İstanbul Airport to Princes' Islands / Büyükada
There's no road to the Princes' Islands: combine a drive or metro to a ferry terminal with the ~80-minute boat crossing to Büyükada. Allow well over two hours in total.
Princes' Islands / Büyükada, İstanbulMetuboy / Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0A car-free archipelago in the Sea of Marmara — Ottoman-era mansions, pine forests and horse-and-bike leisure — reached by ferry from Eminönü, Kabataş or Bostancı.
Every way to get there
Our verdict: for Princes' Islands / Büyükada, a private transfer is the easiest door-to-door option (from €35). Travelling light on a budget? The bus is cheapest (from €11) but slower, with a change in the city.
What it costs for your group
The bus is charged per person, while a taxi or private transfer is one price for the whole car — so the more of you there are, the better door-to-door value looks.
| Group | Bus (per person) | Private transfer | Best value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo · 1 traveller | €11 | €35 | Bus |
| Couple · 2 travellers | €22 | €35 | Bus |
| Family of 4 · 4 travellers | €44 | €35 | Private transfer |
Which option should you choose?
| If your priority is… | Our pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest price | Bus | From €2, though slower with a change in the city. |
| Speed & comfort | Private transfer | Door-to-door, fixed price, a driver waiting for you. |
| A group of 3–4 | Transfer or taxi | One flat fare splits cheaper than several bus tickets. |
| A late-night arrival | Transfer or taxi | Both run 24/7 when buses and the tram have stopped. |
By transport mode
Metro
İstanbulkart covers both the metro and the ferry. The last legs depend on the ferry timetable.
Where to catch it: Transport level (−2), Exit 11 — metro to Kabataş or Yenikapı, then the island ferry.
Best for budget travellers near a stationPrivate transfer
The islands are car-free, so any road transport can only reach the ferry pier — you finish by boat.
Where to catch it: Driver meets you in arrivals and drops you at Kabataş or Eminönü ferry terminal.
Best for families, groups & late arrivalsBus / shuttle
The budget route: coach into the city, then the public ferry to Büyükada.
Where to catch it: Floor −2, HavaİST coach stand to Eminönü/Kabataş, then a Şehir Hatları ferry.
Best for solo & budget travellersTaxi
A taxi gets you to Kabataş/Bostancı; the crossing itself is by ferry.
Where to catch it: Official taxi rank at arrivals; taxi reaches the pier only.
Best for small groups in a hurryPrinces' Islands / Büyükada & İstanbul in photos
Buying tickets in İstanbul
At Istanbul Airport go down to the public-transport floor (level -2) and buy an İstanbulkart from the yellow Biletmatik machines. The blank card is about 165 TL; pay more and the extra loads as credit, so you can ride straight away. Tap it on the M11 metro to Gayrettepe (around 26 TL) or on Havaist shuttle buses (roughly 275 TL). One card works for the whole family by tapping per person. The machines take cash and contactless cards; there is no paying a driver.
Taxi scams & safety in İstanbul
The airport is far from the centre, so taxi overcharging is the big issue. Use the official taxi queue outside arrivals, check the meter starts on the day tariff, and be wary of drivers who say the meter is broken, quote a huge flat rate, or take a long detour. Refuse touts inside the terminal offering a private car. Uber and BiTaksi work here but dispatch licensed yellow/turquoise taxis. The M11 metro avoids all of this and is unaffected by traffic.
Getting from IST to Princes' Islands / Büyükada
Somewhere out in the Sea of Marmara, the engine noise of İstanbul simply stops. On Büyükada there are no cars, no horns, no queues of taxis idling at a red light — only pine forests, faded Ottoman mansions with their shutters half-closed against the sun, and the soft clatter of bicycles on a hill. It is the city's great exhale. But the calm comes with a caveat that no glossy photograph will tell you: there is no road to the Princes' Islands, and so getting here is always a story in two acts. First the land, then the water.
Why This One Comes With an Asterisk
From İstanbul Airport, Büyükada sits roughly 45 kilometres away as the crow flies, but crows don't have to change from wheels to a hull. Every option below — metro, coach, private car, yellow taxi — can only carry you as far as a ferry terminal on the shore. The archipelago is car-free by design and by law, so the last, best part of the journey is always the ~80-minute boat crossing itself. Sensible travellers allow well over two hours door to jetty, and honestly, half a day is the right mental budget if you want to arrive unhurried rather than sprinting for a departing ferry.
The three gateways worth knowing are Eminönü and Kabataş on the European side, and Bostancı over on the Asian shore. Which pier you aim for simply depends on how you cross the city first — and that is where the real decision lives.
Rails, Then a Wake Behind You
For the traveller who likes their journey to feel like part of the adventure, the metro is a quiet joy. From the transport level (−2, Exit 11) you pick up the M11, connect through the M2, and ride the tunnels out towards Kabataş or Yenikapı before stepping into the salt air at the pier. Trains run every eight to ten minutes, so the underground half is brisk and predictable; the whole chain takes around two hours and ten minutes. One small elegance: a single İstanbulkart covers both the metro and the ferry, so you tap once for the train and again at the turnstile before the crossing — no fumbling for separate tickets.
The catch is the water, not the rails. Island ferries run roughly hourly, so your last legs bend entirely to the timetable rather than the other way round. Arrive between sailings and you'll simply wait on the quay with a glass of tea — which, frankly, is no bad way to begin an island day.
When You'd Rather Not Think About It
Some arrivals — jet-lagged, luggage-laden, in no mood to decode a metro map — just want to be handed to the shore. A pre-booked private transfer does exactly that: a driver meets you in arrivals and delivers you to the Kabataş or Eminönü ferry terminal in around 65 minutes, running 24/7 for a fixed fare of around €35–50. It is the smoothest land act you can buy. Just hold onto the truth of it — this is not door to door, because there is no door on a car-free island. The transfer ends at the pier; the crossing is still yours to make by boat.
The yellow taxi tells the same story in a slightly different accent. From the official rank at arrivals it'll cover the road to Kabataş or Bostancı in roughly an hour, on demand around the clock, typically €51–60. Faster to organise than anything, but the meter runs on İstanbul traffic, and the taxi reaches the pier only. After that, everyone — prince and pauper alike — boards the same ferry.
The Slow, Cheap, Honest Route
If your budget matters more than your afternoon, the HavaİST coach is the old-fashioned choice with real charm. From floor −2 the coach runs 24/7 into the heart of the city, dropping you near Eminönü or Kabataş, where a Şehir Hatları public ferry finishes the job. Reckon on around three hours all in, for roughly €11–13 — a fraction of the taxi — with the same roughly-hourly ferries setting the rhythm at the end.
It is slow, and it will eat your morning. But there's something fitting about earning Büyükada the patient way: watching the domes and minarets slide past the coach window, then the whole city drop astern as the ferry pulls out, until the loudest thing left is the wind in the pines. However you reach the shore, remember to catch a ferry back with daylight to spare — the island keeps its own gentle, unhurried time, and the last boat waits for no one.
