Istanbul Travel Forum

I am considering concluding my Greece Trip with a visit to Istanbul, Turkey as a finale, providing the airfare is acceptable. I have 3 questions:

1. For a first-time visit, is it suggested to take one of the many tours offered taking in the main sites( The Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, etc)? or can one visit these all independently with ease.

2. What is the recommended number of days to see the city?

3. Has anyone taken one of the tours to Cappadocia from Istanbul using the night bus?

we did this - took 24 hours with a roundtrip from Athern to Istanbul and back - we self toured and saw it all - and could have stayed more but got it all in in 24 hours

dont know about Cappadoncia

do this trip - its awesome

don't go on a Sunday - the grand bazaar is closed on SUnday

Istanbulmark. :-)

Hi , you don't need any tour to visit the main sites and the town of Istanbul.you can do it yourself as many of us as the main sites are all in the same part and vey close to each other.just buy a good guide.The tam in Istanbul is very easy to use.I have done cappadocia by my own.You could do it with a tour; it's up to you.
If it's just for the main sites 3 days are enough , for the rest of the town one week is not enough.

I am a woman and traveled alone to Istanbul - strongly advise against taking any tours (aggh!). I don't spend too long in any place, but I could spend a couple of weeks in Istanbul. Because I was traveling alone I was quite apprehensive to do the visit, so this is what I did in 2-1/2 days:

- First day arriving from US ... took an afternoon tour (yuk, yuk). I stayed in the Ortakoy area but wanted to get a feel for the old part of town, to determine if I would feel fine by myself or I should engage a personal guide. This is why I say - keep away from taking tours.

- I purchased a Knopf's guide to Istanbul (can get from Barnes and Noble if you live in the US) - and had studied all the neighborhoods.

- Day 2: Had the hotel engage a driver for 1/2 day.
... started early, around 8:30 AM
... went to the Eyup neighborhood (very conservative) - looked at the cemetery, the mosque, and the general area
... from there I went to Chora church - nearby.
... then I walked in an old neighborhood past the city walls.
... had driver drop me off in the old part of town *mid-day*.
... returned to Topkapi (previous day's visit was a bit of a joke)
... went to Sultanahmet
... walked across Galata bridge
... took funicular to Beyoglu
... went up Galata tower
... walked around Beyoglu
... took a taxi back

Second day - Haghia Sophia was closed the previous day. I did not have time to waste so I had the hotel engage a guide for the day. You don't need the guide, but if you don't have time to make mistakes, they will get you past the big lines right away. I mostly wanted to be on the 10:30 ferry from Eminou to Sariyer (for lunch) - so I only had enough time to see Haghia Sophia in the morning. So ...
... went to Haguia Sophia (which I badly misspelled)
... took 10:30 ferry (there were two huge lines in both of these places that the guide got me past)
... had a wonderful lunch in Sariyer
... took the bus back towards Ortikoy ... here you have Dolmabache and all those places like the fort where you can stop. See link below for right bus.

Helps to have a map with clearly marked destinations along with the destinations well written in Turkish for the taxi drivers. Many of the drivers do speak English, but some really don't.

There are many excellent tips here on the VT pages. I also got great tips from this site: http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/go/Istanbul/index.html

... the web site is great particularly on the day for the ferry.

And by all means, do stay a good 3-4 days if possible, but if you can stay at least the entire week it would be great. 3-4 days just gets you wanting to stay, which is why I am delighted we may be having a meet in Turkey in a coupld of years.

Enjoy this wonderful city! Stop and listen to the call to prayer, a very peaceful experience.

ooops ... "day 2" was my first full day of exploring, "second day" actually my third day. ;=(

It's very easy to do Istanbul on your own - no tour necessary. Some of the things I recommend include: Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, Eminou and the Galata Bridge, Galata Tower and Beyoglu, a Bosphorus cruise (take a ferry that lets us get off and explore), Egyptian (Spice) Bazaar, Grand Bazaar (too touristy and expensive though), Basilica Cistern, Dolmabahce Palace, and Chora Church. Visit some of the other many mosques as well. Some of the nicer ones are Sokollu Mehmet, New Mosque (at Eminou), and Suleymaniye Camii. There is so much to see in Istanbul and make sure to allow time to just take a break and have some delicious tea/chai while people watching. I would recommend 4-5 days minimum in Istanbul.

Cappadocia is magical! It's difficult to get around the area on your own if you do not have a car. You'd have to take some of the tours - you can book those once you reach Cappadocia. Can't help you with bus info (we flew) but definitely recommend making the trip! Allow at least 2-3 full days here.

Have a great time. Turkey is fantastic with the most wonderful people!!

I also am a woman and travel solo. Visited Istanbul, and took the night bus (independently, not as part of a tour) to Cappadocia. Used local 1/2 day tours to visit Goreme, Derinkyu, Neveshir, Ilhara valley, Avanos, Urgup, Uchisar and so on. Then took the hot air balloon ride in Goreme. Magnificent!

I wouldn't recommend less than 3 days in Istanbul, 4 days left me with a taste for more. Yes, you can certainly travel around easily on your own to see all of the major sites - many are within walking distance of each other.

DON'T miss Ephesus (Efes)!!

By the way, I only engaged a taxi for 1/2 day and hired a guide to compensate for the little time I had, but you don't need the driver or the guide. I just did not have time to stand in line or to get on the wrong boat.

When I return to Istanbul I plan to go with a good 4 days at least. It is such an amazing place. I visited in October, wonderful, I have heard it will be *extremely* hot in the summer.

Wow! Thanks everyone for all your wonderful feedback.
As a member of VT from the onset, I can definitely say, that is what this site is all about.

We have visited Istanbul for a week on two separate vacations and still could go back for another visit as we missed so much!!! The Turkish people are really great.

As I am the only local who replied to your questions, I don’t have anything to say more than the visitors. All of them are definitely better than the local guides : )

Fife days are enough for Istanbul but midweek would be better. On weekends everywhere is too crowded. For Cappadocia it is a bit difficult to manage visiting by yourselves.

If you need any help or further info when you are in Istanbul, please feel free to mail me.

Hi Mr.Roamer61,

first;Apart from the other VTers responses,to make a very well schedule,I think that you need to know the closed days of some of the museums or historical places..

Topkapi Palace,Istanbul Archaelogy Museum,and Imperial Palace closed mondays..
Fethiye(Pammakaristos)Muzesi and Kariye(Chora)Muzesi closed wednesdays,
Turkish-Islamic Art Museum closed mondays,
Topkapi Palace closed tuesdays,
Grand Bazaar closed sundays,
Yerebatan Sarayi(Basilica cistern)and Galata Towers open all days(in working hours)
Dolmabahce Palace closed mondays&thursdays
All mosques in Istanbul..including..Blue Mosque(SultanAhmet camii),Suleymaniye,Yenicamii,Fatih,Beyazid,Sehzade,Rustempasa,Nuruosmaniye,Kalenderhane(Kyriotissa).etc are all open during the prayer times(starting at 4.58 a.m-till to 21.00 p.m{during the summer season)

second;for Cappadocia,pls do visit the following link..
http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/go/CentralAnatolia/Cappadocia/trans/ist_cappa.html

third;an other useful link for Istanbul,
http://english.istanbul.gov.tr/

brgds.

Thank you, but until I have a date for my trip, and a definite itinerary as well, this is all ok, but meaningless. Afterall, Istanbul will entirely depend if I can get a cheap enough fare from Athens. Airfare that is. If its $250 USD or more, its out of the question.

Have you thought of taking a bus or train? (I've never done it, but now that I think about it, it could be a nice trip).

Perhaps someone could shed some light on how to get from Istanbul to Athens via bus or train - if no responses I might do a separate post, because there's a possibility of a Turkey VT meet down the road and I would consider skipping over to Greece.

Hi nomad. To get to Istanbul from Athens by train, you first must take Greek Rail to Thessaloniki. Then from there, you transfer for the long distance overnight train to Istanbul. I've looked into this previously. What I read I did not care for. Your woken at 2:00am to show your passport and you have to disembark to obtain a tourist visa. This I learned from reading peoples accounts on Travelblog.com.

I should post on a bus ... I'm sure it's something I'll do. Hmmmm ...

I've tried including Athens in many trips, but keep dropping it for many reasons - maybe this time I'll make it.

Are you going to stay in Athens, or will you be going to Santorini and Meteora?


WOW!!! Look at Aegean http://www.aegeanair.com/ - I just checked and after you're on the page for a few seconds this ad popped up: "New destination Istanbul 69 Euro" -

Its gonna be mainly a Greece trip, Athens, Delphi, Argolid. then finish off (hopefully), with a excursion to Istanbul and fly home from there? And, its for 2010. So I cant really get any good fares until later in the year. September or October most likely.

If I dont go to Istanbul, I'll stick with my original plans which would include Crete and Santorini.

I traveled in September and the weather was great for the days I was there, it did rain when I left.

I have been told my another VT member that her son (in his 20's) went there in the summer, and the heat made him sick, so Sept-Oct may be the best.

Hi

I am actually planning for the period of April/May. After the holy holidays of course, both Christain and Jewish (Passover is in April and I am Jewish).

We were there in mid-April and the weather fluctuated alot. It was a little cooler than I expected, but still nice.

My guess is late April to early May. I go this time of year also for the flowers and the birds.

It was a great time to go because the Tulip festival was going on and there were flowers everywhere!

Hi Roamer,

Istanbul was the centre of the Spanish jews during the 1500's until 1900's.
So Highly recommend to you that visit Balat (Jewish Quarter and see Ahrida and Yanbol synagouges.

http://www.musevicemaati.com/index.php?mid=0&lang=1

above the link is the turkish jewish community.

have a good time on your trip

ozan

Eating Kosher in Istanbul



Levi Restaurant
Tahmis Kalcin Street
Cavusbasi Han No:23/10 Eminonu
tel: 0212 512 1196
note: Open for lunch only, during week days

Or you can have your Kosher
Ahayim Hospital in Balat
tel: 0212-292 0460
İhiyarlar Yurdu in Haskoy (Old Age Home)
tel: 0212-238 9494 / ext 112
Barinyurt in Galata (Old Age Home)
tel: 0212-249 7937

Forgot to tell you that you need to fax your passport copy to chief rabbinate of Turkey if they give permission to you then you can visit those synagouges.

conntact with the chief rabbinate if you want to visit them.

Also I would like to tell you that

must see places with entrance fee;
Hagia Sophia
Topkapi Palace (Incl Harem)
Yerebatan Cistern
Khora Church

If you have visited Europe and saw euopean style palaces no need to visit
Dolmabahce,Beylerbeyi,Yildiz palaces.

Visit Mosques and converted to Mosque Churchs.

Check my tips

Cheers

Hi, I was in Istanbul last May by my own. It is very easy to see Blue Mosque, Aya Sofia, Topkapi Palace and all the wonderful places without a tour.
I stayed 8 days in Istanbul and it wasnt enough time to see all what I wanted to see. But I think that the principal atraccion can be seen in four or five days.
I went to Cappadocia by plane with Turkish Travel Heritage. I payed 280 euros for a single acomodation with breakfast in a Kelebek hotel (very nice) and 2 full days tour in Capadoccia, includid a flight Istanbul-Capadoccia-Istanbul by Turkish Airlines and tranfers. It was very good. Capadoccia is wonderful and Istanbul too. Have a great trip!!!

Turkish Travel Heritage sounds great Diane. I'll check your pages see if you wrote a tip - if not, this is something I'm interested in because I want to see the rest of Turkey and would welcome a good agency for the areas you went to see.

Hi Martha - did you make it to Selcuk? That was so fantastic too! I would love to get back to Turkey to explore some more.

The site mentioned above has an Eastern Turkey tour that looks great.
When I was in Turkey I stayed in Istanbul. While I went to all the popular places, I also made time to be in less traveled places, like Eyup, Sariyer, and Emirgan which I enjoyed. The main sights are wonderful, but it is also nice to retreat to see how people really live - and life near the Bosphorus looks wonderful and relaxed.