Taxi in Istanbul guide with 2025 prices

Discovering a new city often means navigating its bustling streets, and when it comes to getting around Turkey’s most vibrant metropolis, nothing beats the convenience of a Taxi in Istanbul.

Whether you’re dashing to a historic bazaar, racing against sunset to capture the perfect Bosphorus view, or simply hopping between neighborhoods, Istanbul’s modern taxi fleet-complete with user-friendly apps and metered fares – offers an effortless, door-to-door solution. From the moment you hail a yellow cab or book through app, you’ll experience transparent flag drops, clear per-kilometer rates, and the comfort of cash or card payments. Buckle up, sit back, and let Istanbul’s drivers guide you through winding alleys and along scenic waterfronts – your adventure begins the moment you say “take me there.”

For the most recent information, this page was updated with Istanbul taxi fares in May 2025.

All taxi drivers in Istanbul are required to make daily disinfection and cleaning of the cars. Many of them use the plastic film which is dividing the driver from the passenger. Drivers are wearing masks and you can find the sanitizers in the car.

Briefly about Taxi in Istanbul

• Yellow Taxi: The most common and affordable option. They operate using a meter and are readily available throughout the city.
• Turquoise Taxi: These are slightly more expensive than yellow taxis and offer a more comfortable ride in newer vehicles.
• Black Taxi: Luxury taxis providing the most upscale experience but naturally come with a higher fare. These are typically found at hotels or upon request.

Taxi price in Istanbul in 2025

• Additional charges: Toll bridges, tunnels and paid roads are charged as incurred.

Night-time surcharge abolished in 2025, day and night use the same rates.

• When you seat in the taxi, the taximeter should stand on at least 42.00 Turkish Lira, it is the current rate on seat.
• Popular taxi companies: Bitaksi / iTaksi, Uber, Bolt and GetTransfer, Kiwitaxi, Intui.travel (for pre-booking and airport transfers).
• Payments are by mileage counter, by cash. Most of taxis have onboard termonals and accept payments by card (Visa, MasterCard)

How to find a taxi in Istanbul?

Istanbul is a big city, and as in ordinary city, there are a lot of taxis on the street. Different local and international taxi companies and the private taxis are servicing the 16 million population of Istanbul and big number of tourists. So, find taxi in Istanbul is very easy.

You just can stop the taxi right on the road or near to the public places like airport, restaurants, museums. Be careful if you chose to stop the taxi on the road, some private drivers can cheat with the price, especially if they see that it is a tourist. If you are confused with the price that taxi driver charged to you, or have any other doubts, ask the driver about it, and mention that you will contact Tourism Police and the Police.

Try to get a taxi of the official yellow color with the signs of the taxi companies. And never, please never, sit at the cars without the signs of taxi, even if they offer a taxi service.

The best option to find safe taxi is to order it by internet, using the popular services like GetTransfer, Kiwitaxi, Intui.travel. This services initially operated as transfer companies from airport to hotel and from hotel to airport. But, now they operate entire all districts of the Istanbul and you can order taxi from your hotel to any part of the city and to any close counties of the Istanbul. For example, you can order a taxi to Istanbul neighbor cities like Izmit and thermal SPAs like Bursa and Yalova.

The big advantage of using the transfer services is that you can order them before your visit to Istanbul, on their websites. Make the order to taxis for all your planned trips and pay by the card entire the service, without further cash operations with taxi drivers. It is useful, fast and safe service.

Other benefits of ordering taxi by internet

• Clear prices, you know how much you pay before the trip;
• Confidence in safety and quality. In any doubts, you may just ask the support team of the service;
• Selection of different types and classes of cars, including minivans for big companies;
• You may ask for special conditions, like the child seats if you travel with small children.

Types of taxi in Istanbul

The easiest way to navigate is by the color of the taxi.

In total, there are 3 taxi colors and 4 car classification segments: C, D, E and F.

• Yellow taxi are the cheapest taxis that can be found everywhere in the city, as well as at airports, near hotels, etc. Yellow taxis are the C segment – it includes car brands such as Fiat (Egea Sedan, Egea Station Wagon) Renault (Megane) Toyota (Corolla, C-HR)
• Blue taxi – the fare is slightly higher than that of the yellow ones, this is segment D. More brands belong to this segment, among the examples of Citroen, Ford, Honda, Kia, Alfa Romeo, Mazda, Nissan, Opel and others. This category also includes minivans with a capacity of 8 + 1
• Black taxi is the most expensive taxi, belonging to the luxury segments E and F. These segments are distinguished by the class of car, i.e. in segment F will be the most luxurious versions of brands of category E.

Taxi price: Istanbul Airport to city in 2025

From Istanbul Airport to Sultanahmet area:

• Yellow taxi: about 350 ₺ (~ €8.02 | $9.06)
• Blue taxi: about 405 ₺ (~ €9.28 | $10.48)
• Black taxi: from 600 ₺ (~ €13.75 | $15.53)

From Istanbul Airport to Taksim Square:

• Yellow taxi: from 340 ₺ (~ €7.79 | $8.80)
• Blue taxi: from 395 ₺ (~ €9.05 | $10.22)
• Black taxi: from 490 ₺ (~ €11.23 | $12.68)

From Istanbul Airport to Kadıköy Pier:

• Yellow taxi: about 438 ₺ (~ €10.04 | $11.34)
• Blue taxi: from 500 ₺ (~ €11.46 | $12.94)
• Black taxi: at least 740 ₺ (~ €16.96 | $19.16)

Exchange rates based on May 2025 averages: 1 EUR ≈ 43.63 TRY, 1 USD ≈ 38.64 TRY

Taxi price: Sabiha Gokcen Airport (SAW) to city in 2025

From Sabiha Gökçen Airport to Sultanahmet area:

• Yellow taxi: about ₺925 (~ €21.20 | $23.95)
• Blue taxi: about ₺1 065 (~ €24.41 | $27.56)
• Black taxi: from ₺1 575 (~ €36.10 | $40.76)

From Sabiha Gökçen Airport to Taksim Square:

• Yellow taxi: from ₺825 (~ €18.91 | $21.35)
• Blue taxi: from ₺950 (~ €21.77 | $24.59)
• Black taxi: from ₺1 400 (~ €32.09 | $36.23)

From Sabiha Gökçen Airport to Kadıköy Pier:

• Yellow taxi: about ₺725 (~ €16.62 | $18.76)
• Blue taxi: from ₺835 (~ €19.14 | $21.61)
• Black taxi: at least ₺1 235 (~ €28.31 | $31.96)

Exchange rates (May 2025): 1 EUR ≈ 43.63 TRY | 1 USD ≈ 38.64 TRY

Taxi price: From Sultanahmet by yellow taxi (approximate prices):

• To Taksim Square: ₺160 (~ €3.67 | $4.14)
• To Galataport & Karaköy: ₺90 (~ €2.06 | $2.33)
• To Beşiktaş: ₺110 (~ €2.52 | $2.85)
• To Bebek embankment (you can walk on to Rumeli Hisarı): ₺220 (~ €5.04 | $5.69)
• To Cevahir Shopping Center: from ₺200 (~ €4.58 | $5.18)
• To İstinye Park Shopping Center: ₺320 (~ €7.34 | $8.29)
• To Kadıköy Pier: ₺250 (~ €5.73 | $6.47) + toll for Eurasia Tunnel or bridge
• To Miniatürk Museum: ₺200 (~ €4.58 | $5.18)
• To Balat Quarter: ₺180 (~ €4.13 | $4.66)

Important information for tourists about taxi in Istanbul

Is Taking a Taxi from Istanbul Airport Safe? What You Need to Know

Visiting Istanbul, you need to know about some features of the taxi and life hacks that will make your life much easier.

• Remember that the easiest way is to catch a taxi – waving your hand at the road, a free car will stop.
• It is known that 4 passengers are placed in the interior of a standard passenger car. But taxi drivers in Istanbul prefer to allow no more than 3 people in the car. Do not argue about this and swear – this is such an unspoken rule. If you are 4 or more people, look for a more spacious taxi or go through a transfer in advance.
• Women do not sit in the seat next to the driver – such a local tradition, so if you sit in the front seat and they look at you strange – do not be surprised.
• If you are in a popular tourist area, then it is better to leave it by public transport, and only then you can use taxi services. Practice shows that in places with a large concentration of tourists, fraudulent taxi drivers operate most often.
• Before you get into the car, remember or write down its license plates, as well as the name of the company. This information will be very helpful in case of problematic situations.
• Istanbul taxis run on LPG. It is much more economical than gasoline, but such fuel has a significant drawback – the gas cylinder takes up most of the trunk. Therefore, if you have a lot of suitcases and you are traveling in a large company, try to take a car with more space.
• If there is an extremely problematic situation, you can contact the tourist police. This organization was created specifically to protect the rights of tourists. But you should only do this if you have a real offense. Inflated meter numbers that seem too high to you are not a reason to contact the police.

Find the taxi on KiwiTaxi

Remember:

• Learn Basic Turkish Phrases: Knowing a few basic Turkish phrases like “Merhaba” (Hello), “Teşekkür ederim” (Thank you), and “Lütfen” (Please) can go a long way in ensuring a smooth communication with taxi drivers.
• Be Aware of Traffic: Istanbul can get congested, especially during rush hour. Factor in potential traffic delays when planning your trip by taxi.

Have a nice journey and don’t overpay for taxi in Istanbul!