Istanbul Travel Forum

Hi all,
I have a nine hour layover in Istanbul on my way to South Africa. Is it possible and easy to store my luggage at the airport and do some site seeing for a few hours? How far is the airport from the city? Thanks!

Can't say about the storage bit, but you can get into the city by metro/tram in 45 minutes - see my Istanbul transport tips.

There is a storage for your luggages at the airport actually.
www.ataturkairport.com/eng/1.php

You can see its info at "other services" section of the website... Here what it says:

LUGGAGE STORAGE SERVICES

The luggage storage unit is located on the arrival floor of the terminal and is open round-the-clock. Passengers are charged a daily fee which is calculated after the collection of the luggage. The fees are as follows:

Big size package 15,00 TRY per day
Normal size luggage 12,00 TRY per day
Handbag 10,00 TRY per day
Small size package (plastic bag etc.) 8,00 TRY per day
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And about your free time... 9 hours is enough to see several main attractions of Istanbul. You can go to Sultanahmet square and hang out there for 3 or 4 hours maybe.

It takes 30 minutes from seaside (by a taxi) actually but take into consideration about traffic jam. Let's say 1 hour to get the airport... So you have enough time to see the old part of Istanbul a little bit.

If you leave the airport you will have to purchase a Turkish visa which you can do just prior to customs. If you are travelling on an American passport it will cost you US$20.00, have the cash in hand. It is no hassle quick and painless, did this last March and took no time at all. The metro into the city is fairly fast, just leave yourself a couple of hours to return to the airport and go through security, you should have already been issued your boarding pass for your ongoing flight when you checked in for your first flight.

Remember that at certain times of the day, the main highway in and out of istanbul city centre can be absolutely horrendous so leave yourself plenty of time to get back to the airport when you have seen some sights. Also consider there will be queues at some of the more popular tourist attractions and factor this into your plans :o)

Great information...thank you all.