You can check all the necessary visa information for entering Turkey on https://www.evisa.gov.tr/en, the official visa information website of the Turkish Republic. If applicable, you can also obtain your E-visa online on this site.

There are 2 airports in Istanbul; Istanbul International Airport (IST), located on the European side of Istanbul, and Sabiha Gokcen Airport (SAW), located on the Asian side of the city.

The journey time  from Istanbul International Airport to the city centre (Taksim Square) by car is approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Sabiha Gokcen Airport is on the Asian side and it is further away from the city centre, the journey from SAW to the city centre by car takes approximately  1 hr – 1 hr 30 min, depending on the traffic. We recommend to always check the journey length with a navigation app (Google Maps or Yandex is commonly used).

Shuttle Buses:

A convenient way to reach Istanbul’s city center is by shuttle bus services. Shuttle buses from Istanbul International Airport (IST) are provided by HAVAIST. The shuttle schedule is available at https://www.hava.ist/en. From Sabiha Airport (SAW) you can use the HAVABÜS shuttle. Please check the shuttle schedule at https://www.havabus.com.

To get to Tuyap Exhibition Center: There is a direct HAVAIST service to Tuyap Exhibition Center.

To get to Istanbul Expo Center: Take the HAVAIST service to the Yenibosna stop and then take the M1A Metro line from Yenibosna to the DTM-Istanbul Fuar Merkezi station (Istanbul Expo Center).

Metro:

Istanbul has a wide metro network and it is the fastest way to travel around the city. The operating hours are from 06:00 a.m. to 00:00 midnight. Currently there is not a metro line to any of the airports. For more information: https://www.metro.istanbul/en/

Tickets and Travel Cards:

You can easily purchase single journey tickets from ticket machines found in all metro stations.

Another option is to buy a top-up travel card. You can purchase these cards at news stands and also pay in cash to load credit on your travel card.

Alternatively, you can download the “Istanbulkart” application for Android or Iphone and create a virtual travel card to use it via your smartphone

Taxis:

There are also airport and city taxis which use taximeters to determine the fare of the journey.

Most shops on the high street are open from 10:00 to 20:00. In shopping malls, the working hours are from 10:00 to 22:00 all days, including bank holidays. Most supermarkets are open from 08:00 to 22:00, usually 7 days a week. Credit cards are widely accepted. Avoid paying in foreign currency as some shops do not accept foreign currency and the ones that do may use a lower exchange rate than the market average.