The intention of this post is to document how to travel from Istanbul to Şile by bus. At the time of writing, there do not appear to be any English resources for this route. The official IETT app and Google Maps both document this incorrectly.

Şile is a popular place for the residents of Istanbul to escape for a day trip. Technically, Şile is part of Istanbul, although it’s quite remote. The bus ride is about two hours away; by car, it is about 45 minutes.

Bus Line

Taking any bus that is prefixed with 139 is okay, all of them stop at Şile first but their continuing routes after Şile may differ.

The IETT site gives a description of the stops; however, as explained below, the bus stop location is incorrect on the site. Also note that this link only shows the 139 bus, but the 139A, 139T, etc. also run, meaning that there is approximately one bus to Şile every hour.

The bus has various stops in the Şile area, though the bus terminal is a safe bet for a place to get off.

Bus Stop Location

Do not wait at the Üsküdar Marmaray bus station. The correct location for this intercity bus is the Şemsipaşa stop (Google Maps link), which is about a block west. There, you will see a paper with times for the bus to Şile.

A ticket is required for this bus. The place to purchase the tickets is about a two minute walk from the bus stop (Google Maps link). At the time of writing (July 2020), a one way ticket was 14.50 lira. If you don’t speak Turkish, you probably can’t get on the bus without a ticket, although I’ve been told it’s possible to sit on the floor if the bus is full.

If you try to buy too close to the departure time, it’s possible that the bus may be full.

It may be possible to buy online, but the author of this article doesn’t know how.