İzmir Adnan Menderes Airport to Şirince
Şirince sits about 72 km from İzmir Airport; reach Selçuk first (direct train or transfer), then a frequent dolmuş climbs the last 8 km up to the village.
Şirince, İzmirHelen Owl / Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0A hillside village of Greek stone houses above Selçuk, famous for its fruit wines, olive groves and slow, photogenic lanes.
Every way to get there
Our verdict: for Şirince, a private transfer is the easiest door-to-door option (from €50).
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 | Private transfer | Best value |
|---|---|---|
| Solo · 1 traveller | €50 | Private transfer |
| Couple · 2 travellers | €50 | Private transfer |
| Family of 4 · 4 travellers | €50 | Private transfer |
Which option should you choose?
| If your priority is… | Our pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest price | Cheapest fare | From €4, 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
Private transfer
The simplest way — straight to the village, skipping the Selçuk change.
Where to catch it: Driver meets you at arrivals.
Best for families, groups & late arrivalsTrain
The cheapest scenic route; the last dolmuş down the hill leaves in the early evening.
Where to catch it: Airport-station train to Selçuk, then the Şirince dolmuş from Selçuk otogar.
Best for budget travellers near a stationTaxi
A direct metered run up the hill; agree a price first.
Where to catch it: Official taxi rank outside arrivals.
Best for small groups in a hurryCar rental
The narrow village approach is easy enough; parking sits just outside the centre.
Where to catch it: Car-rental desks at the terminal.
Best for travellers who want to exploreŞirince & İzmir in photos
Buying tickets in İzmir
İzmir Adnan Menderes has the İZBAN commuter train straight from beneath the terminal into the city (about 30 minutes). Pay with the reloadable İzmirim Kart, sold at the kiosk by the escalators down to the platform for around 75 TL plus whatever credit you load; the same card covers İZBAN, metro, trams and buses. Alternatively buy a Bilet35 paper multi-ride ticket. Load credit at the kiosk or machines with cash or card, then tap at the turnstile; you do not pay any driver.
Taxi scams & safety in İzmir
The İZBAN train is fixed-fare and bypasses traffic, so it sidesteps most taxi problems. If you do take a taxi, use the official rank outside arrivals and insist on the meter; treat a flat quote, a "broken meter", or a luggage surcharge as red flags. Do not follow touts inside the terminal. Uber operates in İzmir but generally dispatches licensed taxis, and app ride-hail can be caught at the departures kerb. Keep small notes so a driver cannot withhold change.
Getting from ADB to Şirince
There is a moment, somewhere on the last few kilometres of road, when the traffic falls away and the hills close in around you — olive trees silvering in the wind, a scatter of pale stone houses stacked up a slope, and the sudden certainty that you have wandered somewhere older and slower than the map suggested. That is Şirince: a hillside village of Greek stone houses above Selçuk, known for its fruit wines, its olive groves and its lanes that seem designed for dawdling rather than arriving. Getting here from İzmir Airport is not quite a single clean line on a map. It is, more honestly, a journey through Selçuk, followed by one final, unhurried climb — and that little inconvenience is part of the charm.
The lie of the land before you set off
Şirince sits roughly 72 kilometres from İzmir Airport, tucked into the hills just above the town of Selçuk. The village itself perches at the top of a short but distinct climb — the last eight kilometres wind up from Selçuk to the houses and their vineyards. This matters because it shapes every option that follows. You can either arrange to be carried the whole way in one go, or you can reach Selçuk first and let a shared minibus finish the job. Neither is wrong. One favours ease; the other favours your wallet and a slower, more scenic unspooling of the countryside.
Carried the whole way in one gentle sweep
If you would rather not think about connections at all, a pre-booked private transfer is the most forgiving choice. Firms such as Kiwitaxi and local transfer companies run door to door, around the clock, the fare agreed before you land — no queues, no working out which platform, no hauling luggage between vehicles. Allow about €50–70, and around 65 minutes gliding from terminal to village gate. It is the simplest way of all: straight up the hill, skipping the Selçuk change entirely, so that the first Şirince lane you see is the one you actually wanted.
A taxi from the official rank outside arrivals does much the same work, on demand at any hour, if you would rather decide on the spot. Expect roughly €60–90 for the direct metered run up the hill, and about 80 minutes on the road. My one piece of village-wanderer's advice: agree the price before you sink into the seat, so the only surprises waiting for you are the pleasant ones — a cellar door, a jug of blackberry wine, a cat asleep on warm stone.
The cheap and scenic route, by rail and minibus
For those who like their travel measured out in small, honest stages, this is the one I quietly favour. A TCDD regional train runs from the airport's own station down to Selçuk — around six services a day — for just a few euros. From Selçuk's otogar, the Şirince dolmuş, a shared minibus, then carries you up the final eight kilometres to the village. All in, it costs perhaps €4–8 and takes about 90 minutes, the cheapest scenic route by a comfortable margin. The dolmuş runs frequently through the season, filling and departing as it pleases rather than to any strict clock.
One thing worth carrying in the back of your mind: the last dolmuş back down the hill leaves in the early evening. Şirince is glorious in the golden hour, when the tour coaches have gone and the light turns the olive groves to bronze — but if you are relying on the minibus, keep half an eye on the time so you are not stranded among the vines. General wisdom holds that these last village services vanish earlier than you would like, so err on the side of setting off down before you think you must.
At your own pace, with a key in your pocket
Hiring a car frees you from timetables altogether, and Şirince rewards the freedom — the surrounding hills are dotted with wineries, orchards and quiet spots that no minibus will ever reach. Desks sit right in arrivals; Localrent and DiscoverCars are the usual names, with day rates roughly €22–40, and the drive up takes about 65 minutes. The narrow village approach looks daunting on paper but is easy enough in practice; you simply leave the car in the parking area just outside the centre and walk in, as everyone does. And really, walking in on foot — past the first fruit-wine stall, into the cool of the stone lanes — is the only proper way to arrive.
