Estimated living expenses for international students are minimally 350 - 550 Euro per month. However, cost of living may depend on the city. Living cost in major big cities like Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir would be relatively higher than Tekirdag.
Accomodation: 150-300 EUR
Food-Drink : 130 EUR
Transportation: 25 EUR
Social Activity: 65-85 EUR
Proximity to İstanbul
Tekirdağ has a unique strategic position at the crossroads of Balkans and Europe. The city named as “the Pearl of Marmara”, offers various social and cultural opportunities to its guests.
Tekirdağ attracts visitors not only with its natural beauties but also with its proximity to İstanbul, Dardanelles and prominent cities of Thrace offer variety of choices for travel and sightseeing. Especially, its proximity to İstanbul which is about 2 hours by bus provides an alternative programme for different types of activities in İstanbul.
Get around Tekirdağ
Tekirdağ, especially the downtown area, is fairly convenient to explore on foot. Nevertheless, the city has a public transport system based on minibuses, some are public and run by the city council while others are private. In any case, you don’t need to have a ticket beforehand—there are no tickets even if you wish to have—and pay cash to the driver inside the vehicle.
Public minibuses (recognizable by their navy blue colour) have route numbers on the frontand they are running between the otogar and different outlying residential hoods -which are of no interest to the occasional traveller- usually via the city center. The private minibuses are all painted different colours according to their routes. The two most important routes for an ordinary traveller would be the Barbaros-Kumbağ line, which is painted in light blue, and Değirmenaltı line which is painted in slightly greenish-yellow (There are actually three different lines using the same slightly greenish-yellow colour and they line up together in pairs at the main stop in the city center. They all do run to the same direction but their terminals are different points. These blue minibuses are those exceptional ones to have route numbers and #1 goes into Değirmenaltı, so look for that. The same-colour #3 and #5 also stop at YSK Shopping Mall, which is located at the entrance of the hood).
All minibuses run on a fixed route and schedule, mostly in 10-minute intervals, however the interval frequency drops late at night to once every 30 minutes. The last minibus for most lines is at midnight (3.00 AM for Kumbağ line during July and August)
Main stop for private minibuses is across the street from Rüstem Paşa Mosque. They don’t have any standard stops other than this, they stop wherever a passenger raises his hand to show he/she is going to board or wherever a passenger inside shouts “inecek var “(pronounced ee-neh-djek vahr) to get off. Public minibuses only stop at standard stops (none of them has an official name). Anyone who is willing to get off the next stop should push one of the buttons around the back door to make sure the minibus will stop and the door will open at the next stop.
Fees are standard (6.25 TL within the city) and no student discounts available.
Cabs are also available from many stands around the city.
For the villages and towns surrounding the city (for example Şarköy), you can find busses at the otogar, or minibuses departing from shoreline or some other designated stops around the city.
Sister cities in Europe
· Greece: Kavala, Komotini (Gümülcine)
· Bulgaria: Kardzhali, Sliven
· Hungary: Sarospatak, Kecskemet
· Romania: Techirgiol
· Germany: Bayreuth
By plane
The nearest airport is Çorlu Airport (about 50 km to Tekirdağ -Çorlu Airport (from Ankara to Tekirdağ). It takes about 2 hours from the New Istanbul International Airport in Istanbul to Tekirdağ by intercity bus, and costs 150 TL.
As for the Istanbul Esenler Intercity Bus Station (Istanbul Coach Station); there are many bus companies operating between Istanbul Coach Station (Istanbul Esenler Otogar) and Tekirdağ. Just look around in the Otogar and soon you’ll see word Tekirdağ on one of the windows. It is possible to find a bus to Tekirdağ about every one hour. Direct bus travel with the Asian side of Istanbul is less frequent, only once every few hours. From Istanbul Esenler Otogar to Tekirdağ doesn’t normally take more than two hours. But, especially in the summertime, because many people heading for their “holiday homes” on the way to Tekirdağ use these services, stops can be tiresome and can lengthen the travel time up to four hours with a congested traffic. There is normally no scheduled stop on the Istanbul-Tekirdağ bus lines for a break. Ticket fares from/to Istanbul Esenler Otogar are approximately 130 TL as of 2022 (and a few liras more from slightly further away Asian Side of Istanbul).
Buses heading for Istanbul from Çanakkale and Gallipoli passes through Tekirdağ, so it is possible to board an Istanbul bus from these places and get off in Tekirdağ. When buying the ticket or paying the fare inside the bus tell them that you’ll get off in Tekirdağ, not Istanbul, a journey which deserves a slightly lower fare than all the way to Istanbul.
One easy and cheap way reaching from Greece to Tekirdağ by bus might be somehow to reach Keşan first, which is about 25 km away from Greco-Turkish border, then take a bus there coming from Çanakkale, Gallipoli or already has its terminus in Keşan and heading for Istanbul.
İstanbul Seyahat Customer Service Phone Nr: 0850 222 59 59
By car
From Istanbul– first take D100 highway or O3/E80 motorway (toll-way), if you are on the motorway, when you reach Kınalı junction there are Tekirdağ signs there) follow Tekirdağ signs (although the road numbers are not shown on the signs there, the road that you will enter into is D110/E84). Total distance is 132 km and can be covered within one and a half to two hours.
From Bulgaria – There are two ways:
If you enter Turkey at Kapitan Andreevo/Kapıkule border gate (NW of Edirne), first by-pass Edirne via the ring road (E80, toll-free, signs are green), then either take D100 highway by quitting the E80 after you left Edirne behind (the second exit after you entered the ring-road) or continue onto O3/E80 motorway (toll-way), if you are on the motorway leave it in Lüleburgaz exit (there are Lüleburgaz and Muratlı signs there), you’ll reach D100 here, take the direction towards Çorlu/Istanbul. After you drove about ten minutes away from Lüleburgaz, you’ll come to a junction, signs will show Muratlı/Tekirdağ. Turn that way (take the right). You are now on D565 and will reach Tekirdağ in about 40 minutes. Total distance from Kapıkule to Tekirdağ is about 160 km.
If you enter Turkey at Tirnovo/Dereköy border gate (north of Kırklareli), take the D555/E87 (that’s the only way already), drive on it until you are in Babaeski (do not enter the motorway shown by green “Istanbul” signs before you reach Babaeski). In Babaeski you’ll come across a roundabout, turn around it to the Lüleburgaz/Istanbul direction (blue signs). Now you are on D100. Keep on it until you are about ten minutes away from Lüleburgaz, you’ll come to a junction, signs will say Muratlı/Tekirdağ. Turn that way (right). You are now on D565 and will reach Tekirdağ in about 40 minutes. Total distance from Dereköy to Tekirdağ is about 155 km.
From Greece – Enter Turkey at Peptos/İpsala border gate, take the only road available there (D110/E90, after Keşan D110/E84). By never turning right or left you will be in Tekirdağ within one to one and a half hours. Total distance is about 110 km.
By boat
There are regular daily voyages from little harbour in the city centre to Marmara Island, Avşa Island, Erdekand Bandirma across the Sea of Marmara (at least in summer months). There is a ferry line to Gemlik on the SE coast of the Sea of Marmara from the bigger and newer harbour (2 km west of city centre). There is also a line to Karabiga on the SW coast of the Sea of Marmara, near Çanakkale from the harbour of Barbaros, a village 9 km SW of Tekirdağ.
There are also ro-ro (ferry) services direct to Trieste in NE of Italy (near the Slovenian border) twice a week, but passengers without vehicles may not be accepted into these ferries (Akport harbour tel +90 282 261 08 00 - 4 lines).
There is also a marina in the city. As of December 2007, its construction seems to be completed but it seems it is not accepting any boats or yachts yet.
There is a customs office in the bigger harbour (2 km west of city centre). You can have your passport stamped if you are arriving by your own boat and haven’t disembarked in Turkey yet. Be aware that it’s illegal to land on Turkish soil before your passport has an entrance stamp – which can be obtained from most visited marinas and major harbours, such as this one.