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=== First option ===
* '''==== From parking on motorway O4'''====Take a ferry to ''Kadıköy'' on Asian side. Next to the ferry terminal there is a bus terminal where you have 2 options:1) Take bus 130 and after half an hour or so you'll arrive to a Gas station where the bus stops (near Gebze). Get down and from here you can hitch-hike either asking or stopping cars.
2) # Take bus 19, 19C , 19Y, or 19Y. Get off at the stop just ask which bus is going to '''Ferhatpaşa'' ' the stop you have to get off at (you will see a road going in a circle like a big roundabout). From there walk northeast until you get to the motorway O4 Anadolu Otoyolu. There is a fence along the motorway but it has many holes, so getting to the other side is not difficult, or can just go to the gate where is possible to entre freely. Once you get to the parking area, you can ask around or make a big sign and show it at parking area's exit to the drivers passing by on the motorway, so they can stop on a merge lane. There's one small restaurant in the parking area where many drivers stop for a short break.# Take bus 130 and after half an hour or so you'll arrive to a Gas station where the bus stops (near Gebze). Get down and from here you can hitch-hike either asking or stopping cars.
* '''==== From Şekerpınar close to Gebze'''====
* '''==== From Bostancı Köprüsü (Bostancı Bridge)'''====
* '''==== The (free) walking option'''====
== Public transport ==An alternative to - and depending on your luck, faster than - the ferry route is to catch a lift across the Osmangazi Bridge (Osmangazi Köprüsü) which opened in 2016. This suspension bridge carries the major O-5 motorway across the Gulf of Izmit, connecting Gebze, the city on the eastern outskirts of Istanbul, to Yalova Province. A way to get as close as possible to the bridge without having to hitch through the city traffic is to take the Marmaray (kind of metro) to its far Eastern stations. The Marmaray, which runs along the southern coast of Istanbul, can be caught on both the Asian and European sides of the city and many of its major stations, such as Yenikapı and Üsküdar, are connected to the city's metro, metrobus, bus and tram system.Catch the Marmaray east in the direction of Gebze. A ticket costs roughly 5.20TL (~USD 0.92) as of June 2019, and you must use an Istanbulkart which you presumably have. Get off at Osmangazi Station (two stops before Gebze) as this is closer to the D-100 highway that will carry you east. Walk roughly 300m north up the road from the station until you get to the circle-underpass junction with the D-100 highway. A nice position just after the start of the on-ramp, where cars are still moving slowly, should score you a ride in minutes.
Istanbul has an extensive public transportation system consisting However, the majority of a metrotraffic here seems to be going to Izmit, which is past the bridge. Turn down rides if you have to until you get one going over the bridge, tramsto Yalova/Bursa/İzmir etc. If you're really stuck, buses take a short ride and metrobuses (buses which run along a special lane in ask your driver to drop you off on the middle side of the road)at the off-ramp going to the bridge, and continue hitching from there or after the interchange.
On For some reason, the buses, payment must be made with few kilometres before the bridge are exceptionally difficult to get a prepaid card called an ''akbil''ride from. HoweverThe traffic is thinner and, if you try possibly to give do with the driver moneyexpensive bridge toll, he drivers are much less inclined to pick you up. Looking like a foreigner will probably just ask another passenger to take your money and pay with his help, as Turks often don't like stopping for other Turks or Arabs. If you'akbil''. At metro stations and tram stopsre really stuck on that road leading up to the bridge, there are machines where you can pay cash 'll have to walk a few km along it until you get to the Petrol Ofisi fuel station, about a tokenKilometre before the bridge. Hitch at the on-ramp to the highway from there.
There == Personal experiences ==[[User:ESko|ESko]] Hitchhiking out was really a hassle. It is easy to get a community kitchen called "Karacaahmet Sultan Dergahi" on Nuhkuyusu street in Selimiye (Üsküdarlift, Asian Side)but people do not understand that you need to follow the highway. They think you want to take a bus, some 200 meters down and thus it gets complicated. In other parts of Turkey I had a recorded message by Turkish friends explaining what I was actually doing and what I needed from Karaca Ahmet Camii (the big mosque)drivers. You can just walk in around lunch time I didn't have it when leaving IST, and ask for foodit was a mistake. They hardly speak English though so maybe Get a Turkish friend to record a message on your phone which you can ask someone play to translate the drivers who give you a brief notelift.It should say something like: "I'm from XY, and right now I'm hitchhiking from IST to X. Can you take me on this road as long as possible?"
== Sleep ==Sleeping on the streets of 2 times I hitchhiked from Istanbul can be dangerous acccording to locals, but luckily many people will be willing you Asia and once back to offer a place to sleepEurope. I didn´t have any map of the city and I haven´t use any bus because hitchhiking from Istanbul is very easy.[[User:Karol Yohan]] was (attempting to) sleeping in There are a park in Uskudar when some guys offered him to stay at their place for freelot of cars and turkish drivers will not let you wait.If you really want are goning to have your own camp site, you should check Asia and you´re still in european part so the best spot is probably on the Princess Islandsstart of Bosphorus bridge. The inconvinient is that To get out from Istanbul you will have always need to pay take more cars(about 3.-5 lira to get there (or maybe not?cars). There is In this city you can use hitchhiking as a good beach which is deserted in Burgazadapublic transport, just exit the ferry and walk to the right side. When you pass an cemetery look at the right side of the road for some stairs leading to a desert beach. The beach has very low activity raise you´re tumb and you can camp there. [[User:Karol Yohan]] stayed there for a week in October 2012. Beach is a bit poluted but has a great viewbig chance that you´ll come forexample to city center faster than by metro.(Král všech moří, 2016/17)
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→Northwest towards Edirne and Bulgaria {{E|80}}
There are several ways to get out of the city centre and onto the main highway. If you stop a car that is not going a long distance, then it is best to aim for the Mahmutbey toll booths in the northwest of Istanbul where the E80 really begins.
==== Test option - Ispartakule Park Area North ==== Ispartakule Park Area North is a fuel station on E80 highwaySee Google maps for getting there and update how its ==== First option ==== Get to the Mahmutbey toll booths (Mahmutbey Gişeleri) where it is possible to stop long-distance cars and trucks. TOLL BOOTHS WERE DEMOLISHED. FAST TRAFFIC.
Some buses pass this spot. One is 98H from Bakırköy, a suburb in the west. Another one (146T) departures from Yenikapı, near Sultanahmet and you can get off at the stop just after the bus turns north into the suburb Başakşehir. From the bus stop, you can walk a couple of hundred metres down to the toll booth (there is a handy gap in the fence). You can also go by metro to Ikitelli Sanayi stop (M3 line) walk south until you see the highway and follow it until you reach the toll booths (about 1 km walk). For the metro, one ticket costs 3,00 TL or a bit less with an prepay "akbil". But beware of the fact that everytime you change metro's, you'd have to pay the 3TL again.
Strictly speaking, pedestrians are not permitted here; if a bored traffic police officer asks you to leave, but ignore him and feign misunderstanding, and walk a few metres away and thumb.
==== Second option ====You can take bus 83O* from Taksim Square to the big bus station ''Bayrampaşa Otogar'' on the European side, which is just along the motorway to Edirne / Bulgaria. Take the bus to the last stop, get off and walk back to the entrance. Or even better get off one stop before the last: you will recognize it when the bus is passing from small urban street to a big 3 lanes road. From there, you'll be hitching directly along the motorway. A sign works well here, and there is plenty of space for drivers to pull over since a lot of buses and minibuses stop for passengers just outside). At the same time you are often disturbed by buses stopping, leaving or parking. 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).
Hitchhikers experience: we don't understand what means when you write "last stop". And turkish people didn't understand when you try to explain them that you whant to get out of the city to highway. They offer to you their buses. It's easier to take bus from this bus station to the nearest village Catalca, get out before bus turn to Catalca.
Hitchhikers experience 2014: Not the best place to stay, eventually we got a ride of a guy that wanted to help us, but after 2 hours going around Istanbul, left us in a much worse place close to the airport. So be strict with where you want to go. Ask at least for the toll.
==== Third option ====
'''This section needs an update!'''
Get into the metro at Taksim Square and take a train towards ''Haciosman''. This is currently the last station for the trains departing from Taksim. One ticket costs 2,00 TL (~0,80 Euro), or 1.75 TL with an prepay "akbil". But beware of the fact that everytime you change metro's, you'd have to pay the 2TL again! 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 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.
=== Westwards towards [[Greece]] (via [[Tekirdağ|Tekirdag]]) {{E|84}} ===
'''Update (as of August 2018)''': the train to [[Muratlı]] is operating twice a day, departing from Halkalı train station in the West of the city. The fare to Muratlı is 13.5 TL (11 TL if you're under 26). You can get to Muratlı train station by direct bus from Eminönü, or by metrobus (Cennet Mahallesi metrobus stop is nearly 1 hour of walking from the train station). Be aware that it is currently impossible to pay by the card at Halkalı station, and there is no ATM nearby, so prepare cash in advance.
'''EDIT''': The train doesn't run anymore. Also to avoid lots of local traffic, many people going in that direction rather take the highway towards Edirne, and turn off the highway to Kinali and further to the west. So the best to do is to use the same spot as for going towards Edirne, Mahmutbey pay-tolls, try to hitchhike a car to Tekirdag, or at least to the Kinali exit, take off the highway and hitchhike further to the west.
Take the suburban train (''banliyö treni'') from the very city center (Sirkeci) towards Halkali. It's only 2.00 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 [[Tekirdağ|Tekirdag]]. This is the same road that will take you directly to Greece, although you will still be well within the congested motorways of suburban Istanbul. Be aware that you cannot cross this border walking! You have to find somebody to take you across. Knowing [[Western Europe phrasebook|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.
Once you have passed the border, try to stay in the car which took you through, as the first 20-30 km on the Greek side is one of the worst places to hitchhike in Europe. Local people there are afraid of stories about immigrants from Iran and Afghanistan etc. so it's especially hard to get a ride. It took hitchhiker [[User:Lapulevel|Lapulevel]] a full day to get out of this area—and that wasn't simply a shortage of luck as that happened twice!
=== Westwards towards [[Cannakale]] (via [[Tekirdağ|Tekirdag]]) ===
Take Bus #34B/C/BZ/G to the last stop and start hitchhiking with a Tekirdag sign there. From Tekirdag continue with a Istanbul sign. Be prepared for a possible long waiting time at Tekirdag.
=== East and south towards [[Ankara]], Black Sea coast, Antalya {{E|80}} ===
For going east there are different options:
Get on the 111, 112 or 200 and stay on the bus almost all the way to the last stop (get off approximately two or three stops before).
If you want to avoid 30km of urban hitch hiking, from the last stop of 112 take bus 134BK (other 134 buses may work as well) which leaves across the road from where 112 ends. Ride until the end and transfer onto 133Ş and ride it until the last stop. You are then in Şekerpınar and can walk the 2km to the main motorway O4 Anadolu Otoyolu.
From ''Taksim'' Square take bus 129T (''Taksim - Üst Bostancı'' line), which, like the other transcontinental bus lines, requires two tickets (3.50 TL). Get off at the leaf-clover interchange called in Turkish ''Bostancı Köprüsü'' (literally Bostancı Bridge), close to its last stop. You can recognize the interchange by big signs saying ''Bostancı'' and ''İçerenköy'' (besides the usual ''İzmit'' and ''Ankara'' signs) there. Then, after getting off the bus, walk past the interchange until you see a safe shoulder down the road a couple hundred metres away. Start hitching there ready with a [[Signs|sign]] saying at least ‘[[Gebze]]'/'[[Izmit]]’, it’ll make you more visible and look like a total hitchhiker. Drivers around here seem to have some concerns about sharing their car with a stranger and looking like a total hitchhiker seems to somewhat ease their anxiety. However, there are also many minibuses heading for ''Gebze'' on this road, so hiding your sign when they are passing by and shaking your head both sides when its headlights flash (to ask whether you’d like a ride … for a fee) may prevent some of the unwanted attention. Expect to wait at least 30 minutes until you are offered a lift. Morning hours (approx. between 6:30-8:30) are best since the road is congested at that time and vehicles move slowly, which lets the drivers to think more about taking you in. Beware of the motorcycles by the way, which sometimes illegally drive inside the shoulder and literally skim you over.
For Mediterranean cities such as [[Antalya]], you should also take this eastwards route till [[Adapazari]], then head south via motorway D650 from there.
While most people would find it more comfortable to take a bus to the outskirts and then start hitchiking there is another, slighlty slightly more challenging, option. Generally it is actually faster to just find a good piece of highway somewhere close to where you stay (even if it's in the centre of Istanbul), get ON the highway and put your thumb up. You are unlikely to wait more than 3-5 minute before a car pulls over (many people don't really mind stopping on the highway) and the police is very unlikely to give you any trouble (they picked [[Theo]] up, gave him tea and chocolate-cookies and dropped him of 20 kilometers further down the road)
From Taksim: Walk down Cumhüriyet Caddesi for about 40-50 minutes. It's a big avenue which is easy to find (alternativvely alternatively just follow the signs on Taxim for Şisli). After 40-50 minutes you'll see Cevahir shopping center on your right side and that's about 200 meters from where you'll start hitching. If you manage to get lost (hard as it's a big avenue without any real tricky intersection or anything) you should just ask your way to Cevahir shopping center.
After the 40-50 minute walk (about the time when you pass Cevahir shopping center on your right side) you'll see the highway. This is th spot where the Mercidiköy bridge starts and about 70-80 % of the traffic is bound for the Asian side. When you get to the highway (which is actually about 10 meters over you as you are under the bridge) you'll see the Mercidiköy bustation to your left. Turn left,walk 20 meters until you see a small footpath leading up to the highway, climb up, thumb up, and smile at your audience (often about 50-60 people) who are waiting for the Metrobus to come. They might even give you an applause if you just put up a show.
Alternatively you could wait for a ride to take you across the bridge and get dropped off at the paytolls on the Asian side and find a ride onto the 04 from there.
=== South towards [[Yalova]]/, [[Bursa]] or [[Izmir]] === See below the Eskihisar links for a road/bridge alternative.
See [[Eskihisar]] for how to get to the ferry jetty on the route and how to get into the ferry for free.
The route via [[Eskihisar]] is also the shortest way to [[Izmir]] and its adjacent area in western Turkey.
== Eating Public transport, sleeping, eating ==Look at [http://nomadwiki.org/en/Istanbul Nomadwiki] for these info!
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[[trash:Istanbul]]
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