Istanbul is an incredible city with lots to see and do. Located on both sides of the Bosphorus, it is the liaison between East and West, not only physically but also culturally. And a great place to visit!
On this post we reveal our impressions and share some tips to plan your visit.
Culture
The first thing people think when someone mentions Istanbul is mosques and Islam, so we weren’t really sure what to expect. Turns out that there’s a whole lot more!
Istanbul is much more European than we thought, only with a lot (and we mean a lot) of mosques. Everywhere you go you will see a couple of mosques: big and small, ancient and modern… every kind!
People are also an interesting feature of Turkey. Of course there are a lot of Muslims, but they don’t seem to be as strict as one would imagine them. Some women were hijab, some don’t, and that seems to be ok; couples hold hands and kiss in public; no one will stare at you for showing your hair. These are a few of the things that surprised us, and we really found that Turkish are very similar to our culture.
Language
In Turkey they speak, well, Turkish, but it’s still very easy for the independent traveler to communicate.
English is understood and spoken in most touristic places, like hotels, main sights and popular restaurants. We also found that many Turkish can speak Spanish and they prefer it rather than English. To us that was good.
It did happen to us when entering a metro station, a policeman wanted to check our bags and he started asking questions in Turkish (he probably thought Pablo was Turkish because of his beard, haha). After a couple of tries, he realised we were tourists and didn’t speak the language so he spoke two words in English and let us go.
Get There
Obviously by plane, we never really considered any other way. We decided to visit Istanbul because we were taking a Turkish Airlines flight from Southeast Asia to South America. It is a perfect layover if you have a couple of days.
From Ataturk Airport, it is very easy to get to the city using the metro.
Note: they are opening a new airport in Istanbul which will make this information inaccurate. We do not know how accessible the new airport will be.
Get Around
We always think that walking is the best way to explore a city. This is possible in Istanbul, but sometimes getting from one point to another can take a long time. Fortunately, Istanbul has a pretty good public transport system, including metro, trams, buses and ferries. You can get almost anywhere by using this public network. We’ve used all the options!
If you’re planning on getting around like this during your stay, then it is best to get a transportation card, called Istanbulkart. It is a rechargeable card, which you can get from machines in most stations, including the airport. You can then charge it in the same machines as needed and just tap when entering the metro or tram stations, hopping on a bus or on a ferry. You don’t need to tag off, as the prices are fixed. The cost per ride is very cheap.
A tip for those travelling together: you don’t need a card per person; you can just have one card. It works for two, not sure about a bigger group.
Note: there are metal detectors and random police checks in metro stations.
Where to Stay
We’ve heard different opinions about which area was best to stay. The quarrel is between the two most popular neighbourhoods: Sultanahmet or Taksim.
Sultanahmet is the “Old City”, where most of the touristic places are. So if you want to be close to the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, then this is the place to be. The only thing is that come night-time there’s not much to do: not many restaurants and bars.
We chose Taksim and we really think it was the right choice. Taksim and its surroundings are full of restaurants, teahouses and bars, which makes it the perfect spot for dinner. The area is very well connected, so you can get anywhere by public transport.
What to Eat
Turkish food is really awesome! We are not crazy food people when we travel, we just eat what we need to keep going, maybe try one or two local dishes, but that is it. But in Istanbul we couldn’t have enough!
Shawarma, kebaps and “pide” were our choices for lunch and dinner. You can find restaurants with this type of food anywhere.
For dessert or tea time, we tried as much Turkish pastry as we could, combined with their typical tea, which they serve in a nice little glass cup. Istanbul is full of dessert places with windows full of pastry for you to be tempted. Some of the most popular ones we tried are Mado and Hafiz Mustafa; they have many stores throughout Istanbul.
Baklava is the most typical one, which consists of filo pastry filled with chopped nuts (mostly pistachio) and soaked in syrup. There are many different types of pastry with nuts, with different names, so just ask for any of them.
Another one we tried and totally recommend is kadayif with pistachio, and ice cream on top. We had this as dessert. Amazing!
On the streets we saw many red carts selling different types of street food. We’re not really sure about their names but we tried most of them. Our favourite was the bagel-style bread with Nutella.
How Long to Stay
This is usually one of the first questions we ask when we are thinking of visiting a city. There is no right answer and it depends on what type of traveller you are. For us, three days were perfect. We saw everything we wanted and more.
What to See
Lots of things! Istanbul has many places to see and you’ll be able to read all about our visit in upcoming posts.
In the meantime, you can read one to do in one day in Sultanahmet, the most popular area.