"A completely different world" a Istanbul Travel Page by vtveen

We visited Istanbul in November 2004 for a couple of days. Perhaps too short, but we did get a good impression of the city, the people and the way of living.
Conclusion: a complete different world !!

We were lucky to stay in The Golden Horn Hotel in the middle of the old city, so we could do a lot of sightseeing without any use of transportation.
It is by far the best way to 'see, hear and smell' a lot of this interesting city.

My tips are more or less 'personal notes' about the highlights of Istanbul.
For Dutch and Belgian VT-members: see transportation tip about Eindhoven Airport.

Being in Istanbul we did see everywhere the minarets of a countless number of mosques. It is impossible to visit them all as a tourist, so we had to make a choice.

Perhaps a little bit strange, but we did like most the New Mosque and not the Blue Mosque as all the guidebooks do “suggest”.

A remarkable memory was our visit to the Süleymaniye Mosque during the evening prayers, while all the lights in the mosque were on.

Next to the mosques Istanbul is famous for its palaces. I think tourists will visit particulary Topkapi Palace and Dolmabahce Palace.

Both are worth a visit, but we did like Topkapi more, while you are not obliged to have a guided tour and can see all these beautiful objects on your own.