Using an eSIM in Istanbul

What Istanbul is like on a phone

Istanbul is a walking city that changes altitude constantly — a few hundred metres take you from a waterfront jetty up into a hillside neighbourhood. Most visitors split their time between the European side, with its mosques and old palaces, and the quieter Asian side full of cafés. Getting around mixes trams, metro, ferries and climbing. Coverage across the city is good, though the lanes of the old quarters and the tunnel under the strait change the rhythm of the connection.

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Istanbul Airport (IST) lies to the north-west with a metro line and airport buses into town, forty-five minutes to an hour and a half depending on where you are going and the traffic. Sabiha Gökçen (SAW) is on the Asian side and a fair way from the old quarters — check the airport code on your ticket before booking a hotel. Turn the line on before leaving the aircraft, because after baggage you must choose your route in immediately, and the transit card is bought at a machine before you board.

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Trams, the metro and the main jetties all work, as do the ferries themselves, which stay connected because there is a shore on either side. What changes are the old hillside quarters — the lanes around the Galata tower, and Balat — where tall houses packed together make your position drift as you walk. Inside roofed markets like the Grand Bazaar the line weakens as you go deeper, and the rail tunnel beneath the strait goes quiet for a short stretch between the two sides.

What a day here costs in data

A day here runs about 1.5–2.5GB, because the map stays open almost constantly on those crooked hillside streets and you are forever checking restaurants, ferry timetables and entry tickets. Film the sunset from a ferry and upload it on the spot and you are nearer 3GB. Anyone working from cafés should add for tethering. Downloading the old quarters offline takes the edge off the drift in the lanes.

Districts travellers ask about

• Sultanahmet — The quarter of mosques and old palaces, with the main sights close enough to walk between; crowded from mid-morning, so book entry ahead and keep it saved on the phone, since the door queues are long.
• Galata & Karaköy — A steep quarter of cafés and small shops along the lanes, where your position drifts between the tall buildings — navigate by street name or by the tower rather than by a pin.
• Kadıköy — The Asian side where locals actually live, with a market and long restaurant streets; the ferry across from Europe takes about twenty minutes — check the last sailing before a late night out.
• Balat & Fener — Brightly painted houses on the slopes above the Golden Horn; the streets are steep and narrow and the line wavers in the inner lanes, so remember the main street you came up by.

Day trips out of the city

• The Princes' Islands — An hour to ninety minutes by ferry; the line thins mid-crossing over the Marmara. On the islands there are no private cars, so you cycle or walk — and check the last boat back carefully.
• Bursa — A fast ferry across the gulf then a road leg, around two and a half hours in all; the crossing wavers and the climb up Uludağ cuts out in places, so download the map and save your return ferry ticket.
• The upper Bosphorus villages — An hour up the strait by boat or road to the waterside villages; coverage is good nearly all the way because both banks are built up, though the upper cliff road wavers on the bends — allow extra time coming back in the evening traffic.