It’s a long bus trip between Istanbul and, say, Munich (32 hours), and can be more expensive than a cut-rate airfare, but if you want to travel between Turkey and Europe by bus, you can.
Note that you may need transit visas for the countries that the bus passes through such as Bulgaria and Serbia, depending on your passport. Check with the bus company and the countries’ diplomatic posts for requirements.
Here are the principal companies running buses to cities in central Europe. (See also the pages on buses to Bulgaria and Romania, and buses to Greece.)
Ulusoy
(Büyük Otogar Office No. 126-127) Ulusoy sells tickets for departures from Istanbul on Wednesday and Friday mornings at 11:00am. The bus stops at Munich, Ulm, Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Mannheim, Frankfurt, Köln, Düsseldorf, Essen and Dortmundt.
The return trip starts Saturday and Tuesday mornings. The journey takes between 32 (Munich) and 46 (Dortmund) hours, depending upon your German city destination.
The Ulusoy website is in Turkish only.
One-way fare between Istanbul and German cities range from €140 to €180, depending on the city and the season. More…
Metro Turizm
One of Turkey’s largest and best bus companies, Metro operates buses from Istanbul to cities in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Germany and Greece. More…
TurkeyTravelPlanner.com also has a page for buses to Bulgaria and other Balkan countries.
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