Adalar removals

Adalar differs from every other İstanbul district: according to the District Governorate, it is the only district with no road connection to the mainland. Five of the nine islands opposite Kartal and Maltepe are inhabited; the district's five mahalle — neighbourhoods — are Nizam and Maden on Büyükada, plus Heybeliada, Burgazada and Kınalıada (source: Local Authorities and Geographic Location, accessed 30.09.2026). The Governorate's area table lists Büyükada at 538 hectares, Heybeliada at 251, Burgazada at 146 and Kınalıada at 136; 55% of the surface is forest (source: Geographic Location, accessed 30.09.2026). The municipality lists hilltops between 136 and 202 metres; settlements run from the shore up the slopes (source: Elevations, accessed 30.09.2026). The municipality's 2025 population table reports 17,489 residents, a summer population approaching ten times the winter figure, and housing that is mostly second homes (source: Population, accessed 30.09.2026).

From Sancaktepe to the Maltepe shore is about 13–14 km, or 14–15 minutes in free-flowing traffic (source: OSRM / OpenStreetMap, September 2026); the island crossing depends on the landing-craft and pier timetable. For Adalar, we plan in days, not hours.

Adalar map: neighbourhoods, muhtarlık offices, stations

The map shows the five neighbourhood boundaries and muhtarlık offices — local headmen's offices where residents can register their address. The rail-station layer is empty here. Satellite view makes it easy to distinguish the dense settlement around each pier, the mansion streets climbing the hills and the forested interiors.

Access profile, neighbourhood by neighbourhood

The categories compare Adalar's five neighbourhoods with one another. Read the measurements for hand trolleys and authorised island cargo vehicles, not for lorries. No neighbourhood has an average gradient below 6%; the map records just one car park, in Maden, which is what we would expect on the islands.

What the profile means for moving day:

• The two steepest islands — Burgazada and Heybeliada: average gradients are 9.2–10.1%, and 59–62% of local streets are steep. Burgazada has about 10 km of local streets and floor data for almost every mapped building: an average of 2.1 storeys, mostly low-rise mansions and houses. Heybeliada has the district's longest street network at 23 km; 3% of its streets are one-way or narrow, and the map has little floor data, so we count storeys during the site visit. Residents describe a single long climb from pier to home on both islands, so we agree the team size and number of trips at the outset.
• Büyükada — Nizam and Maden: Nizam is close to Heybeliada, with an 8.7% gradient and 59% steep streets. Maden is the district's least steep neighbourhood at 7.8% and 44%, but is still steeper than many mainland neighbourhoods. The two neighbourhoods have more than 3,300 buildings, but no floor data on the map; we check floors, stairs and mansion doorways from photos or during a visit.
• Kınalıada: the average gradient is 8.1%, with 48% of streets steep; there are 20 km of local streets, 1,074 buildings and an average of 2.1 storeys. Its street network is dense for such a small area. The municipality says the ground is rocky, while residents describe narrow streets, so we choose trolley wheels and packing materials accordingly.
• The shared constraint: no neighbourhood has a kerbside spot where a lorry can stop. Belongings come off the vehicle at the pier and are carried uphill using the island's local arrangements. We check separately during the site visit whether an exterior lift can be installed at a historic mansion. Careful packing and dismantling to reduce the number of boxes matter more here than usual.

How goods reach the island

We have summarised the municipality's landing-craft guide and the UKOME notice. The sailing timetable and fare are provided as a PDF or by phone, so we do not publish figures without checking them.

• By lorry to Maltepe. We take your belongings from the old address to Maltepe Landing Pier in our vehicle. The guide says private individuals' goods cannot be carried loose on the vessel or in a vehicle being used for another purpose; the goods must stay inside the vehicle that crosses to the island.
• Landing craft and timetable. The vessel belongs to the municipality. It lists the vehicle types it carries, including vehicles transporting household goods and loads that cannot be moved by hand. Municipal services have priority, and other requests depend on the daily schedule. A copy of the vehicle registration and, for commercial vehicles, a goods-transport permit are required; payment is in advance and covers the return trip. Fog, snowstorms, storms or a vessel fault may change sailings. Confirm the schedule with the Operations Directorate (0216 382 3 382, extension 1901) or Maltepe pier. The guide says the municipality is not responsible for breakage or loss during transport, so we finish packing before reaching the pier (source: Landing Craft, accessed 30.09.2026).
• Vehicle permission. Vehicles without permission to enter the islands are not carried. Permission for vehicles that will stay on an island must be obtained in person from the District Governorate and shown to the Operations Directorate. We could not find a separate page about this permit on the Governorate website (accessed 30.09.2026), so we confirm the details by phone before the move.
• From the pier to the home. Under UKOME decision 2024/5, permits for electric vehicles used to carry goods within the islands are issued only to businesses operating commercially in Adalar; the speed limit is 20 km/h, and unauthorised vehicles are removed from the islands (source: UKOME decision notice, accessed 30.09.2026). A removals company arriving from the mainland has no right to drive its own vehicle around the islands. From the pier, goods travel in an authorised local cargo vehicle or by hand trolley with the team.
• Season. The municipality says construction work classed as minor repairs is suspended each year from 1 June to 1 September (source: Suspension of construction activities, accessed 30.09.2026). Summer is therefore unsuitable for a move combined with renovation; on summer weekends, day visitors fill the area around the piers.

What residents say

The moves we see most in Adalar

• Opening and closing a summer home, or seasonal moves: most homes are second homes, so belongings and appliances move between the mainland and the islands in spring and autumn. We check the sailing schedule in both directions and plan the move together.
• Single-person homes and small flats (1+1, a one-bedroom flat with a living room, or a studio): fewer belongings mean a few hand-trolley trips from the pier to the home.
• Family homes (2+1 or 3+1) and mansion floors: dismantling is essential; we measure doors and stairs first.
• Offices, shops and guesthouses: moves usually fall before the season opens or after it closes; we recommend a weekday morning sailing.
• Clearance before restoration or after a move-out: we could not find an İBB urban-renewal page for Adalar (accessed 30.09.2026). Since much of the building stock consists of registered historic mansions, work is often a clearance before restoration: belongings wait on the mainland while a home is emptied, and the move and storage are planned together.

You can check the volume of your belongings and a suitable vehicle size on our moving calculator; for the islands, we turn the result into a sailing plan and the number of hand-trolley trips.

After you move: registration, muhtarlık, municipality

You can register your residence through e-Devlet, Türkiye's e-government service, or at your neighbourhood muhtarlık. Addresses for Adalar' five muhtarlık offices:

Adalar Municipality's main service building is at No. 1 Kozalak Street on Büyükada; the switchboard is 0216 382 3 382. The Municipal Police and Operations Directorate are in the annex at No. 2 Akdemir Street. There is a Municipal Police unit on each island: Büyükada 0216 382 70 71, Heybeliada 0216 351 85 74, Burgazada 0216 381 13 51 and Kınalıada 0216 381 40 50. We did not see a 444-number call centre or general WhatsApp line on the website (source: Contact details, accessed 30.09.2026). The District Governorate is at No. 16 Albayrak Street, Çankaya Avenue, Nizam neighbourhood; phone 0216 382 50 05 (source: District Governorate contact, accessed 30.09.2026).

Permits for lorries and exterior lifts: as there are no motor vehicles on the islands, we found no published rule or fee for removals lorries or mobile lifts. The Municipal Police duties include overseeing handcarts and keeping building entrances clear (source: Directorates, accessed 30.09.2026). The best option is to call the Municipal Police unit for the relevant island before moving day.

Old furniture, rubble and waste collection days: we could not find a regular collection service or collection day for old furniture on the municipality website (accessed 30.09.2026). Public Works lists taking rubble to a disposal site among its duties; in October 2025, rubble and furniture accumulated on Büyükada and Heybeliada were taken to the mainland with İSTAÇ support (source: Bulky waste taken to the mainland, accessed 30.09.2026). On Heybeliada, packaging waste in blue bags is collected from outside homes at 20.00 every Sunday. The Zero Waste line is open on weekdays from 09.00 to 16.00 on 0536 218 16 00 (source: Adalar Zero Waste model launched on Heybeliada, accessed 30.09.2026). We take away the moving boxes and packing materials after the move.

Public transport

There are no rail stations in the district; the nearest rail connections are at mainland ferry piers. The District Governorate says mainland links run from Bostancı, Kadıköy, Kartal and Kabataş with Şehir Hatları and private operators, with additional summer sailings from Bakırköy, Avcılar and Pendik (source: Transport in our district, accessed 30.09.2026). Şehir Hatları' website could not be reached on the research date, so we could not verify sailing times or baggage rules. The İDO list dated 30 September 2026 showed no car ferry or other service to Adalar (source: İDO sailing times, accessed 30.09.2026); the landing craft is the only official channel for vehicles. IETT has electric routes within the islands: BA1, BA4 and BA5 on Büyükada; HA1 on Heybeliada; BU1 on Burgazada; and KA1 on Kınalıada (source: IETT transport in Adalar, accessed 30.09.2026). For moving day, the team can travel on a passenger ferry, while the official route for goods is the landing craft. The squares around the piers are busiest when ferries arrive, so we choose an unloading time with that in mind.

Neighbouring districts

Adalar has no land neighbours; across the water are Maltepe, Kartal and Kadıköy. The landing pier is in Maltepe, so every move to the islands passes through that shore first. For the whole city, see our İstanbul removals page.

Sources

Boundaries, muhtarlık addresses and the access profile were calculated from the open datasets below. District Governorate, municipality, IETT and İDO information is summarised in our own words and linked to its source. The landing-craft fare and timetable, and Şehir Hatları sailing times, could not be verified and are not included.

• Adalar District Governorate, Local Authorities (five neighbourhoods), Geographic Location (road connection, area, forest), Transport in our district and Contact — accessed 30.09.2026.
• Adalar Municipality, Landing Craft, UKOME 2024/5 notice, Population, Elevations, Contact details, Directorates, Suspension of construction activities, Bulky waste and Heybeliada Zero Waste — accessed 30.09.2026.
• IETT, Transport routes in Adalar; İDO, Sailing times — accessed 30.09.2026.
• Distance: OpenStreetMap road network via OSRM, September 2026; the free-flow time from Sancaktepe to the Maltepe shore is approximate and uses a car profile; the island crossing is not included.