Istanbul: 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.
Istanbul is a city of 15.7 million people in Turkey, 39 m (128 ft) above sea level. The nearest large airport is Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (SAW), 33 km (21 mi) from the centre. It has 11 railway stations on record, including Yenimahalle railway station. It is a port city: Kontoskalion and 1 more. Our booking partner lists 7,063+ places to stay.
Key facts
Daylight in Istanbul runs from about 9 h 17 min a day in late December to 15 h 11 min in late June (computed for 41.01° latitude), which matters more than the forecast when a day is built around one flight or one crossing.
Getting there
Istanbul is served by 4 airports with scheduled flights within 100 km. The closest large one is Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (SAW), 33 km (21 mi) from the centre, whose 11,614-ft runway is long enough for long-haul wide-body aircraft. The alternatives are İstanbul Airport (IST, 34 km), Tekirdağ Çorlu Airport (TEQ, 87 km), Bursa Yenişehir Airport (YEI, 99 km).
Flights to Istanbul: every airport, routes and times
By rail: stations on record include Yenimahalle railway station, Küçükçekmece railway station, Zeytinburnu—Fişekhane railway station, Mustafa Kemal railway station, Florya railway station, Yeşilköy railway station. Trains to Istanbul
Buses to Istanbul · Driving and car hire · Ferries
Where to stay
Our booking partner lists 7,063+ places to stay in Istanbul (statistics below are from the first 1,000). Of the 510 with a star rating, the largest group is 4-star (264), and 148 are five-star. Across 860 properties with at least 50 reviews, the average guest score is 8.7 out of 10. Guests have left 1,170,336 reviews in total.
Hotels in Istanbul: the full picture, and book
What people come for
| Sight | Visitors a year | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Topkapı Palace | 1,932,726 | 2017 |
The busiest is Topkapı Palace at 1,932,726 visitors in 2017. Figures are the latest each site has published, so they are not all for the same year.
UNESCO World Heritage in the city: Historic Areas of Istanbul.
Tours, tickets and day trips from Istanbul
Nearby cities, and how to get between them
- Ankara, 352 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental
- Bursa, 91 km — trains · buses · car rental · ferries · tours
- İzmir, 328 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental
- Esenyurt, 23 km — tours
- Eskişehir, 191 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Çankaya, 353 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental
- Küçükçekmece, 15 km — tours
- Bağcılar, 8 km
- Bahçelievler, 8 km
- Umraniye, 15 km
Twin towns and sister cities: Rio de Janeiro, Shimonoseki, Lahore, Johor Bahru, Jeddah, Cairo, Houston, Berlin, Saint Petersburg, Rabat, Mary, Barcelona, Dubai, Cologne.
Common questions
Which airport serves Istanbul?
Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (SAW), 33 km (21 mi) from the centre, plus 3 other airports with scheduled flights within 100 km.
How big is Istanbul?
About 15.7 million people live in Istanbul, across 5,343 km² (GeoNames and Wikidata).
What time zone is Istanbul in?
Europe/Istanbul, currently UTC+3.
What currency is used in Istanbul?
The Lira (TRY). Traffic drives on the right.
How many hotels are there in Istanbul?
Our booking partner lists 7,063 or more places to stay in Istanbul, bookable on this site.
Which cities are near Istanbul?
Ankara (352 km), Bursa (91 km), İzmir (328 km), Esenyurt (23 km), Eskişehir (191 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.