| Page Views: 3,851 Last Visit to Istanbul: June, 2003 | Istanbul by AcornMan - last update: Aug 16, 2004 |
It never would have even crossed my mind to visit Istanbul until I bumped into an old friend at a wedding whose husband's family is from Turkey. They had visited Istanbul and spent the entire evening telling me stories about how wonderful it is. In hindsight I'm sure one of the major reasons they found it enjoyable was that my friend's husband is fluent in Turkish and already had a working knowledge of the city. It was a bit tougher for us because we didn't have those advantages, but we managed to make a good trip out of it after a somewhat bumpy start (see my tourist trap warning section). Istanbul is a city with incredibly rich history, amazingly beautiful historical sites, and other very interesting features. One great thing about Istanbul is that it is very inexpensive, especially now that tourism to that part of the world is down quite dramatically. The food was also absolutely terrific (see my restaurant section for specific recommendations). In addition to what you find on Virtual Tourist I highly recommend that you visit Tom Brosnahan's excellent web site about Turkey, including Istanbul. |
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| Pros: | "Lots of beautiful historic sites; Easy to get around on foot or by tram" | | Cons: | "Incredibly annoying, pesky, and pushy salesmen" | | In A Nutshell: | "Might take some getting used to, but definitely worth seeing" |
AcornMan's Istanbul Travel Tips
Comments for AcornMan about Istanbul | | | | |
ergenekon Mon Feb 23, 2009 22:43 UTC As a turkish person, I'm sorry for your failed trip. I don't understand why tourists are sticking to this area of Sultanahmet. There are so many other wonderful places to see. Try Bebek, Kanlica, Hidiv Kasri or Fethi Pasa Korusu, Yildiz Parki etc. | nicolaitan Fri Jun 27, 2008 17:57 UTC great intro for our planned trip this fall, and best from a fellow NY resident. Going directly to the Brosnahan site. How long did you spend in Istanbul? Thanks for sharing. N. | ellielou Fri Jul 14, 2006 22:12 UTC Hotel Antique is now a contender! Thanks for directing me to this tip! | Wolf_gang Tue May 2, 2006 19:33 UTC After living for 4 month now in Istanbul, my trick (when I am alone) is just to make a hand sign, not speaking! As soon as you speak, they talk to you... if they do not know if you are german, english or whatever they are helpless :-) |
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