Ankara Airport to Çayyolu, Bilkent, METU and the City Hospital

Most guides to Esenboğa stop at Kızılay. This one covers the other half of the city: the patients and families heading for the Ankara Bilkent City Hospital, the students going to Bilkent University and METU, the business travellers working in Söğütözü and Çukurambar, and the residents of Ümitköy and Çayyolu. Public transport reaches all of these places, but only with a change at Kızılay, so the details of that change, the last trains and the traffic windows matter more than the headline fare.

Where are you going? Distances, drive times and prices

Road distances and free-flow drive times from the airport terminal (OpenStreetMap routing data, checked 19 October 2026). Taxi figures are the usual metered range; the lower end is a clear road, the upper end allows for traffic and a longer approach. Transfer prices are per vehicle, not per person.

The route is the same for all of them: the airport road, the D140 and then Eskişehir Yolu (D200), turning off for Bilkent, Ümitköy and Çayyolu. Your satnav may differ by a few minutes. For a place not listed, such as Hacettepe's Beytepe campus (about 42 km), use the nearest row. Some university web pages still quote taxi fares from years ago, so don't use them to judge a driver's quote.

A taxi can come in below the transfer price on a quiet road, but the meter adds ≈€0.15 (₺7) for every minute of crawling, so the bill climbs in traffic. A transfer is priced per vehicle, includes no extra charge for traffic or flight delays, and the driver tracks your flight. Your driver meets you just outside the arrivals exit, and once you have landed sends the exact meeting point and a short video on WhatsApp.

Ankara City Hospital (Bilkent Şehir Hastanesi)

Ankara Bilkent City Hospital is a campus of separate hospitals, opened in 2019 and holding well over 3,000 beds, so the building matters as much as the address. The hospital's contact page gives Üniversiteler Mahallesi, 6000. Cadde No: 9, Bilkent, Çankaya; other maps use other street numbers, so pin it on a map by name.

• Check which City Hospital. Ankara has two. Bilkent Şehir Hastanesi is in the south-west, about 38 km from the airport. Etlik Şehir Hastanesi is in the north, in Yenimahalle, about 28 km and 29 minutes away. A driver who hears only "Şehir Hastanesi" may take you to the wrong one. Say "Bilkent Şehir Hastanesi" and read the appointment letter.
• Give the building name. The campus includes the main, general, cardiovascular, neurology and orthopaedics, children's, maternity, oncology and physical medicine and rehabilitation hospitals. Tell your driver the building from your appointment, for example "Onkoloji Hastanesi". The official site publishes no kerbside drop-off rules that we could find, so the driver takes you to the entrance of that building.
• International patients. The hospital's International Health Tourism Coordinatorship is listed in the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Hospital, ground floor, A wing. The switchboard is 0312 552 60 00. We found no sign that the hospital runs an airport pick-up, and its opening hours are not published, so ring ahead before you travel.
• Parking. The main car park is free, covered and on two levels, and serves the whole campus (official page dated 1 September 2025). There are also paid and open car parks around the site, including one for emergency patients.
• By public transport. Take the M2 to Tarım Bakanlığı-Danıştay station, then bus 113 or 113-5 to the hospital: 4 km, about 15 minutes, stopping at the hospital entrance, the cardiovascular, children's emergency, oncology and neurology buildings. EGO's table shows the shuttle running from about 06:40 to 21:30 every day (113-5 on weekdays and Saturdays, 113 in the evening and on Sundays). Walking from the station is 1.7 km, which isn't realistic with a patient or bags.

Morning appointments are the tricky ones: the hospital approach is one of the bottlenecks named in reports on Ankara's morning traffic. If you land the evening before, a transfer to a hotel or apartment near Bilkent saves a rushed morning. Allow extra time on the day itself (see the rush-hour section).

Students: Bilkent University and METU

Bilkent has a Main Campus and an East Campus, so confirm which one your dormitory or department is on. METU (ODTÜ) has the A1 gate on Eskişehir Yolu, which is also where the ODTÜ metro station lets you out.

• Bilkent's own shuttle. The exchange office runs airport shuttles on the official arrival dates, at 12:00 and 16:00, according to its page checked on 19 October 2026. If your flight lands outside those times or on another date, you need your own transport. Confirm the dates with the exchange office.
• Metro plus bus 176. From Bilkent metro station, bus 176 goes to the campus: Monday to Friday about 07:07 to 20:50, Saturdays and Sundays 07:15 to 20:00. The last bus 110 from Bilkent metro towards Beytepe leaves at 22:40. Bilkent's free campus shuttles need a Bilkent ID. A taxi from the metro station to the Main Campus is under 5 km.
• METU. From Kızılay, the M2 to ODTÜ station takes about 15 minutes. Campus ring buses start at the A1 gate; their times are published on METU's own route site, not by EGO.
• Taxi or transfer. With two large suitcases per student, one vehicle to the dormitory is usually simpler than a coach, a metro change and a bus. A Mercedes Vito takes up to 6 passengers with luggage, so students arriving on the same flight can share it.

AnkaraAir plus the M2 metro

The M2 line runs from Kızılay to Koru with 12 stations in about 16.6 km: Kızılay, Necatibey, Millî Kütüphane, Söğütözü, MTA, ODTÜ, Bilkent, Tarım Bakanlığı-Danıştay, Beytepe, Ümitköy, Çayyolu and Koru. Trains run through Kızılay towards Törekent, so at Kızılay take the train towards Koru. There is no metro to the airport.

1. Take the AnkaraAir coach to Kızılay (≈€4.50 / ₺250, about 55 to 60 minutes; the stop is opposite Güvenpark, next to the metro entrances). Coaches leave according to demand, round the clock.
2. Ride the M2 towards Koru. Kızılay to ODTÜ takes about 15 minutes; from Koru, Çayyolu or Ümitköy to Kızılay, 20 to 25 minutes (unofficial figures).
3. Cost: ≈€5 (₺290) per person with a Başkent Kart, or ≈€5.50 (₺296) by contactless bank card. Başkent Kart isn't sold at the airport, so most visitors pay by contactless card.

Door to door, allow roughly 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 40 minutes (our estimate; there is no official figure). It suits one traveller with a rucksack going to a metro station. It doesn't suit families, heavy luggage, patients, or a hotel more than a short walk from the station. Bus 442 plus the M2 costs ≈€3.50 (₺196) by contactless card, but there is nowhere at the airport to buy a Başkent Kart, and it takes longer. The AŞTİ to Söğütözü rail link hasn't opened, so Havaş to AŞTİ isn't a shortcut here. More on cards in our Başkent Kart guide.

Business district: Söğütözü, Çukurambar and Ümitköy

Söğütözü and Çukurambar are Ankara's office towers, and where the Eskişehir Yolu traffic is worst. The M2 stops at Söğütözü, and they are the shortest drives in this guide (about 32 minutes). The US Embassy is now in Çukurambar (1480 Sokak No. 1). Most other embassies remain in Kavaklıdere, Gaziosmanpaşa, Çankaya and Oran, so for those use our city centre guide. Ümitköy, Beysukent and Çayyolu are residential districts with large shopping centres; the M2 stops at Ümitköy, Çayyolu and Koru, though not every address is within walking distance of a station.

Rush hour on Eskişehir Yolu

Eskişehir Yolu (D200) peaks from about 07:30 to 09:30 and 17:30 to 19:30, and is worst around the Söğütözü crossing, where a study reported by Ekonomi Ankara in October 2026 put traffic at 25 to 40 per cent over capacity. In the morning the flow is towards the centre and the airport road meets the Samsun Yolu jam near Pursaklar; in the evening it runs westbound from the centre, so a flight landing between 17:30 and 19:30 meets the heaviest direction for these districts.

• Arriving in the evening peak: add time in both directions; a metered taxi charges ≈€0.15 (₺7) a minute while crawling. A transfer has no extra charge for traffic.
• Ring road (O-20): toll-free but much longer, perhaps 15 km or more extra to Çayyolu (our estimate). It pays off only when the city route is jammed.
• Metro: the M2 avoids the road, with trains every 4.5 minutes at weekday peaks, which is its main advantage.

Arriving at night

• AnkaraAir runs 24 hours to Kızılay. The last M2 train leaves Kızılay at 01:00 towards Koru and Koru at 00:35 (EGO winter programme, re-reported on 12 September 2026; EGO has not announced a 2026–27 timetable, so check). A coach reaching Kızılay after about 00:55 misses it, and the first train is around 06:00 (unofficial).
• Night bus 602-6 (Sıhhiye, Kızılay, Beytepe, Çayyolu, Yaşamkent) leaves Kızılay at 03:00 and 05:00. It is the only EGO night line to west Ankara. There is no night line to Bilkent University or the hospital campus.
• Bus 442 leaves the airport at 00:01, 02:00 and 04:00, then from 06:20.
• Taxis wait outside the arrivals exits 24 hours, with no night rate. A driver booked in advance tracks your flight and meets you just outside the arrivals exit, however late it lands.

See also Arriving in Ankara at night for what is open at the airport.

Back to the airport from west Ankara

From Bilkent or Çayyolu, leave earlier between 07:00 and 09:30, because you cross two congested corridors. For international flights, Pegasus says that from 8 October 2026 at 23:00 until 16 March 2027, check-in and bag drop for these flights are at the C counters of the domestic terminal. TAV has given no end date, so check with your airline and esenbogaairport.com.

Common mistakes

• Going to the wrong City Hospital (Etlik instead of Bilkent), or not naming the building.
• Reading a university page's old taxi fare as today's price.
• Taking the M2 after about 00:55 at Kızılay and finding the last train gone.
• Expecting a Başkent Kart at the airport: pay by contactless card.
• Forgetting Main versus East campus at Bilkent.
• Planning a morning appointment or a flight home around a 07:30 to 09:30 trip with no margin.
• Counting on the hospital shuttle after 21:30.
• Choosing Havaş to AŞTİ for west Ankara: it goes the wrong way and the metro link from AŞTİ to Söğütözü hasn't opened.

Sources — checked on 19 October 2026: OSRM routing (OpenStreetMap) · Ankara City Hospital contact · hospital car parks · EGO hospital lines · EGO bus 176 · EGO night lines · EGO winter programme · EGO fares · Bilkent exchange office · AnkaraAir · M2 metro · Ekonomi Ankara · Pegasus notice · Ankara taxi tariff
Euro amounts at €1 = ₺55.6.

Related guides: Ankara Esenboğa Airport (ESB) · Ankara Airport to the city centre · Ankara Airport taxi prices · Ankara Airport bus · Arriving in Ankara at night · Başkent Kart guide · Meeting your driver at Ankara Airport

Frequently asked questions