By plane

Quickest if you fly into Istanbul's new airport (IST IATA). The Asia-side airport (SAW IATA) has budget flights but means crossing the metropolis.

Istanbul Seyahat bus runs direct from IST airport to Tekirdağ, about every two hours round the clock for 230 TL (Nov 2023). Otherwise by public transport you have to go into Istanbul city centre then travel out again to Tekirdağ.

Çorlu Airport (TEQ IATA), about 60 km northeast, is much closer, but it is only served by infrequent flights from Ankara, and isn't well-connected to public transport.

By bus

Several bus lines run from Istanbul to Tekirdağ, taking two hours for a fare in late 2023 of around 200 TL. Some terminate here, but most are heading down the Gallipoli peninsula to Çanakkale. You should be able to stroll into Istanbul Esenler station any time of day or night and find a bus departing within the hour.

The main bus lines are Pamukkale, Flixbus, and Metro Turizm who run from Istabul Bayrampaşa via Silivri.

Other destinations with a less frequent service are Şarköy on the coast, and Keşan and Gelibolu down the peninsula – most buses nowadays bypass these on the new motorway and Dardanelles bridge. For nearby Çorlu take a dolmuş.

In normal times Flixbus also run via Sofia and Bucharest from western Europe, but these routes remain suspended in 2022.

A new bus station, 1 Süleymanpaşa Otogarı, was opened in 2022 on the outskirts north of the highway bypass. Public bus lines 10 and 17 run into the centre with 15–30 min intervals through the day. Alternatively it's a 3 km gently downhill walk along Muratlı Cd, but part of the route lacks a sidewalk and you need to negotiate across the on-ramp system of the bypass.

The 2 former bus station (eski otogar), 500 m east of city centre on Şht. Yüzbaşı Mayadağlı, remains a hub of the local public buses.

By road

From Istanbul city centre follow O-3 / E80 toll motorway and from IST airport follow O-7. These meet at Kınalı, where you take D110 / E84 west through Marmara Ereğlisi, reckon 90 min to two hours. If you're aiming for west end of the city or Kumbağ beach resort, stay on E84 bypass rather than dragging through the centre.

From Bulgaria you'll probably cross the border at Kapitan Andreevo / Kapıkule. Take E80 which bypasses Edirne and becomes O-3 / E80 toll motorway. (Or you can exit to follow D-100, but it's hardly worth it to avoid the tolls.) Follow O-3 to exit at signs for Lüleburgaz and Muratlı. Here you join D-100, signed eastbound for Çorlu and Istanbul. Some 10 km east turn onto D-565 which brings you through Muratlı to Tekirdağ. It's 160 km from Kapıkule so two hours should do it.

However from Burgas you enter Turkey at Tirnovo / Dereköy on D-555 / E87. Stay on it south through Kırklareli to Babaeski to join D-100 - you cross O-3 but it's not worth joining. Head east via Lüleburgaz to the D-565 turn-off then south as above. From Dereköy to Tekirdağ is about 155 km.

From Greece you enter at Peptos / İpsala on D110 / 84. Follow it past Keşan all the way to town, about 110 km so say just over an hour.

By thumb: Lots of trucks and private cars pass Tekirdağ on their way to Istanbul, Gallipoli and the border. The main highway bowls along the promenade, and the trick for the outbound hitcher is to be not too close in, clogged among local traffic, or too far out where traffic picks up speed and it becomes an expressway. Eastbound, try Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bulvarı at its beginning, a block south of the old otogar. Westbound this highway becomes Atatürk Bulvarı towards Keşan: try the stretch west of the Archaeology Museum.

By boat

Marmara RoRo sail five times a day from Erdek; some call at Marmara Island or Avşa. These ferries dock at Barbaros pier.

They also sail twice a day from Bandırma, docking at Ceyport pier.

By train

The nearest station is Çorlu, which has trains twice a day from Istanbul, continuing west to Edirne or Uzunköprü. The branch line to Tekirdağ nowadays only handles freight.