Can I use contactless or card to pay for public transport in Turkey?

Just travelled through Fethiye and Cappadocia and found public transport to be more basicmostly minibuses (dolmuş). In those, it’s still very much a cash setup. I paid the driver directly with small change, so having coins helped a lot. There’s no transport card system out there like in Istanbul. In big cities, it’s all contactless travel cards, but in rural areas, coins and small notes still matter.

I was in Antalya in April and while there’s a contactless tap system on some buses, most locals still use the AntalyaKart. You can’t just hop on and use a bank card like in London or Singapore. I made the mistake of trying to pay with cash and was turned away. Found a kiosk and bought a card, which worked fine for trams and buses after that. Definitely don’t count on using coins or paying the driver directly.

In Izmir and Ankara, I noticed that buses and metros also use prepaid cards like the Izmirim Card or Ankarakart. No one pays with coins anymore, and the drivers don’t accept cash. The cards cost a few lira and can be topped up at convenience stores or machines. Card readers are everywhere, but they only work with the official transport cardnot your Visa or Mastercard. So yes, carry small bills to load the card, not coins.

I was in Istanbul recently and almost all public transport runs on the Istanbulkart system. You can’t pay with coins or cash on board. You tap the card at metro gates, tram stops, busessuper convenient. You can top it up at kiosks and machines using cash or card. If you’re visiting multiple times in a week, definitely get an Istanbulkart at the airport or any major station.

Ankara metro takes cards, but I got stuck when my foreign card failed at the turnstile. Carry small bills (5-20 TL) for backup. Buy a Ankarakart (like Istanbulkart) if staying long. Avoid Esenboğa Airport buses - they only take exact change (15 TL coins).

Istanbul is 100% cashless for transport even street vendors take contactless! But in rural areas (e.g., Cappadocia’s dolmuses), cash is king. Workaround - Use BiTaksi (taxi app) or obilet.com (bus e-tickets) to avoid scrambling for coins.

Card payments are widely accepted in big cities (Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir), but smaller towns like Antalya or Bursa might still require coins for buses (exact change, usually 5-10 TL). Paper tickets from kiosks (no card option). I keep 20 TL in coins just in case, some older buses don’t take cards.

In Istanbul, contactless cards (Visa/Mastercard) and Istanbulkart (reloadable transit card) work everywhere metro, buses, trams, and ferries. No need for coins unless you’re using old-style token machines (rare now). Pro tip: Buy an Istanbulkart at a metro station, it’s cheaper per ride than single tickets.