Van Getting there & around

Getting there & away

Land

Car

Consider renting a car to journey around Lake Van. Try Europcar (215 8990; Kazım Karabekir Caddesi) or Avis – Urartu Turizm (214 2020; Cumhuriyet Caddesi) next door to the Büyük Urartu Oteli.

Train

The twice-weekly Vangölü Ekspresi from İstanbul and Ankara terminates at Tatvan; from Tatvan, the ferry will bring you to the dock at Van. The weekly Trans Asya Ekspresi connects İstanbul to Tehran and stops at Van. It leaves for Tehran (€17) at 6.49pm on Friday; for İstanbul (€30), it leaves at 4.53pm.

You can get to the station İstasyon by dolmuş from near Beş Yol (€0.40).

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Boat

A ferry crosses Lake Van between Tatvan and Van on a twice-daily basis. There’s no fixed schedule. The trip costs €3 per passenger (€6 per car) and takes about four hours. ‘İskele’ dolmuşes ply İskele Caddesi to the harbour (€0.40).

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Air

A bus service leaves from outside the office of Kamran Turizm for the airport, 1½ hours before the departure (€2).

Atlasjet (www.atlasjet.com) Operates a daily flight to/from İstanbul (from €44, two hours).

Kamran Turizm (216 7031; Cumhuriyet Caddesi; 8am-8pm) An agent for Atlasjet, Pegasus, Sun Express and Turkish Airlines.

Pegasus Airlines (www.flypgs.com) Has a daily flight to/from Ankara (from €44, 1¾ hours) and İstanbul (from €60).

Sun Express (www.sunexpress.com.tr) Has a twice weekly flight to/from İzmir (€55, two hours).

Turkish Airlines (www.thy.com) Has a daily flight to/from İstanbul (from €44) and Ankara (from €44).

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