Başkent Kart for Visitors (2026): Fares, Where to Buy, How to Top Up

You pay for Ankara's city buses, metro and Ankaray light rail by tapping a card on the reader: either a Başkent Kart (many signs and older guides still say AnkaraKart) or your own contactless bank card. Here is what visitors pay in 2026, whether the card is worth it for a short stay, where to buy and top it up when there's nowhere at the airport, and which discounts are only for residents.

Başkent Kart or bank card: fares at a glance

Fares per person and ride, valid from 23 August 2026. The transfer price applies on most city lines; a few are excluded. EGO names Visa and Mastercard for contactless payments and doesn't say which phone payments count for the NFC fare. Buses to outlying towns such as Haymana or Bala have their own, higher fares. The AnkaraAir and Havaş airport coaches don't take the Başkent Kart.

Sources — checked on 15 October 2026: EGO fares from 23 August 2026 · EGO FAQ · Başkent Kart sales and top-up points · EGO card applications · EGO card centres · EGO CEP'TE app · Ankara metro · Ankaray · Esenboğa Airport: bus 442 · Official Gazette, 4 March 2014 (travel cards)
Euro amounts at €1 = ₺55.6.

What is the Başkent Kart?

The Başkent Kart ("capital card"; officially Başkent Kart Ulaşım) is the prepaid transport card of EGO, Ankara's municipal transport company. It is the same card that used to be called AnkaraKart, so if a local, a sign or an older guide says AnkaraKart, they mean this card. It works on:

• EGO city buses, including airport bus 442 at its own fare of ≈€2.50 (₺150).
• The metro (lines M1 to M4) and the Ankaray light rail.
• Başkentray, the suburban railway run by TCDD Taşımacılık.
• Private city buses (ÖHO and ÖTA) in the city centre.

It doesn't pay for the AnkaraAir and Havaş airport coaches, which sell their own tickets.

There are two kinds of card. Visitors use the standard full-fare card, which is anonymous: it isn't registered to anyone. Personalised cards for students, teachers, people over 65 and disabled passengers carry discounts or free travel, and EGO issues them at its card centres against a Turkish ID card.

Is the Başkent Kart worth it for a short stay?

Contactless Visa and Mastercard bank cards work on the readers, so you can travel without a Başkent Kart. Each tap costs ≈€0.85 (₺46; ₺45 with an NFC phone), and every change is charged as a new ride. With a Başkent Kart a ride costs ≈€0.70 (₺40) and a change ≈€0.35 (₺20). Typical trips:

Per person. The Başkent Kart column doesn't include the price of the card itself, which EGO doesn't publish.

• A bank card is enough for a day or two with a handful of rides, especially by metro and Ankaray: changing trains inside Kızılay station costs nothing extra either way.
• Get a Başkent Kart if you'll mix buses and trains, stay several days, travel before 07:00 or your bank charges a fee on every card payment abroad.

Because the price of the card itself isn't published, there's no exact break-even point: the card saves little on single rides and the most on changes between buses and trains.

Arriving at Esenboğa: no card sales at the airport

None of EGO's 394 official Başkent Kart sales and top-up points is at Esenboğa Airport. The nearest is a shop in Akyurt, about 7 km away, which is no help after a flight. There's no metro or train to the airport yet either: contracts for a metro line were signed in August 2026, with no opening date. So your first ride into Ankara is by coach, bus 442, taxi or transfer.

• AnkaraAir and Havaş (≈€4.50 / ₺250 each) are airport coaches that don't use the Başkent Kart. AnkaraAir runs 24/7 via Kızılay to the AŞTİ bus station and sells tickets online or from its staff at the stop, columns 20–21 at international arrivals and 1–2 at domestic. Havaş goes only to AŞTİ, from columns 22–23 (international) and 3–5 (domestic); travellers report paying by card or cash when boarding.
• EGO bus 442 (≈€2.50 / ₺150) is the city bus to Ulus, Kızılay and AŞTİ, and the only airport link that takes the Başkent Kart. Reports on paying without the card conflict: the airport operator says cash and credit cards are accepted on 442 buses, EGO doesn't say, and some travellers were asked for a Başkent Kart. Carry some lira in cash and a contactless bank card; if neither works, the AnkaraAir staff at columns 1–2 and 20–21 sell coach tickets.

The easy plan: take the coach to Kızılay or AŞTİ and buy your card there. Kızılay has six metro ticket offices plus station machines, and AŞTİ has an Ankaray ticket office and machines. Whether a change after bus 442 gets the ≈€0.35 (₺20) transfer price isn't stated. Timetables, stops and boarding points are in our Ankara Airport bus guide.

Where to buy and top up in the city

EGO's map listed 394 official sales and top-up points on 15 October 2026:

• 36 ticket offices (gişe) at metro and Ankaray stations: six at Kızılay, and others at AŞTİ, Ulus, Sıhhiye, Dikimevi and the Gar metro station by the YHT train station.
• 124 station machines ("Mini Banko" and "Smart Banko" points) at metro, Ankaray and train stations, including Kızılay, AŞTİ, Ulus, Maltepe and TCDD Ankara Gar.
• About 220 shops, mostly kiosks (büfe), small markets and nut shops showing the Başkent Kart sign.
• 11 card centres, which handle personalised and discount cards.

The list doesn't say which points sell new cards and which only top up, and EGO doesn't publish the price of a standard card, so a staffed ticket office is the easiest place to buy one. Cash top-ups at kiosks carry no commission. The EGO CEP'TE app shows every sales point, or just the nearest ones, on a map.

Topping up online in EGO CEP'TE

EGO's app, EGO CEP'TE (Android, iPhone and Huawei), lets you add your card, check its balance and trip history and top it up by credit card, with no commission; so does the official website baskentulasim.com. Whether foreign bank cards are accepted for online top-ups isn't confirmed, so keep some cash for a kiosk as a backup. The app also shows live bus arrivals by five-digit stop number and has a journey planner ("Nasıl Giderim?").

How much to load

Count ≈€0.70 (₺40) per ride and ≈€0.35 (₺20) per change. Two trips a day for three days, without changes, come to ≈€4.50 (₺240). Load a little at a time: EGO publishes no refund rules for standard cards.

Card centres

You only need a card centre to personalise a card or to apply for a discount card. The largest, at Kızılay metro, is open on weekdays 08:00–20:00 and on Saturdays 11:00–16:00; most others close at 17:00 on weekdays, and all are closed on Sundays.

Changing lines: 75 minutes, up to two changes

• Transfer price: with a Başkent Kart, a change within 75 minutes costs ≈€0.35 (₺20) instead of ≈€0.70 (₺40), at most twice, on EGO buses, the metro, the Ankaray, Başkentray and city-centre private buses.
• Kızılay: the Ankaray and the metro lines share Kızılay station, and changing between them without going through the gates is free.
• Central ring buses: with a Başkent Kart, your first change between one of EGO's central ring bus lines and the metro or Ankaray is free.
• Early fare: between 06:00 and 07:00 a full-fare Başkent Kart ride costs ≈€0.55 (₺30) on EGO buses and rail in the city centre.
• Bank cards and phones get no transfer price: each tap is a new ≈€0.85 (₺46) or ≈€0.80 (₺45) fare.

Metro and Ankaray lines

One ride costs ≈€0.70 (₺40) with a Başkent Kart on every line. Trains start at about 06:00, and the last departures are between 00:10 and 01:10, depending on the line. After that, EGO night buses leave Kızılay and Ulus at 00:00, 01:30, 03:00 and 04:30.

Kızılay is the hub: the Ankaray, M1, M2 and M4 all meet there. From the AŞTİ bus station, for example, you take the Ankaray to Kızılay and change to the M2 for Bilkent or Çayyolu inside the station, on a single fare. For the high-speed trains, see Ankara Airport to the YHT train station.

Over 65? Free travel is for Turkish citizens

Under Turkey's regulation on free and discounted travel cards (Official Gazette, 4 March 2014), people aged 65 and over who are Turkish citizens travel free on city public transport. EGO issues the 65+ card against a Turkish ID card, so foreign visitors over 65 pay the normal fare. The other discounts are also for residents:

• Ages 61–64: free off-peak travel only for people who live in Ankara, with proof of residence.
• Students and teachers: discounted cards need Turkish student or teacher records.
• Disabled passengers: a free card for Turkish citizens with an official disability report.

As a visitor, count on the full fare: ≈€0.70 (₺40) a ride with a Başkent Kart.

Lost cards, sharing and refunds

• Lost card: a standard card isn't registered to anyone, so if you lose it, its balance can't be protected or moved to a new card. Personalising the card, online at baskentulasim.com or at a card centre (not at kiosks), protects it; whether visitors without a Turkish ID can do this isn't confirmed.
• One card for a group: EGO doesn't say whether one card can pay for several people. To be safe, give each traveller their own card or a contactless bank card.
• Refunds: EGO publishes no rules for refunding a standard card or its balance. Load only what you need and use it up before you leave.

Practical tips

• Buy your card at a staffed ticket office at Kızılay or AŞTİ, where you can also ask what the card costs.
• Carry small lira notes for kiosk top-ups and a contactless bank card as a backup.
• Install EGO CEP'TE before you need it: live bus times, the sales-point map and your card balance in one app.
• When you change between the Ankaray and the metro at Kızılay, stay inside the station: going out through the gates means paying again.
• The metro and Ankaray stop overnight, so after about 01:00 plan on a night bus, a taxi or a transfer. See arriving in Ankara at night.

Arriving with luggage: the door-to-door option

Public transport in Ankara is cheap, but from Esenboğa it means a coach or bus 442 first, then finding a ticket office for your Başkent Kart, all with your bags. For one or two travellers the coach is the cheaper choice. For a family or group, four coach tickets already cost ≈€18 (₺1,000), before the last leg to the door. A private transfer is priced per vehicle: from €33 to Ulus and from €36 to Kızılay (Mercedes Vito, up to 6 passengers); the exact price for your date and pickup time is shown before you pay. Your driver meets you just outside the arrivals exit; once you land, they contact you on WhatsApp with the exact meeting point and a short video showing the way.

Related guides: Ankara Airport bus: AnkaraAir, Havaş and 442 · Ankara Airport to the city centre · Ankara Airport arrival guide · Arriving in Ankara at night · Ankara Esenboğa Airport (ESB) · Istanbulkart for visitors

Frequently asked questions