How do I go about getting a taxi at 3 am on a Monday night in Kadıköy? Is it possible to catch one on the street at that time, or should I call and reserve one ahead of time? Any companies/numbers you can recommend?

Please, all of the expats, not only women, always get your taxis from Durak numbers... For your own safety.

Durak??

basically the taxi station from where the vehicle is based.

oh poor little one!! you have to learn a lot dont you? sorry.. yes, star is right. We have "taxi stop"s that work with certain registered taxis and they know who they are sending to you and you can make complaints about the taxis to the durak and best, they wont harrass/ kidnap you.

Sooo... how could I find out the number of one of these stations?

Where exactly in Kadıköy will you be catching the taxi from? If you give me the location I'll give you an option or two from this directory:
http://www.istanbul.net.tr/istanbul_tak ... ad%FDk%F6y

You don't need to reserve it ahead of time. In fact if you did they would probably forget anyway. Calling 15 minutes before is usually plenty of time.

Burbaco,

Thanks for helping me out (again). I'd be catching the taxi at the Boğa/Altıyol.

I was planning to take the taxi as far as the departure point of the Sabiha Gökçen airport shuttle in Kozyatağı---at the K "business center," Atatürk Cad 22. You don't happen to know where that is, and how long it will take to get there from Kadıköy?

Havas is very near me and from Altiyol at that time of day, i'd say it would take less than 10minutes to Havas Kozyatagi - it's also about 7lira daytime rate, so a bit more for 3am

i guess i should also say that Ataturk Caddesi is (mostly) one way and you'll notice the big Havas buses parked on your right just before a Garanti bank. the actual Havas office is past that, on your left, but you won't need to go there unless you'd like to wait a bit indoors. otherwise, just join the others in the small garden\parking lot and wait for the bus to depart. make sure you ask for the bus to Sabiha, have them load your bags and pay after you board. (the website says it's 7ytl but i think the rates have gone up - at least for the late buses\maybe due to tolls - to 9,50ytl)

Starfish, thanks a lot for the info!

In case you still want to take a taksi in the middle of the night, here is how I do it. I live in Arnavutköy, and the evening before I go to either of the two taxi stops nearby, with the drivers sitting there and drinking tea. At home I have prepared a not too small piece of paper with some key words: Arnavutköy - Airport, time, my name and address. Make sure that you do not give it to a specific driver, but rather to the tea-guy, or somebody else who might hang out there at 3 am. I only have good experiences with this, the drivers would wait in front of my house on the minute.

Just grab any decent looking taxi, Kadikoy is big, so you can easily find one.
If the it's going to be a big fair tell the driver that you want the "gunduz tarifesi" (daytime price) or whatever the correct translation is.

As RSA mentions, you shouldn't have a problem flagging a taxi down at Altiyol even at that time of the night - you may even find some lined up in that exact spot. If you want to call for one to be sure, from the list I included in the link above Moda Cem Taksi is likely the most convenient/closest.

Will you be by yourself? If not, you could try to catch the Kadıköy-Bostanci yellow dolmuş (1.7 ytl) and take the Havaş from Bostanci in front of the Deniz Otobüs Iskelesi. It leaves at 4:00 as well. If you will be by yourself it is probably worthwhile to spring for the taxi to Kozyatağı as there will be more people to keep you company while you wait for the bus. The Kadıköy-Bostanci dolmuş runs all night although they are less frequent in the middle of the night.

Thanks, everyone; I called for a taxi in the end but wouldn't have needed to, as there would have been one waiting at Altıyol anyway. Got there on time, and had a great holiday in Cappadocia.

I didn't realize that dolmuşes also run at night. Do all, or just on some routes?

I'm glad you had a nice holiday, Bodobar.

As far as I know, all yellow dolmuş run all night long. In practice, from a departure point you may have to wait awhile for them to fill up. If there are 1-2 empty seats the customers sometimes pool money to cover the fare of the empty seats where it would still be cheaper than a taxi.