Starting My Journey from Zanjan to Turkey and Istanbul: Recounting My Travel Experiences

Maybe I haven’t mentioned it before, but the beginning of my journey around Turkey started from the city of Zanjan. At the age of 24, I decided to use the money I had saved to travel around Turkey and share my experiences with you in TravellingTopics magazine. Stay with me until the end of this article to learn about the events that happened to me along the way and to get the full story of my trip from Zanjan to Turkey.

Day One – From Zanjan to Turkey

In order to keep my travel costs as low as possible, I decided to reach the Razi border crossing by land, then head to the city of Van, and from there fly to Istanbul through Van Airport. I had purchased my plane ticket for the day after I left Zanjan so that I could arrive at the airport on time and not miss my flight.

On the first day, I left Zanjan at 6 a.m. with my personal car, heading toward Tabriz. Unfortunately, halfway through, my car broke down. I had to call Emdad Khodro Dar Zanjan for assistance, and they towed my car to the nearest mechanic. After a few hours, around 11 a.m., my car was fixed and I quickly continued my journey to Tabriz.

I arrived in Tabriz at 12 noon, had lunch at a local restaurant, and at 2 p.m. I set off toward the city of Khoy and the Razi border. I reached Khoy around 7 p.m. Since my flight was for the following day, I decided to sleep in a tent at a park in Khoy and continue my trip early the next morning.

Day Two – To Istanbul

The next morning at 6 a.m., I drove toward the Razi border. After about an hour, I arrived, parked my car in the open-air lot near the border, and walked to the Razi border building.

Luckily, the passport control on the Iranian side was quiet, and I crossed in less than five minutes. But unfortunately, I reached the Turkish passport control exactly at 7:30 a.m., right during the guard shift change. Since the process took about an hour, I and other Iranians had to stand in a small corridor for an hour until the border reopened.

After clearing passport control, I headed to the exit gate, where many vans were parked to take passengers from the Kapikoy border crossing to Van. I paid 300 lira for the ride and arrived in Van after about an hour. Since my flight was at 4 p.m., I spent some time walking around the city. After having lunch at a restaurant for 300 lira, I walked along İpekyolu Street to catch one of the yellow municipal vans. For 15 lira, the van took me to the entrance area of Van Airport, and from there I walked about 15 minutes to reach the terminal.

Of course, you can also take a taxi directly to the airport, which saves that 15-minute walk. But you would need to pay around 300 to 400 lira for a taxi, which didn’t make sense for me since I was traveling light.

I arrived at the airport around 1 p.m. Since it’s a very small airport, there wasn’t much to do except wait. At 3 p.m., my flight number appeared on the board, I checked in my luggage, and received my boarding pass. At 4 p.m., I boarded the plane and, after a three-hour flight, landed in Istanbul at around 7:30 p.m.

My hotel was near Taksim Square, so I took the metro to get there. First, I got on the M11 line and got off at Gayrettepe Station, then walked to transfer to the M2 metro line toward Taksim Square. I got off at Taksim and reached my destination. The whole trip took about 1.5 hours. Before boarding, I had also purchased an Istanbulkart to pay for metro fares.

Final Words

This was the story of my trip from Zanjan to Istanbul—a journey filled with unexpected moments, challenges along the way, and, of course, the excitement of discovering a new country. If you’re planning to travel to Turkey, know that even land journeys can be full of adventure and memories. All it takes is careful planning, mental readiness, and a bit of courage. For me, this journey was not just about moving from one place to another; it was the beginning of seeing the world from a fresh perspective. I hope my story inspires your next trip.