Izmir

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Revision as of 13:29, 17 September 2013 by Vkim (talk | contribs)

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<map lat='38.43113538796982' lng='27.17519760131836' zoom='11' view='0' float='right' />

Izmir is the third biggest city in Turkey, situated on Aegean (western) coast.


Hitchhiking in

From the north, Çanakkale

From the Aliağa and Menemen ilçes of Izmir (70 and 40 km north of downtown) there is a suburban train (subway actually) to most locations in the center, including Alsancak. You need to ask somebody who has a kentkart to pay for you and give him the money. The price may vary, however full ticket is like 1.95 TL. Otherwise you can buy a ticket for 3 passes for 6.5 TL.

Hitchhiking out

Konak Meydanı Square is the most central part of the city, known for its iconic clock tower. Following descriptions take it as the start point.

Northeast towards Manisa, Balikesir, Bursa, Istanbul

Take the metro from Konak Square. Ride it until Bornova, the last station on the line. Upon exiting the station, you'll come across a street with an overpass on, which is the ring road around the city. You'll see an access road to that near the station. After following the ringroad about two-three hundred metres or so down the motorway, you'll come across a junction. The left side, as can also be seen from Manisa-Istanbul signs, is heading northeast. Shortly after the junction, there is a nice spot to hitch.

North towards Bulgaria

If you are going from Izmir to Bulgaria, crossing the Bosphorus at Çanakkale could save four google map hours and the hassle of Istanbul.

North towards Çanakkale

  • Option 1

From Konak take a ferry to Karşıyaka and from there take a metro to "Aliağa" - the last stop on the line. That town is directly at the road to Çanakkale - almost 60 km north of Izmir already - and the road to Çanakkale passes very close to the metro station. cyclebear hitched from here in may 2013 and found it very easy to get a lift.

South towards Selcuk (Efes), Kuşadası, Bodrum, Muğla, Marmaris, Fethiye

Taylor tried to hitch south of Izmir from the metro at Bornova. Walked out to the freeway to find a mess of on ramps and exits. Managed to find a way to Bodrum but do not recommend going this way. Find a better access to the motorway than from Bornova.

Another way to head southern outskirts of the city is to take public bus (ESHOT) #508 (Konak-Menderes line). It departs from the bus stops at Konak Square in the city centre (from the clock tower, walk past the metro station entrance and the cactus garden on the side of the square, then cross the street. You'll arrive at bus stops, #508 departs from the stop that is the furthest one, you can also see which line departs from which stop on the signs located around stops), and heads for the town of Menderes past the airport, about 30 km south of downtown Izmir on the motorway to Kuşadası. It costs 3 TL/person (~EUR 1.50; no tickets needed, you can pay it to the driver) and takes about 40 minutes to get to Menderes. Once in Menderes, bus will quit the motorway and will turn left into the town centre, get off at the first stop and walk back to the motorway (which is not far). There is a junction with traffic lights (from which bus turns left), and a wide-enough shoulder. You'll be picked up almost in no time.edit from Vkim: we tryed for 2h to go to Kusadasi without any results then we walked to the highway O-31 and got a ride to Selcuk in 5 min

If you want to go Antalya use the road through Aydın en Denizli. You will go faster and you will change fewer cars.

Public Transport

Check Izmir website for more details: http://www.izmir.bel.tr/en/Ulasim.asp

Find out a bus stop on a map on a web-map then go to the nearest bus stop and ask people which bus goes there. Or ask directly from drivers.

Sleeping

Ege University has a large campus in Bornova. Either try the benches or put up a tent in a discrete spot hidden with bushes.

Busking

Places

Not as common and frequented by westerners as Istanbul, Izmir is a good location for busking since you won't probably have so much concurrence from foreigners as from locals. Any good spot with people passing by is good for money but the only one where police won't tell you anything is Kibris sehitleri st, that is actually also the main commercial and most transited pedestrian street that means you can easily make good performance and money. The parks along the sea (behind Kibris) could also be a good alternative for both juggling busking and meet nice people

Law-Police

It is not legal any street performance in the whole city, you need permits that you probably won't get from the municipality and police (Zabita) will probably stop you, ask for your documents and so on almost everywhere (e.g. Konak) except Kibris Sehitleri..Though unless you are Turkish, since NONE of them will ever speak english, unable to communicate they´ll just tell you to stop and won´t fine you nor annoy you more. Without a clear reason in Kibris st that Zabita pass beside you and just watch bad at you without telling you anything, so unless you want to stay for a longer period, change places etc don´t move from there. trash:Izmir