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Interrail tickets and Eurodomino rail
passes sold by Rail
Europe are valid in Turkey,
but the TCDD Train Tour Card (see
below) is probably a lot cheaper.
The Balkan Flexipass available
from Rail
Europe  (good
for Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania,
Macedonia and Yugoslavia [Serbia & Montenegro])
is also valid in Turkey.
TRAIN TOUR CARDS
Turkish State Railways (TCDD)
offers Train Tour Cards (Tren
Tur Kartlari) good for 30 days'
unlimited travel on the entire Turkish
rail network (except on international
trains).
—Express Train Tour
Card (Ekspres
Tren Tur Karti) costs YTL150
—Sleeping Car Train
Tour Card (Yatakli Tren
Tur Karti) costs YTL500
and is valid both for carriage on
any train, and use of any sort of
sleeping accommodation: sleeping
car (yatakli vagon), couchette (kusetli),
or couchette with sheets,
blankets and pillow (örtülü kuset).
These cards include the
surcharges payable on TCDD Super Express (süper
ekspres) and
Blue (Mavi) trains, and the
reserved seat (Numarali yer) charge
in Pullman cars. You will not have
to pay those charges.
Note that you should reserve
any sleeping
car accommodation in advance.
If you take more than 5 one-way
(single) journeys, or 3
round-trip (return) train journeys, you
will probably save money with
a Train Tour Card. (See
also Train
Travel Costs.)
However, the trains don't
go everywhere in Turkey
(map); except for the Istanbul-Ankara
route, they're often slower
than the bus; and outside
of the Istanbul-Ankara route, the equipment
may be well-used, and in
some cases even dilapidated—though serviceable.
Plan your itinerary, and see if a Train
Tour Card suits you.
PURCHASING TRAIN TOUR CARDS
Have your passport or official
photo identity card ready
to show when you buy and use your card.
The card's 30-day validity begins on
the first day you use the
card (which may or may not be the day
you buy the card).
You can buy cards at major stations,
including these:
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