How to get out Tatvan
Erzurum to the north; Malatya to the west; Diyarbakir, Hasankeyf, and Southeastern Anatolia to the southwest; Van to the east, across the lake (Flag down a dolmus for 10TL). If you have your passport ready with a visa, why not try moving on further east to Iran?which is possibly why you are in Tatvan in the first place anyway.
Ahlat to north on the northwestern coast of Lake Van, about 45 minutes away from Tatvan by minibus, is, unlike Tatvan, a town of historical importance with some artifacts to see. Its main sight is a large Seljuk graveyard in the wide open steppe, though not as spooky as you might think, with elegant headstones with much stonework.
Trains ? trains to Istanbul depart twice weekly - only on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7:10AM. If you happen to miss the train of the day, nearest station is in Batman - which has trains to Istanbul the following day (i.e. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays). Trains also depart from Batman in the morning (around 9AM). Van Gölü Seyahat has a night bus (at midnight) from Tatvan to Batman which costs 15 TL/person/one-way, arriving at Batman's otogar around 4:30AM. Walking otogar to train station take about one to one-and-a-half hour in Batman. Alternatively, you can take buses to Istanbul directly from Tatvan, but they cost more than double (70 TL/person/one-way) of what the train costs (about 30 TL/person/one-way).
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The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Tatvan