Taxi’s in Istanbul. Photo: Slawomira Kozieniec
My Top 10 of do’s and don’ts when using taxi’s in Istanbul. Based on my own experiences and those of many tourists I have met.
I have met a lot of nice, helpful and friendly taxi drivers in Istanbul. But there are also cabbies in this city who want to make some extra money of the ‘rich’ “yabancılar ‘(foreigners) in an unfair way. Beware!
1. Never agree in advance on a fixed price, but use the taxi meter.
2. The meter starts standard at 2.70 Turkish Lira (TL). Watch the meter, because some drivers manipulate the meter.
3. There is no night rate.
4. Always pay in Turkish Lira’s. Those who pay in euro’s or U.S. dollars always pay at an unfair exchange rate.
5. Almost all cabbies in the city think that they are Michael Schumacher in a Formula One car on a racetrack. They drive like crazy, but cause seldom accidents, as most other Turks drive in the same style. Always put your seatbelt on, even if the driver looks at you as if he’s insulted with a macho look of ‘don’t you think I can drive? ”
6. Always have enough coins, banknotes of 5, 10 and 20 Lira in your pocket. If you with 50 or 100 TL taxi drivers often try their infamous exchange trick. They act as if you gave them 10 or 20 Lira instead of 50 or 100 TL.
7. Never open your wallet sitting in the front seat. It often happens that cabbies grab into your wallet to ‘help’ you getting out your foreign bank notes.
8. Step out of the car if the driver is rude and write down his taxi number. Give that to the desk of the hotel. Istanbul earns a lot of money from tourism so it is in the interest of the city authorities to preserve their image of a tourist friendly, welcoming place. So complaints will eventually have an effect.
9. Prepare yourself well. Take a serious look at the city map and find out where your hotel and most important places are located, so you have a general idea of the direction a cabbie should take going from A to B. Take always a business card of the hotel you are staying, so you can show the address to the driver, and he may – if he really doesn’t know the address – make a phone call to the hotel.
10. Use official yellow cabs only. Don’t trust friendly strangers who say they will find you a cab.
Taxi’s in Istanbul. Photo Anneke de Leeuw
Thanks, Marc. Good pieces of advice.
Folks, watch out, especially when drunk, regarding the difference between 5 lira notes and 50 lira notes. They are quite similar in color. My wallet’s main section has 2 parts. I always put 5 lira notes and 50 lira notes in different parts.
The vast majority of cabbies are honest and hard working individuals. That being said…
Writing down a number for rude, unsafe or predator drivers does not provide any reliable evidence as to who one is dealing with, although it’s better than nothing if you can remember to do it.
A better approach is to always be proactive. Routinely get information before you might need it. A cellphone with a camera is very helpful in this respect. Use the camera to take a pic of the outside door of the cab where license plate is written. The name and possibly the phone number of the cab company will be there also. (I as a matter of practice don’t get into cabs without some ‘company’ affiliation.) Another pic or short video clip of the driver will be essential if you need to be able to identify him. That is a more delicate act which takes a little bit more skill as a photographer.
If you don’t speak the language the phone can also be used to call others as who are bilingual, that tip can be used for all circumstances while in Turkey. Have several other people you can call, with varied personality types depending on the situation. I’d use the external speaker so the driver can hear if I’d have a phone I didn’t want to lose. In real practice, I hand my cheap phone over for them to use.
If you would insist on wearing a seat belt, don’t shut the door until you confirm there is an operable seat belt at the ready. Seat belts are so rarely used by Turks that it can take a couple of minutes to retrieve the belt from under the back seat and that’s a moot and near impossible feat once the cab is rolling.
You are hiring the cab. First thing is to let the driver know that you are not in a hurry and he is to drive safely or he’s not gonna retain your business. They’re still gonna have to drive a little crazy according to Western norms because after all, this is Turkey and there isn’t effectively any traffic laws due to lack of traffic enforcement. Stop signs and lines on the road are truly seen as suggestions only, not rules. Drivers seem to be in telepathic negotiation with other drivers whilst using their cars as one would use ones’ body in a crowd. Somehow it works, get used to it.
Habitually carry small notes with not even the slightest rip in them, do not be prepared to give more than you are willing to lose. Most cabbies and even store merchants never seem to have change. Also, as far as 50s are concerned.. I’ve had a cabby hand one back after taking it and shopping unsuccessfully for change… he gave back a fake 50 to my Turkish friend. So, it’s not just us yabancilar (strangers\foreigners) that get screwed over.
Thanks for sharing.
Great tips!
If you are a foreigner i reccomend first , always to use the cabs who are belonging to a taxi stand (durak taksi). You will see the logo of there stand on the both sides of the doors. When there is a logo on the door, the taxi belongs to a taxi stand. I trust the “logo taxi’s” more then the others who have not as a local and a tourist guide in Istanbul…
Sometimes they have only the name of the taxi stand on the both doors. For example Ataturk Airport Taksi, that means that the stand of the taxi is on the airport.