Istanbul Travel Forum

Dear SirVictor,

Thanks a lot for your reply.

We are planning to visit Istanbul on
SEPT 30th –TUE
OCT 1st – 4th – WED, THRU, FRI,SAT

As per your reply:-
Sheker Bayrami (Sugar fest ) is from Sept. 30th- Oct. 1st and 2nd
On the 1st day of the Bayram all shops and official offices such as museums are closed. On the 2nd and 3rd day the private enterprises such as restaurants, shops, bazaar begin to open their shops. During 3 days of Bayram no official places open to public.

1. Apparel shops in OSMANBEY (1st , 2nd & 3rd day closed due to Sheker Bayrami )
2. Egyptian (Spice) Market – Sunday (1st - 2nd & 3rd day SB)
3. Grand Bazaar – Sunday (1st, ,2nd & 3rd day SB)
4. Dolmabahce Palace Monday and Thursday (1st day of SB)
5. Ayasofya (Hagia Sophia) Monday(1st day of SB)
6. Rumeli Hisar – Mondays (1st day of SB)
7. Topkapi Palace Tuesday (1st day of SB)
8. Kariye Müzesi Wednesday (1st day of SB)
9. Sadberk Hanim Museum – Wednesday(1st day of SB)
10. Dolmabahce Palace Monday Thursday (1st day of SB)

What is the best suggestion?
Is the following Itinerary advisable?
SEPT 30 – Bosporus cruise
OCT 1s & 2nd from item 4 – 10
OCT 3rd & 4th from Item 1 – 3

Thanks & regards

Hello Linda.First of all I wish you a happy time in Turkey. The following information is from last year. I am sure they will do the same this year.

1-Topkapi Palace Museum: (Tel: 0212 512 04 80). is closed in the first day of Bayram till 13.00. After 13:01. it is open during 2nd & 3rd days all day long.

2- Ayasofya /Saint Sophia: (Tel: 0212 522 09 89) . is closed in the first day of Bayram till 13.00. After 13:01. it is open during 2nd & 3rd days all day long.

3- Kariye Museum: (Tel: 0212 631 92 41). is closed in the first day of Bayram till 13.00. After 13:01 it is open during 2nd &3rd days all day long.

4- Dolmabahce Place: (Tel: 0212 236 90 00). İs closed on 29th and 30th. It is open on 1st & 3rd days all day long.

5- Istanbul Archeogical Museum: (Tel: 0212 520 77 40). is closed in the first day of Bayram till 13.00. After 13:01. it is open during 2nd & 3rd days all day long.

6- Kapalicarsi the Grand Bazaar/ Covered Bazaar: (Tel: 0212 522 31 73). It is open on 29th and closed all Bayram days long..

7- Misir Carsisi The Covered Egyptian or Spice Market: (Tel: 0212 522 55 92). It is open on 29th and closed all Bayram days long.

On the other hand:
OSMANBEY: The exclusive shops around Osmanbey will be closed on the first day of Bayram(Holiday).Some will open after noon. Most will open on the 2nd & 3rd days.
Rumelihisar.: I dont know but it must be open according to a/m offical tariff.
Sadberk Hanim Museum : I dont know

You can have Bosporus cruise during all Bayram days. The ferry works according to normal day and night tariff/schedule. There are also privat tourist boats for cruise. But they are expenciver then the state owned ferry.

All the mosques such as Sultan Ahmet, Suleymaniye ect are open for visiters all Bayram days.

The landingbridge of the Bosporus ferry and touristic boats is in Eminonu (read Eminoenue) just at the enterence of the famous Galata Bridge infront of the mighty Yenicami the New Mosque.

Thanks Sir Victor:

Kindly advice on the following:
You can have Bosporus cruise during all Bayram days. The ferry works according to normal day and night tariff/schedule. There are also privat tourist boats for cruise. But they are expenciver then the state owned ferry.

Please advice on Hotel Feronya?

Kindly advice the dates of closure of Blue Mosque, Galata Tower & Hippodrom during Bayram . Thanks once again.

Hotel Feronya is in the new part of ıstanbul which is called Beyoglu. http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:Yf-F5vHUzTMJ:www.feronya.com/+Hotel+Feronya&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=uk
Taksim is the centre of new Istanbul called beyoglu. In the middle of Taksim there is the great monument of Independance. The Great Street (4 kms)ends at Tunel the Tuenel, the shortest motro of the world. You can walk there enjoying the old European sytyl buildings. In the middle of the street on the right there is a passage called Cicek pasaji the flower Passage. You can have your beer there. The little street behind the passage is also interesring to visit.
On the left opposite side you will see a great pforte of famous and old Galatasaray Lyseum. The high school of Galatasaray. If you are interested in foodball Galatasaray foodball teem won UEFA championship a few years ago.
The Tunel will take you dawn hill in less then a minute to the famous Galata Bridge. The other side of Galata Bridge is old Istanbul.

There is another possibility to reach to old Istanbul from Taksim. In The metro station of Taksim there is also a system called "FUNICULAR". Funicular will take you within 2 minutes to Kabatash on Bosphorus. Dolmabahce Palace Museum is in Kabatash. At the quai of the palaca there is acafe whre you can rest and drink. Kabatash is the last station of the tram. If you take the tram you can reach to Sultan Ahmet within 20 minutes. If you wish you can return hotel by the same way. There is only one line to kabatash to Sultanahmet.

The old Istanbul is the historical peninsula with hipodrom, St Sophia, Sultan Ahmet Mosque which is commenly known as the Blue Mosque, Topkapi palace ect

The mosques are open during Bayram days till 20:00 o'clock. At 20:30 it is the prayer time.
There is no more Hipodrom. Only the name survived. Visit my ıstanbul page for a single wall still survived. The area of Hipodrom is called now Sultan Ahmet. You can visit two Egyptian obelisks. The twin brothers of that obelisk is in Paris and Washington.

Have a nice time.

I close my eyes and dream Istanbul

Dear SirVictor,

As per your reply, Bayram from SEPT 29th – OCT 3rd in Turkey kindly confirm the below itinerary:
• SEPT 30th – Osmanbey – Shopping in the evening.
• OCT 1: Bosphorus Cruise (WED )
Hop aboard a ferry for a cruise up the Bosphorus to Sariyer near the Black Sea. After a seafood lunch, ride south stopping at the Yildiz Palace and Park. Stop in trendy Ortaköy for seaside tea and snacks, then taxi to Dolmabahce Palace then walk to Taksim Square for some strolling and window-shopping in Nisantasi.
• OCT 2nd Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia & Hippodrome (THRU)
Tünel Square walking/tram along Istiklal Caddesi.………….Galata Tower (9-7, stay 1/2 to 1 hr) Best views of the city from this Genoese cone-topped stone tower. Continue downhill ……………Galata Bridge (stay 1/2 hr) Start at the bridge over the Golden Horn which links Old and New Istanbul....
Have lunch in a simple local restaurant, then take a walking tour of Sultanahmet, the heart of historic Byzantium/ Constantinople/ Istanbul: the Hippodrome, Ayasofya (Hagia Sophia), the Blue Mosque and Yerebatan Saray (Sunken Palace Cistern). In the evening, relax over a candlelight dinner in a nice restaurant.
• OCT 3rd : Topkapi Palace, Istiklal (FRI)
Get to Topkapi Palace before its doors open and go straight to the Harem to assure your place in the guided tour. After the tour, explore the rest of the palace/museum, perhaps having an early lunch in the palace's Konyali Restaurant overlooking the Bosphorus and Sea of Marmara. In the afternoon, take a taxi to the Kariye Müzesi (Church of the Holy Savior in Chora) to see its splendid Byzantine mosaics. In the evening, stroll along Istiklal Caddesi (La Grande Rue de Péra) in Beyoglu to find a cozy cafe, bar or taverna for a drink, then dinner.
• OCT 4th – (SAT) Grand Bazaar & Spice bazaar
Thanks.

Dear Linda, I will answer all question. First
Osmanbey and Nisantasi (Nishantashi) are two neighbouring towns. They are not far from each other. If you follow the Cumhuriyet caddesi passing the Military Museum you will reach a 2-fold street. One is Vali Konagi caddesi the other Halaskargazi Street. If you follow Vali Konagi Caddesi after Abdi İpekci Caddesi you will come to Nishantashi. At that point you will see a little obelisk which indicates that once a record was broken at that place during games of yeomans.(Nishan: decoration, Tash: stone) Nishantashi has two streets on the right is Teshvikiye caddesi which ends at Macka, on the left is Rumeli Caddesi which ends at Halaskargazi Street.
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=istanbul+map&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&resnum=1&ct=image

For that reason no need to spend extra days for Nishantashi and Osmanbey.
to be continued

• OCT 1: Bosphorus Cruise (WED )
The last landingsbridge of the ferry is RumeliKavagi on the European side or the Anadolu Kavagi on The Asian side. Sariyer is in the middle. I advice you to have seafood lunch in Rumeli Kavagi. The ferry zig-zags at the shores of Bosporus. From Rumeli Kavagi you can have a bus or minibus to Ortakoy travelling along the Bosporus. Dolmabahce palace is not far from Ortakoy you can walk or take a bus or taxi. You need not walk to Taksim hillwards. As I said over you can have the Funicular from Kabatash to taksim. It takes only 10 minutes to walk to Kabatash from the palace.

• OCT 2nd
If you walk alonk Istiklal caddesi you will reach at the end Tuenel. There is a very narrow street called Galip Dede Dede Caddesi just beside the Tuenel Station. Just at the enterence of the Galip Dede Caddesi on the left there is a Tekke (a meeting place of the Whirling Derwisches of Mevlevi) Galip Dede was a famous poet, componist of allaturca music and was a Whirling Mevlevi Derwish. You can visit his tomb and the Tekke.
Galip Dede Caddesi ends at Karakoey. On the way you will pass the mighty and ancient tower of Galata.

• OCT 4th – (SAT) Grand Bazaar & Spice bazaar
If you get out from the Nuru Osmaniye door of Grandbazaar you can walk downhill to Spice Market. Nuru Osmaniye is a mosque. The place is called Mahmut Pasha. It is real Turkish shopping centre. If you feel yourself get lost in Mahmutpasha dont hesitate to ask someone :
"Misir Carsisi'na gitmek istiyorum. Lutfen bana you gosterirmisiniz?
(I want to go to Spice market please show me the way)

Have a nice time.

BAYRAM – Kindly confirm our Itinerary from SEPT 30th – OCT 4

SEPT 30th – Osmanbey – Shopping in the evening. (Metro from Taksim to Osmanbey)
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OCT 1: Bosphorus Cruise (WED ) –From Taksim to Kabatas by Funicular – From Kabatas to Eminonu take the tram. From Prier 3 take the Scenic Bosphorus cruise, leaving at 10:35 AM. to Rumeli Kavagi reaching at 11:55 AM. After a seafood lunch, ride south stopping at the Yildiz Palace and Park, from Rumeli Kavagi take minibus – (Which No.? from Where) to Ortakoy travelling along the Bosporus. Stop in trendy Ortaköy for seaside tea and snacks, Dolmabahce palace (stay for 1 hr) is not far from Ortakoy you can walk or take a bus (Which No? From where) or taxi. It takes only 10 minutes to walk from the palace to Kabatash. Take funicular from Kabatash to taksim..

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OCT 2nd Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia & Hippodrome (THRU)
From Taksim to Tünel Square walking along Istiklal Caddesi.………….Galata Tower (stay 1/2 to 1 hr) for the best views of the city from this Genoese cone-topped stone tower. Continue downhill ……………Galata Bridge (stay 1/2 hr) .Start at the bridge over the Golden Horn which links Old and New Istanbul....
Have lunch in a simple local restaurant, then take a walking tour of Sultanahmet : the Hippodrome, Ayasofya (Hagia Sophia (stay for 1 hr ), Yerebatan Saray (Sunken Palace Cistern stay for ½ hr ), the Blue Mosque One should prefer to visit the mosque in the morning or before 3-4 o'clock in the afternoon because the prayer times rotate according to the sun's positions (Stay for ½ hr) – Take Tram from Sultanahmet to Kabatas & from Kabatas to Taksim Funicular.

OCT 3rd : Topkapi Palace, Istiklal (FRI) – Funicular from Taksim to Kabatas & Tram from Kabatas to Gulhane & back vice versa.
Topkapi Palace (stay 2-3 hr).
Get to Topkapi Palace before its doors open and go straight to the Harem to assure your place in the guided tour. After the tour, explore the rest of the palace/museum, perhaps having an early lunch in the palace's Konyali Restaurant. In the afternoon, take a taxi to the Kariye Müzesi (Church of the Holy Savior in Chora) to see its splendid Byzantine mosaics.
*********************************
OCT 4th – (SAT) Grand Bazaar & Spice bazaar. Take Funicular from Taksim to Kabatas & Tram from Kabatas to Gulhane & back vice versa