Easy access Blue line tram station service Sultanament. This particular station is close to…read moremultiple attractions, including the hippodrome Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. The tram is a pretty efficient way to get around the city. The trams are fairly clean, but it can be totally feast or famine. Sometimes crowded and I'm talking to faces crammed up against the windows crowded or sometimes not.

The Taksin T5 tram line is very convenient and fun to ride. This station is very new, really the…read morewhole tram system is. Don't waste your time and money on taxis, Istanbul is easily traversed by tram and bus. Google maps public transport sort of works, if you know your destination bring it up on your phone and any worker can help you get on in the right direction and the right bus to connect even without you speaking Turkish or them understanding your American English. Now, the ticket machines are little harder to figure out, but we soon were able to buy tickets in Turkish. By "we," I mean my Chief of Staff, I held the umbrella which is an important job. In addition to Google maps public transportation, use the Metro Istanbul website : https://www.metro.istanbul/Hatlarimiz/HatDetay?hat=T5 This particular tram stop rescued us from a long day following one of Rick Steve's many good walking tours that all take me longer than he says they will. We also ended up here to see the Yeni Cami (New Mosque) (New in Istanbul means it was completed in 1665) at the Southern end of the Galata Bridge.

If you are coming from Taksin, get off here to go to Spice Market (also called the Egyptian…read moreBazaar). Easy and convenient. The Golden Horn is on one side and the beautiful Yeni Cami (Cami means Mosque in Turkish) This street car is easy to travel on. Very cheap (and sometimes faster than a taxi).

On your way up or down from Pera, visit this historic station. You can easily take the tram to the…read moreIkstacion Sirekeci (a little confusing but the difference is the line) and then cross the Bosphorus Bridge which is another very interesting Istanbul site. Sirkeci Station is a terminus station of the Turkish State Railway TCDD. From here, international, domestic and regional trains run west. As the terminus of the legendary Orient Express, Sirkeci Station gained worldwide fame. The station is an impressive mixture of Art Nouveau and Orientalism. While the main building of the station remained in its original state, its surroundings have changed dramatically since 1890. In the 1950s and 60s, the terminal restaurant became a meeting place for journalists, writers, diplomats and the idle elite. The old 1874 locomotive from the Krauss & Company Locomotive factory of Munich directly in front of the station building is also worth a visit. Since 2013, the Sirkeci Station is a stop of the Marmaray railway line. The Marmaray route runs under the Bosphorus strait and connects the European and Asian part of Istanbul within a few minutes.

Believe it or not this was one of the standout experiences in my visit to Istanbul. Visited on the…read morelast day of the trip and the gorgeous exterior caught my eye. Really beautiful architecture. After spending time at the Pera Palace, I was blown away by the palanquin on display. I couldn't believe that only 100 years ago that people were literally being carried to their destinations! It's especially incredible considering the distance between the 2 locations. The interior is just as cool. Beautiful stained glass windows. Trim painted in an unexpected carnation pink. I loved it all! The museum is small but filled with lots of artifacts from the train. And it's free!Definitely worth a visit.

This is an important connecting station in the Istanbul metro system. We took the M2 metro line…read moreand got off here to transfer to the Marmaray suburban train line.' The station itself is huge....to go from the Marmaray tracks to the metro tracks, it took several long escalator trips and many hundreds of feet to connect. Still, the station is efficient and very busy. The Yenikapi transfer station is located in south-central Fatih in the old town part of the city. The complex is right next to the Yenikapı railway station serving the T6 light rail line and a short walk away from the Yenikapı Ferry Terminal and İDO ferry service. Yenikapı complex links two stations (M1 and M2) of Istanbul Metro to a railway station of the Turkish State Railways on the trans-Bosphorus Marmaray tunnel. Yenikapı is the largest rapid transit station in Turkey.

A new metro line that will stretch between Sabiha Gokcen International Airport and IST can also be…read morecaught here.Clean and efficient metro station. You can take several metro lines from here, including one that will take you directly to KEMAL Atatürk International Airport (IST). This is my second favorite mode of public transport to the airport. reasonable price too. The other is Havaş Bus (12 Turkish Lira now). A new metro line that will stretch between Sabiha Gokcen International Airport and IST can also be caught here.