Travel Information

The country is surrounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Aegean to the west and the Mediterranean to the south. Two straits (the Bosphorus and the Dardanelle) form gates to the inner Marmara Sea, dividing Thrace - the European part, and Anatolia - the Asian part of the country.

Turkey is truly the place where East and West meet. Click for More

About Ankara

Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a population (as of 2005) of 4,319,167 (Province 5,153,000), and a mean elevation of 850 m (2800 ft) Click for More

Centrally located in Anatolia, Ankara is bordered by the provinces of Çankırı and Bolu to the north, Eskişehir to the west, Konya and Aksaray to the south, and Kırıkkale and Kirşehir to the east, and Istanbul 550 km west. It is linked by air, bus, and/or train to all countries.

By Air

Star Alliance Network is the official carrier of the PME 35.  Tickets can be booked by calling a participating Star Alliance Member Carrier, or any Travel Agent. To obtain the Star Alliance Conventions Plus discounts please use TK20S11 code.

Discount Information:

Economy Class: 15 percent for "Y/B" class* 10 percent for all other Economy classes (exceptions as per applicable fare rule)* SQ: 10 percent Discount on IATA fares except for sales and travel ex USA: 10 percent Discount on
booking class Y

Business Class: 20% Discount for "C" class (for Continental Airlines "J" applies)* 10% Discount for all other Business classes (exceptions as per applicable fare rule)* SQ: 10 percent Discount on C/D class on IATA fares except for sales and travel ex USA: 10 percent. Discount on booking class C

* taxes, duties and fees are not included.
**subject to changes of the published Conventions Plus Delegate Fare Discount Rule and Discounts in the General Distribution Systems (GDS).

By Bus

Using a bus to get into Turkey is another option. This is good and cheap if you're planning to get into Turkey from a nearby country such as Bulgaria, Romania or Greece. For Greece - Turkey routes you can even book tickets online through Varan Tourism for Thessaloniki to Istanbul. If you're planning to do that from a farther European country then it may get quite tiring although you can at times find such a service, especially from Germany or Austria.
From Asia, one can take buses from Georgia to Turkey in both Batumi and Tbilisi but service is irregular and one should inquire around. From Armenia one can go through Georgia by bus to Turkey. From Iran there are buses to Turkey from Tabriz and from Syria one can get a minibus (shared taxi) from Aleppo to Adana. If you're starting your journey to Turkey in Damascus you should get the bus to Aleppo and switch to shared taxi there.
Most of the intercity and international buses arrive at İstanbul Esenler Otogar from Europe.You can reach to Ankara from İstanbul by three different way again; bus, train and airplane.

The major bus companies are ;
Ulusoy - www.ulusoy.com.tr
Varan - www.varan.com.tr
Metro - www.metroturizm.com.tr
Nilüfer - www.niluferturizm.com.tr
Kamil Koç - www.kamilkoc.com.tr

By Sea

Most of the routes are linking Greek locations, mostly islands, with close-by Turkish locations and, a bit farther, Italy with Turkey. There are several companies operating such lines. Alot of travel agencies, which is operating several routes between Greek Islands and Turkey and has an interesting site where one can search for ferry departs and make reservations as well. If you're looking for a ferry from Italy to Turkey or vice-versa as well as alternatives to Greek-Turkey ferries you should look on Aegean Ferry Services. They have a good map showing all of their ferry routes. One of the most interesting is their ferry from Ancona to Çeşme.

By Train

Train journeys can be made to Istanbul directly from and via some of the major cities of Europe. And also you can reach to Ankara by train after reaching to İstanbul.

For more information and fares: http://www.tcdd.gov.tr

By Private Car

You can come to Ankara by your car. But we don't advice you to use this way because of the road's situation and custom regulations. The participants from İstanbul, Greece, Croatia, Romania, Hungary, Serbia and Montenegro may use this method.

General Route: Private car: London - Istanbul, approximately 3,000 km. Northern Route: Belgium, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey. Southern Route: Belgium, Germany, Austria, and Italy, with a ferry to Turkey.

Ankara has a big public transportation system with two connected underground systems, and two type bus systems (According to the types of bus you can either purchase your ticket from a ticket kiosk (Tr. büfe) or ride a bus for which you pay after you get onto the bus), There is also a "dolmuş" system (These are mini-buses with an fixed route and fixed fee). and operate till 00:00. Taxis work all day.