Istanbul -- Advice & Attractions?

[krazykhoja]

I will be in Istanbul in the middle of August was hoping for some advice. I have looked at the main things to do and was looking moreso for advice on things that are not so well known.

Anything that you would recommend I have to check out?
Any areas that should be avoided?

Also for currency, what is most popular, should I take a combination of USD$, Euros & Lira?

Any other tips/tricks that I should be aware of? I will be right near the Bosphorus river

Thanks!

[TurboMedic]

Istanbul is beautiful, but vast. It wasn't our favorite part of Turkey, but theres so much to see.

First off, the place to stay is in the Sultanamet district. This is essentially "historical" Istanbul. Its older, smaller, more run down, but walking distance from all of the major things. It was easy to grab some food, coffee, shisha, and just hang out in the old town.

We paid for everything in Lira without any problem. I don't think I'd take ay USD, and the majority of bank machines we visited had the option to withdraw in USD, Lira and Euro, so you can really just take a token amount and see what serves you best.

As for attractions, we didn't venture off the beaten path too far in terms of seeing modern Istanbul, it just didn't have the appeal to us with the clubs and everything else. We stuck to getting lost on foot in tiny streets, and seeing the true sites. Obviously the easy ones are Topkapi palace, Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia, Little Hagia Sofia, University of Istanbul, Grand Bazarre (really, don't spend much time there), Bosphorus boat up to the black sea, Spice Market, Basilica Cystern, hippodrome

Most of Istanbul is safe, they do say the University area is less safe, especially after dark. As well, Taksim Square, while neat to see, is the center of a lot of protests, so its nothing special. Despite warnings about areas, we really had no issues wandering around on foot at any time of day. Most of the residents in the area were friendly, it was the merchants that were less so. Obviously YMMV, maybe we got lucky, but we were there twice for a few days each time and never felt threatened or unsafe once.

Big thing with Istanbul is its much less friendly than the rest of Turkey, and you get ripped off far more often from food vendors, etc.

How long are you there for??

I would recommend seeing the rest of turkey....We backpacked around from Istanbul to Antalya (by air obviously), to Cirali, to Fethiye, to Pammukkale, to Selcuk, to Cappadocia/Goreme, and back to Istanbul in 3 weeks.

Goreme was by far the most amazing place.....friendly, scenic.

[The_Rural_Juror]

Goreme was my favourite as well.

[DJ_NAV]

Turkey was amazing. Istanbul is a bit pricey but still awesome. We stayed in Sultanhamet and it was great. Taxis were pretty cheap in general so getting around isn't too expensive - but keep in mind that traffic is horrible there at times. Be sure to work around rush hours. Istikal street area is more packed with bars if you prefer that crowd.

I was on a tight budget and used : http://www.jasminnetour.com/ and found them to be about 1/3 of the cost of other tour agencies. We did Istanbul on our own and booked a package for out of Istanbul stuff (Cappadocia, Pammukale, Izmir/Emphesues) for about $750 CAD if I remember correctly. They convert the currency so it might be even cheaper now. I would recommend the flight package as buses are slow and overnight.

Reina is a world famous nightclub but I went during winter and they said it's almost shut down. BE sure to try and buy Turkish delight!! Only the good stuff with honey (not sugar). Buy fresh, not the packaged stuff. I couldn't believe it that the packaged stuff is cheaper here in Calgary @ Superstore compared to Turkey itself. Do as much shopping as possible outside Istanbul. 30-50% cheaper!!! For example, turkish bath in Istanbul were perhaps 60-100$ and I went to one in Cappadocia area for about $15 (nothing fancy but it was an experience that I will remember forever).

Not sure if Soccer games are on when you go. But I caught one and it was amazing. Galastaray fans meet up at Istikal street before hand and you can't get a table unless you show up 3 hours before. No drinking at the stadium allowed.

Let me know if you have other questions.

[idriveabox]

Not to hijack but also heading there in October (and Greece?). I figure we will spend 5 days. My wife wants to book a spot in Beyoglu over Sultanahmet for the dinning. Any advice on this area over Sultanahmet?

[krazykhoja]

Thanks for the replies and will keep that in mind! Glad I can use lira's almost everywhere, as I didn't want to take 3 currencies with me!

We will be staying at the Four Season's Bosphorus & going for a family reunion, so can't really venture out too far. We will be there for a week and have booked days to go see all the main attractions.

Will look to walk around old Istanbul as opposed to the newer area. Any recommendations for cafe's, vendor's, shops etc you would recommend from when you went?

Not sure about the soccer schedule but I will take a look as that would be a blast to go see!

Any other input is appreciated, thanks!

[Gainsbarre]

Not a fan of Istanbul. I travel extensively and I encountered more scams in Istanbul than anywhere else. At least they're fairly obvious - here's a good one that caused me to laugh out loud the first time I saw it....



Nearly every restaurant/cafe I went to in Istanbul had a menu that was a laminated card, where menu prices were written in with a dry-erase marker . Naturally I ask to see multiple menus and notice that prices are not the same in each (if you can read multiple languages you might want to look at those...surprisingly I found on more than one occasion a French language menu that had cheaper prices). I then made sure to held onto the menu I ordered off of. Sure enough, each time the bill arrived, there would be a couple items that were higher priced (never lower, of course) than the menu I ordered off of, or there would be mysterious items showing up on the menu that you never ordered.

I was in Turkey for a few weeks in the spring of 2013 and thankfully the scamming seemed to be isolated to Istanbul. I enjoyed my time elsewhere in Turkey.

[phreezee]

^^ Yup, Turkey was the shadiest place in Europe I've travelled. Everyone trying to sell you something and rip you off. That said, different menus/prices for tourists also happens in Italy.

[CompletelyNumb]

^ that was my experience in Istanbul as well. But aside from the white tax, I had no major issues. Bring baby wipes for the bathroom haha.

I went from Istanbul to the south coast, travelling between antalaya and fithiye. Beat calamari I've ever had in my life was made fresh for me at an oceanside restaurant.

But since you're not venturing far, the grand bazaar and spice market were actually cool to see for the first time. Just hagle. Harder than in mexico.

[JDMMAN]

Istanbul was nice. I spent 5 days there last October during the Eid break.

That said, I'd suggest looking for accommodations on the Asian side (Kadikoy - I stayed at the Double Tree Hilton over there). Get yourself an Istanbul Card (transit) and load that up for use. Much cheaper and quicker on public transit. I didn't know this originally and booked a shuttle from the airport to the hotel; it would've taken a fraction of the time and very little money to take either the ferry over or the Marmaray.

Keep your USD & valuables locked up in the safe at the hotel room; I got around with a low limit credit card and Lira.

I found this link quite useful:
http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/g...a/kadikoy.html

[adamc]

You guys must look like mark tourists or something..


» Click image for larger version



Istanbul was spectacular and the 12 days I spent pounding the pavement there wasn't enough to see and do everything. Never felt like I was getting scammed, a bit weird to hear that.

[CompletelyNumb]

That just means you didn't catch on. The dual-menu scam was at every restaurant I went to. Every one.

Could just be bad luck? I didn't care cost difference was nil back when oil was 120.

[adamc]

Nah, I was shacked up a lesbian couple, born and raised Istanbulites. I paid as locals do wherever we went.


Edit: Except for taxis, I guess. Got jerked around once or twice by those guys, so it goes.

You're right though, I was there in 2011, things were generally too cheap to worry about possible tourist price differences.

[Gainsbarre]

You also need to negotiate hard (i.e. offer no more than 50% of the initially offered price) if visiting the grand bazaar or spice bazaar in Istanbul. The shopkeepers are pretty crafty and can speak multiple languages...they addressed my travel companion in Farsi (her mother tongue), and myself in English...I also overheard them speaking French and German, depending on the tourists walking by (and more often than not, they were correct in their assessment). If the shopkeeper happens to be romantically attracted to you, he will offer you 50% off right off the bat. This happened to my travel companion at several places we went to, and also to me at a few places (one of my friends warned me about this beforehand, cautioning that Turkey is a "big gay country" )

Oh, as for currency, I'd just take USD to exchange into Lira when you are there (USD are preferred and universally accepted all over the world, even in places like Iran and North Korea). You can purchase a (minimal) about of Lira before your arrival to either catch a taxi from the airport to where you are staying or for public transportation. I don't recall all the details, but to save even more money you can take the subway and then a trolley to get yourself from Ataturk airport to central Istanbul, which is quite straightforward, given that all the station signage and even transit announcements are made in Turkish and English. There are many money changers in central Istanbul who offer far more competitive rates than you'll find here in North America.

[flipstah]

Sounds like Istanbul is fun! Keep us posted, OP.

[flipstah]

Cheap flight so I'm going lol.

[weezy00]

Flipstah when are you going?

[flipstah]

Originally posted by weezy00
Flipstah when are you going?

Mid-September.

[weezy00]

Nice I am heading there this August.

[flipstah]

Let us know how it goes. Might do a day trip to either Antalya, Ephesus or Cappadocia.

Still reading up on it.