I thought I read about this route on Lonely Planet guidebook but it is nowhere to be found when I looked it up again. Anyway, I did a 'scenic' route from Çanakkale to Istanbul, via Bandirma. Bus from Çanakkale to Bandirma at 10:30am, TL 135. Bus journey took 2 hours 45 minutes. 

I thought it would be fun to take a ferry across the Sea of Marmara, plus I didn't plan to take a Bosphorus Cruise, and that Yenikapi ferry terminal is about 35 mins by foot to the accommodation that I booked in Istanbul. 

On arriving in Bandirma, I cabbed to ido ferry port to get a ticket to Istanbul. Ferry, TL 252, was scheduled at 3:30pm and took about 2 hours 45 mins to reached Yenikapi. 

I was told to arrive at 3pm to board the ferry. One has to pass through a security check to buy a ferry ticket. I thought I misunderstood and almost walked out of the building to check but a grumpy looking security indicated that I needed to pass the security check. There was a leave luggage service outside of the main building. It was located on the left when you exit the main building (i.e. on the left when facing outside, with the main building behind you.) I was charged TL20 for my backpack. 

Bandirma, is a coastal city, sitting by the Sea of Marmara. It houses the southern terminus for fast catamaran to and fro Istanbul. I got some spare time between my bus-ferry transfer, so after sorting out the logistics, I went to look for lunch, walked around the city and along the waters. 

Don't know what I was thinking when I took the photo but I walked in to a fast food looking doner shop and had a chicken doner meal with chips and Ayran (Turkish yoghurt drink).