public bus #448 (''Yenibosna Metro-Mimarsinan''; an extra 1.50 TL pp), which departs from the stops right next to metro station. You will ride this bus for a ''long'' time, roughly an hour, until where it quits the highway motorway west and turns to right in a cloverleaf interchange near the village of [[Mimarsinan]], where the bus eventually heads. Get off at the stop right at the very location bus turns right, this is where as much west as you can get on Istanbul's public transportation. Then walk a bit further from the junction, and start thumbing. Hitchhiker [[User:Vidimian|Vidimian]] tried this route in 2002 or 2003, when he wasn't very experienced at hitchhiking. The first lift offer arrived so late (after about 2 hours of thumbing) and the following lifts were so short (and, again, late) that he could make it to [[Tekirdağ]], a mere 120 km away from this hitching spot, after the night falls, despite starting early in the morning.
For those who rather not try hitchhiking through the overgrown western suburbs of the city, a slightly more expensive but a lot easier way to follow this westbound route to Greece may be to take the morning train to [[Muratlı]] from Sirkeci station in central Istanbul, and then hitch your way forward to Greece via [[Tekirdağ]] from there. See [[Muratlı]] article for full details.
[[User:Garthelgard|Garthelgard]] got offered rides to [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] and the [[Syria]]n border from that petrol station.
For Mediterranean cities such as [[Antalya]], you should also take this eastwards route till [[Adapazari]], then head south via highway motorway D650 from there.
=== South towards [[Yalova]]/[[Bursa]] ===
autopatrolled, Check users
3,448
edits