Taxis

About 18,000 yellow taxis throng Istanbul's streets. Most are powered by clean-burning natural gas, and all have digital meters which the drivers are required by law to run.

That doesn't mean they always do. If your driver doesn't start the taksimetre, or tries to haggle at the start of the trip instead of running it, just point to the meter emphatically and say Taksimetre! (TAHK-see-MEHT-treh) It'll probably be cheaper on the meter than if you let him just charge you what he wants at the end of your trip.

As the driver starts the meter it will flash the rate type: Gündüz means Daylight (06:00 am to 24:00 midnight); Gece means Night (24:00 midnight to 06:00 am). Gece (Night) is 50% higher than the daytime rate.

The Gündüz fare for the 15-minute ride between Sultanahmet and Taksim Square is about US$5.

For the 35- to 75-minute ride from Atatürk Airport to Sultanahmet the Gündüz fare is about US$15 to US$18. From the airport to Taksim Square, about US$18 to $23.

The Gündüz fare from Sariyer, on the Northern European shore of the Bosphorus near the Black Sea, to Galata Bridge is about US$25.

Many taxis are small yellow Fiats that seat two in the rear seat comfortably, three in a pinch (or if you're all endomorphs). One person can sit in the right-front passenger seat, so the total a taxi can carry is four passengers (plus the driver), though most drivers prefer three passengers. I doubt that a driver will allow five passengers unless he has a larger car than the standard Fiat (there are some larger ones).

Turks don't tip taxi drivers, they round up the fare. If it ends up being, say, US$4.75, a Turk will just round it up to $5. In many cases if the fare is US$5.25, the driver will require only US$5, and not bother with the change.

As a foreigner, your driver may assume you'll give a tip, but you needn't unless the driver provides some special service, such as helping with lots of heavy luggage.

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