Istanbul

[Mrs. M.]

DH and I are thinking of taking a small break and checking out Istanbul for 2-3 days. Any recommendations or must-sees? I have only ever seen their airport :rolleyes: :D

[hockeybrat]

The only thing I can think of is the Hagia Sofia

[Ohana]

Istanbul is such a beautiful city! I'm jealous you're thinking of going.

Topkapi Palace is very beautiful and interesting. We also visited the Blue Mosque, the Cistern, and Hagia Sofia. All amazing.

I think we also visited the Spice Market and Underground Market, which were a tad overwhelming, but definitely worth a stop.

At most of the tourist attractions, you'll find personal tour guides. We didn't get one for Topkapi Palace, and I sort of wish we had (though a good guide book may suffice). They have a cool little cafeteria type place with an amazing view, which you should definitely check out.

We did get the personal guide at Hagia Sofia, and eh. The guide had just transfered to Istanbul, so he didn't know much. I think just wandering around the building is amazing, though.

There's sort of a square/park like area in the center of town (I think it's near the Blue Mosque), which has nice cafes and shops.

Of course, you may already know this, but you'll need head cover if you plan to visit a mosque, and I found Turkish people dressed quite conservatively.

I thought that Istanbul was a very pedestrian friendly town, so we walked most places. We also ate many of our meals from the street vendors (Doner Kabab and freshly squeezed orange juice, heavenly!).

[Mrs. M.]

Thank you, Ohana!

I will print out the list. Do you have any hotel recommendations too?

I knew about the conservative dress and head covers for religious places. I have flown there quite a few times, I just never left the plane :)

Did you think the city was pretty safe? I like that you mentioned the "walkability", that sounds great. How about languages? I know English, German and French, should I study some Turkish phrases or can a tourist get by? How about the personal guides you mentioned... do we tip them or do they have a fixed price... and how much?

Mhhh, Kebab and fresh juice!

[Ohana]

I believe we stayed at the Hyatt Regency Istanbul (http://istanbul.regency.hyatt.com/istan/index.shtml). It had a beautiful pool and amazing bathrooms! Although not exactly close to the tourist attractions, you can definitely walk to many if you're in the mood.

I felt Istanbul was very safe. Granted, we were a pretty big herd (me, my parents, my three sisters, all of us kids in our 20's) and it was 7 years ago. But as long as you stick to the areas I mentioned, I don't think you'll have any safety concerns.

On the language front, most restaurant/tourist attraction/shop employees had at least passable English, so you should be fine there.

One thing I do remember about shopping there...the shopkeepers wanted US dollars more than Turkish Lire (lira?). We exchanged our money before we knew that, rats.

With the tour guides, I believe we negotiated a fee with them before the tour started. The one for the Hagia Sofia, as I mentioned, was terrible, so we asked him to leave after a short time. We gave him the negotiated fee, but no tip. I imagine you would tip the guide if they stayed with you the entire time and you felt they did a good job. The ones we saw were waiting at the entrances of tourist attractions, and they had a photo ID type badge around their necks.

[Leia]

Well this is timely - I just left Istanbul yesterday!

I was by myself (single female) and I got by on 100% english with no problems at all. I did get lots of attention from the turkish men, but I never felt unsafe at all. Frankly, as I was coming from Egypt, I found it very peaceful and WAY safe. I didn't use any guides, just my tour book, info from the turkeytravelplanner website and audioguides. Here's a quick rundown on my take on attractions, but I'll post a more detailed report in my LJ when I get back the US next week.


Blue Mosque - beautiful. Would have been nice to have a guide, but easy to listen in on others, and had good info from my travel guide
Topkapi Palace - requires at least 1/2 day. Audio guide was very good and I recommend, free palace map from the audio guide booth was a necessity. Impt to get there before opening to get a tix to the Harem
Basilica Cistern - easily my favorite thing in Istanbul
Hagia Sofia - beautiful. Guide would have been nice, but again, used the book to see highlights and easedropped some.
Bosphorous Cruise - nice, but this was the one tour I took - through Plan Tours and it sucked. Would recommend doing on your own (and I usually love tours)
Spice Bazaar & Grand Bazaar - Frankly, since I was coming from Egypt, I was bazaared out, but I would def recommend. Spice Bazaar is more manageable
Whirling Dervishes - loved this one hour show! Platform 1 at train stn, but tix in advance - 1 hr show.
Lonely Planet Istanbul - honestly, don't recommend. Had good site info, but poor maps and practical information
Apricot Hotel - a great location and good price. This is a fairly basic hotel, but if you are looking for cost effective, it's a winner.
http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/ - great site


Have fun! Drop me a note and I'll send you a link to my LJ if you want the gory details and pix next week.

[Mrs. M.]

Thank you so much!

Of course, now that bird flu virus has reached Turkey. Arghhh. Is it stupid to be concerned about it?

I think I will wait until a few days before and then make a final decision. Luckily, we can get open tickets...

[Leia]

Nahhh, I think it's ok. The people in Istabul didn't seem at all concerned about the bird flu. Honestly, I am hearing more about it here in Prague than I did there. That said, I didn't eat any poultry while I was there (intentionally). Lots of lamb. :)

[Ohana]

I definitely agree about the Lonely Planet books. They are worthless for Turkey and Istanbul, and well, I haven't liked them much in general.

[Leia]

What's funny is that everyone has the Lonely Planet Istanbul. I must have seen 20 copies of it. I finally broke down and asked some other people what they thought of it, and they didn't like it either. Blue Guides have the best rep for guidebooks in Turkey, but the Istanbul city guide hasn't been published since 2000. Not good for practical information.

[Mrs. M.]

I won't use the Lonely Planet then. I wonder if our local library has a book on IST, they seem to have a bunch of travel books.

I have never really travelled with a guidebook... I usually print some stuff out off the internet and then see what happens when I get there.

Since we are only going for 2 nights, we might just print out this thread :D and grab a tourist map at the hotel.

[Mrs. M.]

We got back last night and IST was FANTASTIC!

Ladies, thank you so much for the recommendations!

Especially http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/ was a really good resource for us. We did end up getting a guide book... a DK eyewitness guide, which was decent but not great.

I will post details of the trip in my journal when I get a chance :) I'll race ya on the recap Leia :p (jk)