Getting Around Çanakkale: GESTAŞ Ferries, Troy Minibuses and Contactless Cards

Whether you are travelling on foot or with a rental car, maritime company GESTAŞ and Çanakkale's blue municipal buses make moving between the city centre, the Gallipoli Peninsula, Ancient Troy and the islands straightforward.

1. Crossing the Dardanelles to Gallipoli: Eceabat vs Kilitbahir Ferries

Right in the middle of downtown Çanakkale (2 minutes' walk from the Clock Tower and Kordon hotels) sits the Central Çanakkale Ferry Pier (Merkez İskele). Two separate car-and-passenger ferry routes depart from this exact pier across to the European shore of the Gallipoli Peninsula:

• Çanakkale, Eceabat (Every 30 to 60 minutes, 24 hours a day, ~25 mins): the main big-ship crossing to the town of Eceabat (where guided battlefield minibuses wait and the road leads directly over the hill to Anzac Cove and Conkbayırı).
• Çanakkale, Kilitbahir (Every 15 to 30 minutes, ~10 to 12 mins): the shortest, fastest crossing across the narrowest bottleneck of the strait, dropping you directly in front of 1462 Kilitbahir Fortress and Namazgah Bastion (ideal for the southern battlefields and the Çanakkale Martyrs' Memorial at Cape Helles).
• How foot passengers vs cars pay: foot passengers walk through the terminal building and pay a tiny fare by tapping a contactless bank card or buying a token at the window; cars drive into the queuing lanes and pay per vehicle (which includes the driver and all passengers inside the car).

2. Getting to Ancient Troy & The Troy Museum by Public Bus / Minibus

You do not need an expensive taxi to reach Ancient Troy and the Troy Museum (30 km south). Walk ten minutes inland from the Ferry Pier across the Sarıçay river to the minibus stop underneath the Atatürk Bridge (Atatürk Köprüsü altı, opposite the Thursday Market area). White Tevfikiye / Troya minibuses (Route Ç11K / Troy shuttle) depart hourly in summer (every 1.5 to 2 hours in low season), stopping directly at both the Troy Museum and the Ancient City entrance gate in 30 minutes. Inside the city, all blue municipal buses (such as Ç1, Ç3 and Ç8 to the Otogar, Airport and Kepez) accept contactless Visa and Mastercard cards directly at the validator.