Why hire a car in Istanbul
Istanbul is a city that defeats most visitors with its traffic — the congestion on the Bosphorus bridges can stretch to hours at rush hour, and finding parking in the historic centre is a study in patience. But there are good reasons to hire a car here. The Bosphorus shoreline road from Üsküdar to Anadolu Kavağı on the Asian side is one of the great waterside drives in the world, passing Ottoman palaces, wooden yalı mansions and fish restaurants all the way to the Black Sea. Thrace — the European hinterland north of the city — is wine country, and the ancient city of Edirne with its magnificent Selimiye Mosque is 240 km away on a fast, uncrowded motorway.
The most practical use of a hire car in Istanbul is as a tool for escaping the city efficiently. Ferries to the Princes Islands leave from Eminönü and Kabataş — a hired car can drop you there and pick you up. The Belgrad Forest north of the city is a green escape within an hour. And for travellers continuing to Ankara, Cappadocia or the Aegean coast, collecting a hire car in Istanbul and doing a one-way drop is often the most flexible start to a Turkish road trip.
