Guz1

I have American relatives coming to stay with us in June. Their plans are to spend a few days in Istanbul and travel by bus from there to meet up with us. They have rented an apartment in Istanbul which they tell me is within walking distance of the Blue Mosque so I reckon they must be staying in the Sultanahmet area.

As far as I can see, the best bus companies are Varan, Pammukkale and Kamil Koc. Are there any others worth recommending?

They seem to think that they should get the bus to Izmir, but I have to pick them up from the bus station and I don't fancy trying to find my way around Izmir. Would it be better if I told them to get the bus to Aydin? Would it be easier to find the bus station there, and does it have a direct bus link with Istanbul? Better still, is there a direct bus service to one of the more manageable towns near us such as Kusadasi or Soke?

Would appreciate any advice.

immac

I don't know the towns you mention, but the Kamil Koc website will give you travel options. On the right hand side there are timetable drop-down lists.
http://www.kamilkoc.com.tr/

Also Varan.
http://www.varan.com.tr/english/ic_hat.asp

Ian

Guz1

Thank you for the links, Ian. Looks like they don't give details so far in advance - plenty of buses for next month but none for June. There probably won't be much difference in the schedules and at least there are buses to all the towns in our vicinity so I should be able to avoid the drive to Izmir.

jasoli

We did it last year, night bus from Istanbul to Izmir and another from Izmir to Kusadasi. We enjoyed the bus trip, with Kamil Koc (?), they played unbelieveably bad Turkish sci-fi programmes through the night and had an attendant with a bow tie and white gloves that plied us with endless cups of tea/coffee and cakes. That being said, the seat springs had died and the toilet breaks were best avoided. Cost about as much to get a taxi from Kus bus station to Davutlar sitesi as it did to get from Istanbul to Kusdasi on the bus.

Guz1

Thank you, Jasoli. I think they might go for the daytime bus so they can see something of the countryside on their journey. When I suggested that they take the bus I forgot all about the Turkish toilets. There's quite a difference in fare prices between Varan and Kamil Koc, but maybe Varan stop at places with better toilets.

sapper

have never been on Varan but have used Kamil Koc a few times - they had modern coaches and very clean.

istanbul pikey

Varan are known to be the best bus company in Turkey along with Ulusoy and thats why they have the most expensive tickets. Kamil Koc are pretty middle of the road whilst Pammukkale are at the bottom of the list.
Metro or Boss or worth considering as they are the same standard as Kamil koc.

Guz1

Thanks, Sapper. I think they could cope with the coach being a bit uncomfortable but I'm a bit worried about the toilets.

Istanbul Pikey: Yes, the Varan buses look very luxurious. I have never heard of Ulusoy, Metro or Boss so will see if I can find a weblink for them. Do you know whether all the bus companies use the same rest stops?

Also, I know this is probably a silly question, but do you think that being Americans they will encounter any hostility in Istanbul or on the bus journey? (I apologise if that question offends any of our Turkish members but I just had to ask because I feel a bit responsible for them as I don't think they would ever have considered going to Turkey if I hadn't invited them).

istanbul pikey

Most companies have their own rest stops. I know Ulusoy have their own starbucks in Susurluk near Balikesir. As for being American, people dont care where you are from and their are thousands of americans living in Istanbul.