An excellent way to travel in Turkey..!

Guidebooks often say that Turkey has a good bus network and that 'buses are faster than trains'.  But do you really want to spend 12 hours in a bus..?  When you can travel on a comfortable air-conditioned train, with a bed to sleep in in your own room, a restaurant for your meals and space to move around, through fantastic scenery, unspoilt by roadside development..?

Train travel in Turkey can be a wonderful experience, with the best trains now modern and air-conditioned.  Sensible travellers will use a train for long distances (for example, Istanbul to Konya, Ankara, Kars or Pamukkale) then a short bus trip where necessary to reach places off the rail network, for example Antalya or Goreme.

The rail network was mostly built by the Germans, and the joke goes that the Turks paid them by the mile, hence the twisting and curvaceous nature of Turkish railways..!  However, the best air-conditioned Istanbul-Ankara trains now travel at up to 95mph and take just 5 hours after major improvements.  The first section of a new high-speed Istanbul-Ankara line opens in Autumn 2007, with a 3.5 to 4 hour journey time, soon to be reduced to just 3 hours, beating both road and air.  Overnight trains with sleeping-cars, some now air-conditioned, provide a comfortable, romantic and time-effective way to travel between major cities.

The station for Ephesus is Selçuk, 78km by train from Izmir.  The ruins at Ephesus are walking distance from the modern town of Selçuk.  Denizli is the station for the magnificent natural springs at Pamukkale.

EVERYDAY FROM SELCUK TO AIRPORT AND IZMIR (Basmane City Center)

EVERYDAY FROM SELCUK TO AYDIN

EVERYDAY FROM IZMIR AIRPORT TO SELCUK

One way fee is 4 TL - return 7 TL