Before you start

An EGO transit card (Başkentkart/Ankarakart) bought and loaded at a station machine or kiosk
A residence permit (ikamet) and Turkish tax number if you intend to exchange your licence
Your valid home-country licence with a notarised Turkish translation, or an International Driving Permit, to drive in the interim
For winter driving: proper tyres, and awareness that the Ankara valilik can mandate them seasonally

Step-by-step

1
Get an EGO card and learn the one-spine network
Buy and top up the card at station machines, kiosks (büfe) or the app. It works on the M1/M2/M3 through service (Koru ↔ OSB-Törekent, 34 stations), M4 (Kızılay ↔ Şehitler, Keçiören), Ankaray (AŞTİ ↔ Dikimevi), the Başkentray suburban line and all EGO buses, with transfer discounts when you change. Kızılay is the interchange for everything, so almost every journey is 'get to Kızılay, then change'. Learn that and the city becomes navigable in a day.
In personWho: YouSame dayCard a few US$; rides under US$0.50
2
Use BiTaksi for taxis, and know the coach station
Ankara's taxis are yellow and metered; hail them through BiTaksi rather than on the street, which locks the trip to the official meter and records the plate and route. Uber dispatches the same licensed taxis on the same meter, so it is not a cheaper tier. AŞTİ (Ankara Şehirlerarası Terminal İşletmesi) is the intercity coach hub and sits at the western end of Ankaray — it is how most people leave Ankara for anywhere the high-speed train doesn't reach.
Mobile appWho: YouOn demandMetered fare; coach fares vary by route
3
Drive on your foreign licence for up to 6 months
You may drive on a valid home-country licence for up to 6 months from your date of entry. Carry a notarised Turkish translation of it at all times, or an International Driving Permit — non-negotiable if your licence isn't in the Latin alphabet. Once you actually hold a residence permit, relying on the foreign licence gets legally risky, so treat the exchange as the next step rather than the last resort.
In personWho: You (driver)Valid up to 6 months from entryNotarised translation ~US$15-30
4
Exchange your licence at an Ankara İlçe Nüfus Müdürlüğü
Book through the national NVİ portal (randevu.nvi.gov.tr, or Alo 199) and go in person to your district population office — Çankaya, Yenimahalle, Keçiören and the rest each have one. Türkiye has reciprocal recognition agreements with the EU, UK, USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea and many more, so eligible nationalities exchange with NO written or practical exam. Bring the original licence and a notarised Turkish translation, residence permit, tax number, a driver health report (sağlık raporu), one biometric photo, your blood type and the fee receipt. Note that NVİ's national headquarters is also in Ankara and does not do counter work — book a district office.
OnlineWho: You (via NVİ appointment + İlçe Nüfus Müdürlüğü)Appointment + ~2-4 weeks for the card~US$200-280 in official fees, plus translation and health report
5
Optional: owning and running a car, and the winter question
Cars are expensive because of ÖTV (special consumption tax) stacked on VAT. If you buy one you need compulsory third-party traffic insurance (trafik sigortası), the periodic TÜVTÜRK inspection (muayene), and an HGS transponder for motorway tolls. The Ankara-specific piece is winter: at 938 m the city gets real, settling snow. Winter tyres are mandatory nationally for commercial and passenger-carrying vehicles from 1 December to 1 April, and provincial governors can and do extend requirements to private cars — check the Ankara valilik announcement each November rather than assuming.
In personWho: You / dealer / insurerOngoingHGS small; muayene every 2 yrs; trafik sigortası annual; ÖTV baked into the car price

Documents you’ll need

Valid home-country driving licence + notarised Turkish translation (or International Driving Permit)
Residence permit (ikamet) and Turkish tax number (vergi numarası)
Driver health report (sağlık raporu), one biometric photo, and blood-type record
EGO transit card (Başkentkart/Ankarakart), from a station machine or kiosk

Things most newcomers don’t know

Unlike Istanbul, a car in Ankara is a defensible choice rather than a mistake.

The metro is a single west-east spine meeting at Kızılay and misses Gaziosmanpaşa and much of eastern Çankaya entirely. Ankara's traffic is bad but nothing like Istanbul's, and the city is laid out on wide boulevards. Plenty of long-term residents here drive who would never own a car on the Bosphorus.

Source: EGO / Ankara Metro network maps (2026)

Everything interchanges at Kızılay — learn that one station and the network makes sense.

M1/M2/M3 through-run as one line, M4 terminates there and Ankaray crosses there. Almost every cross-city trip is two legs through Kızılay, which is also why the station is the busiest and most crowded point in the system at rush hour.

Source: Ankara Metro (EGO) line diagrams, 2026

Most nationalities exchange their licence with no driving test at all.

Türkiye's reciprocal recognition agreements cover the EU, UK, USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea and many others, so eligible holders simply swap at a district Nüfus office after submitting documents. People routinely budget for lessons and an exam that they do not need.

Source: NVİ (nvi.gov.tr) — driving-licence exchange

Winter is a driving fact here in a way it is not anywhere on the Turkish coast.

Ankara sits at 938 m on the steppe and gets snow that settles for weeks. Beyond the national 1 December-1 April commercial-vehicle rule, provincial governors issue their own seasonal requirements, and hill districts like Keçiören and Etimesgut become genuinely difficult without proper tyres.

Source: Ankara Valiliği seasonal traffic announcements; national winter-tyre regulation

Common mistakes to avoid

Driving on your home licence past the 6-month window, or after getting residency, without exchanging it — you risk fines and invalid insurance.
Carrying the foreign licence with no notarised Turkish translation or IDP — required if it isn't in Latin script and demanded at roadside checks.
Booking at NVİ's national headquarters rather than a district İlçe Nüfus Müdürlüğü — the headquarters does not do counter work.
Assuming Mediterranean-Türkiye winters and running summer tyres through January on a hill district.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.