Traveling by Train in Turkey

Turkish Train Travel

Overnight trains are a fantastic means of transport across Turkey. The Turkish railroad is operated (and heavily subsidized) by the national government. A private first-class sleeper compartment for one or two on routes joining major tourist destinations provides Orient Express luxury for about US$ 30-40.

In order to get a sleeping compartment and not the cheaper seat in coach, make sure to ask for it by name, yataklı vagon.

Especially useful routes include İstanbul—Ankara, İstanbul—Denizli (and thus Pamukkale, Heiropolis, Aphrodisias, and Laodykia), İstanbul—Konya, Ankara—İzmir, and Ankara—Adana.

Yes, a train takes 12 hours to cover a distance that an express bus covers in 8, but you got a night's lodging and didn't waste a day jammed in a crowded bus. And don't even think about overnight buses! Buses are fine for a hop of a few hours, but if you have a long distance to travel, look into a train!

The National Railways of the Republic of Turkey, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Devlet Demiryollari, or TCDD, has a web site. Great stuff — schedules, complete route map, etc. — but unfortunately it seems to be only available in Turkish. The only English section is about the international connections to Bulgaria, Romania, and Iran. There used to be train service between İstanbul and Greece, but in 2011 Greece shut down all international rail connections despite having an economy that depends heavily upon tourism.

You can check the TCDD schedules here. My tables below only show the stops in larger cities, and the schedules might change. And here are some crucial Turkish words for understanding those schedules:

Surprising Station Names

Be aware that some cities are listed on Turkish schedules by the name of the station rather than the name of the city!

İstanbul has two train stations. Sirkeci is next to the Golden Horn on the European side of the Bosphorus, with international connections through Bulgaria to Romania and beyond, plus commuter service to İstanbul suburbs.

Haydarpaşa is on the Asian side, with many more trains per day to destinations throughout Turkey.

İstanbul is commonly listed as Haydarpaşa or just H'paşa at Turkish train stations.

Similarly, İzmir is listed as Alsancak and possibly as Basmane and Eskişehir is listed as Enveriye. This is as if Amtrak service to New York listed its destination as Pennsylvania Station, which it is, without mentioning that it's the Pennsylvania Station that happens to be in New York City.

Map Showing Turkish Rail Lines

This U.S. Government map shows most of the cities mentioned in the below schedules, and it shows rail lines in black. For more detailed railway maps of Turkey and many other countries, see the Railways Through Europe site.

İstanbul — Ankara

Lots of trains run about eight hours overnight between İstanbul and Anaka plus express daytime trains. The Ankara Ekspresi is one of the nicest overnight trains in the world. It has brand-new sleeper cars, they even have showers! It costs a little more, but is worth it - about US$ 40 for a compartment to yourself, or US$ 65 for two people.

Traveling from İstanbul to Cappadocia, you might take an overnight train to Ankara, see a few sights there in the morning, then continue by bus to Cappadocia.

İstanbul — Ankara — and points east

All of these have kuşetli (couchette berths in shared cabin) and yataklı (private cabins).

Ankara — İzmir

Ankara to eastern Turkey

Ankara — Kayseri — Adana

İstanbul — Denizli

Denizli is 15 minutes by dolmuş from Pamukkale, and about 2-3 hours by bus from Ephesus. This is especially good for the north-bound route, as otherwise you spend all day on a bus only to arrive in İstanbul at rush hour!

This has couchette berths and private cabins in addition to coach seats.

İstanbul — Konya — Adana — Gaziantep

These have couchette berths and private cabins in addition to coach seats.

Adana — Malatya — Elaziğ

Possibly of interest for the Adana-Malatya segment, a long day on a train versus a long day on buses.

Ankara — Çankırı — Karabük — Zonguldak

Pullman coach seats only.

İstanbul - Damascus

Allegedly there was a train once a week, leaving İstanbul on Saturdays at 0825, and taking at least 25 hours to reach Damascus. But that was before the Syrian civil war broke out...

Agatha Christie fans would know this as the setting for very first part of Murder on the Orient Express, as Poirot first makes his way from Aleppo to İstanbul by train, crosses the Bosphorus, and only then gets a ticket for the Orient Express toward central Europe.