1

Havaş lost the contract but the service still exists.Now it,is run by Havataş :) So you can use this to get into Taksim.This costs 10TL
http://www.havatas.com/en/coach.aspx?i=1
Or you can take the metro from just ouside the airport as far as Zeytinburnu and change there to the tram direct in to Sultanahmet-it continues thro' Sirkeci and on to Eminönü and over to Kabataş,depending on where you are staying.This costs a total of 3.50TL.

2

Thanks for this useful information, S.
If I take Havatas to the Taksim destination, I would need to take a taxi to the Interfly hostel near Aksaray. I could also take the metro to Aksaray and then a taxi to the hostel. If you're in the know about this, which would you advise?

3

You can take the metro from the airport to Aksaray without changing.It would go the'scenic route'via other parts of the city such as the Esenler otogar first,but it would mean no changes of transport.Alighting at Aksaray metro stop puts you within 5 minutes walk of the hostel which is located just behind Historia Shopping Mall heading towards the Police Headquarters(Emniyet Müdürlüğü).Write the name and address on a bit of paper,from Historia S.M.anyone can direct you,it is very easy to find from there.
The other option is metro to Z.burnu then tram to Yusufpaşa and then either a taxi from there for the last 10 minutes or walk cutting through the park over to Vatan Caddesi where you'd see the Aksaray metro stop and then continue as I explained above.
Although you'd be on the metro for a little longer I'd go with the first option.It's daylight and you'll have no jetlag so you can cope with an extra 20 minutes or so on the metro rather than dragging a large case on and off busy transport :)

4

Thanks again. The "scenic" route will be fine and now I have good directions to the hostel too.