Ankara Getting there & around

Getting around

Car & motorcycle

Car

Driving within Ankara is chaotic and signs are woefully inadequate, so even if you have a car it’s better to ditch it and use public transport instead.

If you plan to hire a car to drive out of Ankara, there are many small local compan­ies alongside the major international firms; most have offices in Kavaklıdere along Tunus Caddesi, and/or at Esenboğa airport. Reliable operators include:

Avis (467 2313; Tunus Caddesi 68/2)

Budget (468 5888; Tunus Caddesi 79/1)

National (426 4565; Tunus Caddesi 73/1)

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Bus & tram

Bus

Ankara has a good bus, dolmuş and minibus network. Signs on the front and side of the vehicles are better guides than route numbers. Buses marked ‘Ulus’ and ‘Çankaya’ run the length of Atatürk Bulvarı. Those marked ‘Gar’ go to the train station, those marked ‘AŞTİ’ to the otogar.

City buses (€0.70) run on the same prepay system as the metro: tickets can be bought from kiosks at major bus stops or from shops and vendors displaying an EGO Bilet sign. Cards for five/10/20 journeys cost €3.50/7/11.

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Local transport

Metro

Ankara’s underground train network currently has two lines: the Ankaray line running between AŞTİ otogar in the west through Kızılay to Dikimevi in the east; and the Metro line running from Kızılay northwest via Sıhhiye and Ulus to Batıkent. The two lines interconnect at Kızılay. Trains run from 6.15am to 11.45pm daily.

Single-journey tickets for the whole transport system cost €0.70. Note that there are separate barriers for adult and child/student tickets at some stations, so if your ticket doesn’t seem to work, check that you’re using the right lane.

Taxi

Every second vehicle on the road seems to be a taxi and they all have meters. The drop rate is €0.50; an average trip costs around €3 during daylight hours, 50% more at night.

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