Bandırma

Understand

Bandırma has a short sea crossing from Istanbul and a low coastline, easy to traverse by road, so it's long been a transit hub. It was founded around the 9th century BC and has been held by the Persians, the Byzantine Romans and the Ottomans, but almost nothing remains of all that. The town was wrecked in the fighting between Greece and Turkey that followed the First World War, so its buildings are modern, though some are in retro-Ottoman style. The closing shots of that conflict rang out here, then an Armistice was signed at Mudanya, followed by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne.

Bandırma was also the name of the freighter in which Mustafa Kemal sailed to Samsun, under orders to disband the Ottoman army after Turkey's 1918 defeat. Instead he organised the fightback that escalated into the War of Independence, and led to his sobriquet of "Atatürk".

Get in

There's no airport nearby. International travellers can fly into Istanbul then take the bus or ferry.

İDO ferries sail daily from Istanbul Kadıköy (Asia-side) and Yenikapı (Europe-side, near Sultanahmet) and take 2 hr 30 min, for a single fare of 150 TL. BUDO ferries don't sail this route, but ply from Istanbul to Mudanya near Bursa.

Marmara RoRo sail twice a day from Tekirdağ Ceyport on the far mainland coast.

A daily train runs from Izmir Basmane, taking almost six hours via Manisa and Balıkesir. It leaves Izmir around 09:00 and is called 6 Eylül Ekspresi, "6th of September Express", returning south from Bandırma at 16:00 when it's called 17 Eylül Ekspresi.

A high speed line from Ankara and Istanbul has been under construction for years, and its supposed completion date of 2023 looks implausible.

is by the harbour, within 200 m of the ferry piers.

Buses run hourly from Istanbul Anadolu station, taking 4 hours for a fare of 180 TL. Bus lines competing on this route are Metro Turizm, Pamukkale and Flixbus. From Ankara or Konya it's quickest to take the YHT high speed train to Eskişehir, which connects with a bus to Bursa. Frequent buses between Bursa and Bandırma take two hours for a fare of 60 TL - many of these continue west to Çanakkale, for Troy and Gallipoli.

is 5 km south of town on D200 the highway from Bursa. By road from Istanbul follow O7 east to Gebze then O5 across the bridge and west via Bursa onto D200.