Off to Istanbul for 4 days - tips?

LondonDiva

Thanks Vicky!

How's the weather??

Stageshoot

Back in the UK now

As for the weather, I was staring to think I was a fish! (It was really really wet), We got about 4 dry hours,

But already planning a trip back in summer for a bit longer (4 or 5 days).

Great City, we have done City breaks all over the world and Istanbul rates at the top of the list.

Am sure you will have a great trip (But take a brolly it looks like the weather is hold ign as wet for a lot of the week!)

LondonDiva

brolly at the ready

wontfallforit

Dress relatively conservatively (no short skirts, shoulders covered, etc.), especially if you've been to Turkey before in one of the 'wilder' holiday resorts, as there's quite a bit of a cultural gap.

Be wary of taking photos with women in the background. Being reasonably laid back religion-wise in relation to the rest of the Islamic world, many locals wouldn't have a problem being featured in your snaps, but always best to ask first.

Blue mosque is a must. Again, legs and shoulders covered (you may be requested to cover your hair too).

Above all, have fun!

totallybored

How was the trip LondonDiva?

Spirit_2

Spill please!

I am going for 5 nights at the end of May and would love to hear your news.

nollag2006

How did you get on?

LondonDiva

Quick overview:)

It was fantastic.

We basically walked round the entire city & the only thing I would was the food. I think we were unlucky in that we were always hungry nr tourist traps, but even those in the books were not impressive. ... We ate at the Turqoise Restaurant - was ok; best meals were: the fish on the pier - fresh caught, grilled & shoved in a bap / bun and also the Indian Dubb Restaurant...

We missed our flight and ended up arriving a couple of hours later than planned, so just walked around the first evening.

We loved our hotel :D:D:D - my laptop picked up a virus the day before, so they lent us theirs each night so we could take advantage of their free WIFI to look at places to go etc. It was the Darussaade Hotel, central and lovely. The food was great & the staff amazingly polite, helpful, interested & friendly (UK hotels, learn something please!!!) - I'm a really whingy person if I'm not happy or think people are resting on their laurels, but it was the best hotel I've been to in a long while, downside is the charge if you wanted to use the sauna. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g293974-d1438768-Reviews-Darussaade_Hotel-Istanbul.html Didn't use it as I was planning a visit for a scrub & massage at the hammam.

We did take a boat across the river, visited Spice / Egyptian market (od'd on Turkish delight; bought a load of spices and trinkets; coffee for work people), the Grand Bazar (not that enamoured of it); Visited a load of mosques, obelix, Aghia Sophia etc.

The Topkapi Palace is great, but suggest you do it first thing in the AM. We spent a long time seeing everything & plotting whether we would need new clothes if we could smuggle out some of the jewelry in the exhibition:D

We visited the cisterns & reccomend highly. Don't forget to cross the river or the bridge to get to the Asian side. I love Agatha Christie books / novels, so went to the station near the banks of the river were a lot of the trains (The Orient Express etc) ended up and also the restuarant there.

The hammam was good (didn't enjoy it as much as the baths in Bidapests, as there was no water / pools - cultural differences, learnt that traditionally muslims see still water as unclean - live & learn ) but I forgot that you need to remember to do that sort of thing last thing as all you'll want to do is eat, then veg out afterwards. They gave us a tea and we read magazines & played draughts in their cafe while we recovered. We went to the one near the spice market. I was washed & scrubbed by a strange lady;) and my skin felt glowy for days afterwards:D

Can't talk transport as we took a shuttle to and from the airport because of the lateness of the hour and apart from that, the commuter boat. However, our hotel did loan us an akbril that we carried around, but didn't use. On the last day, we took a tram from the river to the hotel as we were running late. If we'd arrived as planned, we would ahve taken the metro from th airport, but I was irritated & wanted to get there by that stage.

Was very easy to navigate the city & the locals were lovely and friendly.

Bargain & bargain hard - think of that comedian in the comparison website and think of paying at least 30-50% less than they say first off. Recommend chatting to store keepers the first few days and get a cost of the souvenirs you want as you go along, most peopel are sellign the same things - a lot of the shopkeepers have been to the UK on hols or lived here. Got talking about the respective merits of Fulham v Spurs and paid less than 1/2 what other people had been asking for. Remember a lot of the stuff we want to buy is mass produced, so you can push a bit. Keep it civil, polite & always humourous-better if there's two of you as you can play bad/good cop.

Good walking shoes and a sense of humour are a must as part of the city seems to be built on a hill. I felt really safe and relaxed the whole time & can confirm you don't need a tour unless you are going out of town and feeling lazy.

Will be back after dinner:)