Apps for travelling in Turkey: taxis, transport, maps and translation
In Turkey your phone is a taxi with no haggling, a tram route, a menu translator and dinner delivery. Here are the apps worth installing at home, and how to make them work right after landing.
Taxis: BiTaksi, Uber and iTaksi
BiTaksi is the most popular Turkish taxi app: it works in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and other big cities and shows the car and its plate on the map. Uber is legal in Turkey but books regular licensed taxis (yellow and turquoise) rather than private drivers; it has long worked in Istanbul and in Antalya since late 2022. Istanbul also has iTaksi, the official municipal service with a fare estimate.
The point of an app is that you see the route and price up front and the ride is tied to a specific car. If you hail a taxi on the street, ask for the meter (taksimetre).
Public transport
In Istanbul the metro, trams, buses and ferries are paid with an İstanbulkart. You buy it from machines at stations, and the İstanbulkart Mobil app shows the balance and tops the card up over NFC. Plan routes in Moovit or Google Maps — both show transfers and timetables. Antalya has its own transport card, AntalyaKart.
Maps and navigation
Google Maps knows Turkey's roads, places and opening hours well. If you worry about losing signal, download an offline map of the city at home — see “Offline maps: how to download Google Maps and Organic Maps before a trip”. Just remember that offline maps show no traffic or live transit and can't call a taxi.
Translation and menus
Google Translate translates signs and menus through the camera and works offline if you download Turkish in advance. English is understood almost everywhere in tourist areas, but in small cafés and markets the camera translator is a lifesaver.
Food delivery and shopping
The most popular delivery services are Yemeksepeti and Getir: restaurants, supermarket groceries and pharmacy basics arrive in half an hour. You pay by card in the app and can drop a pin on the map — handy when the Turkish street name is a puzzle.
The data that makes it all work
Almost all of these apps need mobile data: there's Wi-Fi at the hotel, but not in a taxi or on the street. Install a travel eSIM before you fly: at Tutu eSIM, Turkey starts at $2.99, 5 GB for 30 days is $7.49, and a week of unlimited data is $12.99. Data works the moment you land, and your main SIM stays in for calls.
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