Hello hello,

My husband and I are currently living in Izmir and we wanted to do a few day trips to other cities and towns close by.  I have been to the otogar a few times and there is a section full of dolmuş buses.  I was wondering if anyone knows if there is a list of the places these buses are going or a schedule posted somewhere.  

Help is much appreciated!  

I think you are talking about central bus terminal. You can go to every corner of Turkey from there. I hope that link will help you. You can select the place and than lean the bus time from here, but its Turkish.

http://www.izotas.com.tr/guzergah.aspx

Some suggestions of places to visit for a day or two (that I have enjoyed with my wife) 

.... for historical tourist destinations,

Bergama (North) for the ruins of Pergamum

Bodrum (South) for the castle of St Peter

Denizli (East) for the ruins of Heiropolis (and also Pamukkale)

Selçuk (South) for the ruins of Ephesus

If you like picturesque coastal towns

Ayvalık (North)

Çeşme and Alaçati (West)

Now it is better.

Traveling by bus in Turkey is a wonderful experience but there are a few thing things to remember before you start out....

Pick your destination and get the information from the internet about the historical sites etc.

When you go to the otogar in Izmir and ask for the bus to Bodrum for example the company desk you go to will only tell you about THEIR next bus. there may be a much earlier bus from another company . I almost missed a flight as they grabbed me from Pamukkale and sold me the ticket to Bodrum,my bus didn.t leave for almost an hour and kamilkoc etc had busses in between! It is a different system than Euope where you go in to a central office and they will sell you the ticket for the next available bus.

I go everywhere by bus now and it.s so much fun chatting to the people and they have air conditioning. t.v and free water. tea. coffee cakes and sometimes even ice cream !!

In Ireland all you get is fresh air and abuse !!

iyi yolculuklar

Very typical of them

If I am not wrong they call grabbing the passengers  ´ordek toplamak´ -duck picking- in Turkey.

You are wrong, yavrum A.

Those who get on the bus/dolmuş/etc when it (the bus) is on the run are called "ördek". So they are collected on the roads not at the terminal.

very interesting indeed,you need eyes in the back of your head to live here and every day is an exercise in self  preservation,but never a dull moment  !!

I used to wait exit gate of the bus terminal and watch the city sign on the buses leaving terminal. When i see the city name i am waiting for, i stop the bus and ask if there is any available seats. If i dont find any seat in the first bus i find in the second one.

The advantage is waiting less than an hour. If i buy a ticket they keep me waiting a couple of hours in the terminal. And i dont have time to check all offices related to my target city to learn which bus is the first one. Luckily at least one bus moves to my city in every hour. Now I learnt that i am a typical duck!