Ankara: how to get there and around
Airports, stations, ports, where the hotels are and what the numbers say, from public data rather than a brochure.
Ankara is the capital of Turkey, 874 m (2,867 ft) above sea level. The nearest large airport is Esenboğa International Airport (ESB), 26 km (16 mi) from the centre. It has 10 railway stations on record, including Hipodrom railway station. Our booking partner lists 398 places to stay.
Key facts
Daylight in Ankara runs from about 9 h 23 min a day in late December to 15 h 4 min in late June (computed for 39.92° latitude), which matters more than the forecast when a day is built around one flight or one crossing.
Getting there
Ankara is served by one airport with scheduled flights. The closest large one is Esenboğa International Airport (ESB), 26 km (16 mi) from the centre, whose 12,303-ft runway is long enough for long-haul wide-body aircraft.
Flights to Ankara: every airport, routes and times
By rail: stations on record include Hipodrom railway station, Gazi Mahallesi railway station, Gazi railway station, Nenek railway station, Lalabel railway station, Elmadağ railway station. Trains to Ankara
Buses to Ankara · Driving and car hire
Where to stay
Our booking partner lists 398 places to stay in Ankara. Of the 168 with a star rating, the largest group is 4-star (80), and 26 are five-star. Across 159 properties with at least 50 reviews, the average guest score is 8.1 out of 10. Guests have left 56,788 reviews in total.
Hotels in Ankara: the full picture, and book
What people come for
| Sight | Visitors a year | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Meclis Park | 150,000 | — |
The busiest is Meclis Park at 150,000 visitors. Figures are the latest each site has published, so they are not all for the same year.
Tours, tickets and day trips from Ankara
Nearby cities, and how to get between them
- Istanbul, 352 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental
- Bursa, 324 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental
- Adana, 391 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental
- Kayseri, 262 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Konya, 230 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Antalya, 384 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental
- Esenyurt, 374 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental
- Eskişehir, 200 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Çankaya, 1 km
- Küçükçekmece, 365 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental
Twin towns and sister cities: Minsk, Miami, Pavlodar, Ashgabat, Astana, Beijing, Bishkek, Bucharest, Chișinău, Hanoi, Kyiv, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait City, Nicosia.
Common questions
Which airport serves Ankara?
Esenboğa International Airport (ESB), 26 km (16 mi) from the centre.
How big is Ankara?
About 3.5 million people live in Ankara, across 25,632 km² (GeoNames and Wikidata).
What time zone is Ankara in?
Europe/Istanbul, currently UTC+3.
What currency is used in Ankara?
The Lira (TRY). Traffic drives on the right.
How many hotels are there in Ankara?
Our booking partner lists 398 places to stay in Ankara, bookable on this site.
Which cities are near Ankara?
Istanbul (352 km), Bursa (324 km), Adana (391 km), Kayseri (262 km), Konya (230 km).
Where these facts come from
- GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, elevation, time zone, postal codes
- Wikidata (CC0): area, sister cities, visitor numbers, heritage listings, stations and ports
- OurAirports (public domain): airports, runways
- Natural Earth (public domain): map outlines
Data compiled 13 September 2026. Hotel figures are from our booking partner’s catalogue on that date. Journey times on this page are estimates from distance, not timetables; check the operator before you rely on one.