Super fun and exotic city with a wide mix of many cultures (European, Asian, Arabic, probably other stuff too).
Istanbul and Turkish people/culture are such a trip. For me being an American with lots of experience in Western Europe and South America, Turkey was really exotic, energetic, fiery fiesty. The Istanbul vibe is something right in between a big cold metropolitan city like New York or Paris but with the feistiness of South Americans. Again, they are not outwardly warm and friendly but are feisty.
Maybe you expected a hyper-Muslim culture here and there is but it’s only part of Turkey like this where people are super religious and women all covered up in traditional headwear. Most Turkish (especially the new generation) curse, drink, party in clubs, and engage in all kinds of obnoxious “Western debauchery” like you would find anywhere else. Long story short, Istanbul is as much a party place as any other. Don’t be afraid that you’re stuck in some overly religious prison ground.
There’s enough craziness here to last you a solid month of fun but you could see the main points in 3 days. I definitely recommend 4-7 days so you can relax and not feel like you’re always stuck in an anxious taxi. The pace of life here seems fast and crazy so try to find time to slow down. If you have more time, there’s a handful other worthwhile cities in Turkey to visit as well.
Where to stay:
- Galata/Taksim – if this is your first time, this should be your first default area to stay. It’s fun, vibrant, full of life during the day and night. Great restaurants, bars, and shops everywhere. Easy walk across the bridge to the old Istanbul side with all the mosques and bazaars. Easy ferry to the Asian side. Or you can walk up the hill from Galata to the cuter quiet but still boutique-ey neighborhoods for the nicer and expat-heavy neighborhoods. Also the neighborhoods further up the view are more likely to have lovely views of the city and water and bridge.
- Eminonu/Hocapasa – this is the old Istanbul near all the famous mosques and bazaars. It’s very touristy and full of tourist people (not so much “hip” locals), and IMO a very annoying area. Difficult traffic to drive through (taxi’s have a hard time). Not as pretty to walk. Just people and salesmen shouting and yelling everywhere. Tourist maps make these areas feel like the center of Istanbul life, but for me it’s totally not. I would not recommend staying here at all.
- Asian side – I’ve been here several times but never stayed long enough to feel like I know it. So I won’t pretend to recommend anything. It’s cheaper, nicer, more space, quieter but still fun and many things to do (also has a different vibe)…but can feel far from the action when you have to meet up with friends in new Istanbul. Many people (and expats) do like to live here.
I highly recommend staying in the Galata/Taksim area. It’s the best area for first-timers. Even if you’re only in Istanbul for 1 day and want to visit only historic touristy stuff on the old side, I still recommend staying in the Galata/Taksim area. You can just stay in Galata and then cross the bridge by foot/taxi/transpo to do the tourist stuff.
Hostels:
- Second Home Hostel – nice hostel on the old Istanbul side. I really liked my time here…really nice social vibe, friendly staff and travelers, cool rooltop area…but I hate that it’s on the old side. The cooler area to be is most definitely new Istanbul area. I would only stay here if you want to make friends and don’t find any alternatives on the new Istanbul side. For sure you will have fun meeting people and roaming the mosques, bazaars, and touristy stuff together.
Things to do:
- Taksim area & Galip Dede street – walk this anytime at day or night to get an idea of the bustling Istanbul street life. Restaurants, shopping, bars, and nightclubs will be probably done in this area.
- Mosques – Hagia Sophia (iconic), Blue Mosque (looks nice, close to Hagia Sophia), Suleymaniye (great city view with panoramic terrace cafes) are main ones to visit. If you have extra time…Sokollu Mehmet Pasha (beautiful intricate smaller mosque on hills). Don’t worry, only the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque are super crowded and take forever. All the other ones are easy in and out in 5 minutes, you can take many photos with hardly anyone in the way. Don’t forget to dress modestly, men covering all legs shoulders and women covering all legs arms and hair.
- Panoramic views – for daytime, you can go to the cafe terraces near the Suleymaniye mosque. At night, you can try Monkey Bar. Or really…any of those rooftop/upstairs restaurants. There are tons of them in Istanbul. The Galata Tower at both daytime and night time offers amazing city views as well but it’s crowded and you might not be able to take the nice picture angle that you want. You can also get nice views from the bus & boat tours that take you up the hills.
- Palaces (museums) – Topkapi Palace, big museum with beautiful historical artifacts and architecture in old Istanbul, right next to the Hagia Sophia and still nice area to pass by even if you don’t go in. Dolmabahce Palace, big one by new Istanbul side, I heard great things but never went in there.
- Bazaars – not my thing. They all sell the same generic stuff. You can go here “just to see” and take pictures. But it’s too chaotic and pushy for my liking. Also, you never know what’s a good deal or not as prices are all over the place. I hear it’s bad manners to ask about pricing but not buy. If you want to go just to see and take photos…I’d recommend like the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar.
- Cisterns – huge underground Roman water sources with beautiful marble columns. Very touristy, many people, and costs money. I didn’t go to any but I hear they were totally worth it. The Basilica Cistern is the main one, Theodosius is next, and last is Binbirdirek Sarnici. I’d suggest looking at pictures and reading Google reviews to see if it’s worth the money for you.
- Boat tour – you can go down to the water, I’ll get the info in a bit and take a nice boat tour. They take you all around the city pointing out different neighborhoods, also explaining the history and the damaged castle areas from invasions, then finish up the hill (via cable car) where you have beautiful panoramic views of the city below. I think they’re called “Bus & Boat Tour”.
- Turkish bath (hammam) – I’ve never been but basically it’s like a beautiful spa (often in old historical architectural building) where they bath and scrub you, steam rooms, and have resting/relaxing areas. They also do massage as well. Some are for women, others are for men, some are couples. Some will alternate between days/hours for different genders. My local friend’s favorite is Kilic Ali Pasa Hamam.
- Explore neighborhoods – many to list. New Istanbul…Cihangir. Old Istanbul…Balat (cute area with narrow streets). Asian side…
For touristy stuff, I would just do the old side all in one day. Do the Haga Sophia and Blue Mosque in the morning (going inside of both), pass by Topkapi palace (not going in unless you have 2hrs), then walk to and through the Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar, and then catch a late afternoon or sunset on Suleymaniye mosque (go inside here, and then go out and eat at the terrace cafes nearby). All done in a day. 🙂
Then the rest of the time, you spend on the new Istanbul side like around Taksim square and Galip Dede street. At night, you can go to a terrace restaurant for a beautiful view. Late night, you can go to any bar/club area. Extra days…you can spend on boat tour, exploring other neighborhoods of old & new Istanbul and also the Asian side.
Restaurants & Cafes:
- Firuzende Galata – upstairs restaurant on 5th floor of the Anemon Hotel. Make a dinner reservation and go here. Absolutely beautiful panoramic view of the city, with live piano music (sometimes by famous player), good food and drinks, great service, reasonable prices. A local took me here.
- Smyrna Art-Gallery Cafe – a gem of a cafe that we found by accident. Amazing food, really cool weird decor (very instagrammable place). Just a fun vibe on quieter side street just a block away from the noisy busy street. Near the Galata tower.
- Galata Kitchen – 2 buildings over from Smyrna Art-Gallery Cafe. A fancier more modernized quality version of the typical Turkish cafeteria style restaurants, where you choose from pre-cooked food and eat for pretty cheap.
- The Local Grill (by Dogan Chef) – wow. This place is really freaken good, good service too, and criminally underrated food IMO. It’s a nice place and very well-priced but for whatever reason isn’t as busy or popular as it deserves. You can definitely go here for an amazing culinary experience. Easily the best food I’ve had on my 2nd visit.
- Nizam Pide (chain) – classic late night food stop after bars/clubs. It’s nice with large inside seating area. Most people get soup or Turkish pizza thing (has cheese, meat, egg). My friends and I usually go to the Galatasaray one.
- TomTom Kebap – nothing iconic but it’s a very popular spot. Good, friendly, speaks English, and fast. Probably not the cheapest prices compared to other places but still cheap.
- Kasap Dursun Meat & Meet – I didn’t try yet but my friends loved this place.
There are many awesome places. The ones I list here are simply the more iconic ones with more tourist value.
What foods to try:
- Restaurant foods – kebap, mezes, turkish breakfast. Lots of meat and hummus.
- Street foods – balik ekmer (fish sandwich), corn with salt, walnuts, sandwich off the bridge. Only the fish sandwich was particularly good. The others were more for when I’m hungry.
- Sweets – baklava (so good, can buy from any place), turkish delight, ice cream (especially from the guys who mess with you when handing over).
- Beverages – turkish coffee, turkish tea, Ayran, local beer.
Bars & Clubs:
- Phoenix – electronic music.
- Monkey Bar – great panoramic view of the city at night. House/electronic music more of a loungey vibe where you can actually talk.
- Parentez Bistro – classic locals bar open till 1-3am depending on the night. Ample outdoor seating with smoking space and can hear each other talk. I’ve gone here in big groups of 20-30 and they were able to accommodate us.
- Asmalipera – this is just one bar. But I recommend to use it as a marker because this area has many cool bars all around here.
Arghhh…there are some other really popular ones but I forgot the name right now. Will look up and list here.
Miscellaneous tips:
- From IST airport to the city – you can take public transportation which takes 2 to 2.5 hrs. Or go with taxi, which should be around 250-350TL depending where you’re staying. Or can also just have them take you close enough to the city and you metro home from there. To go to the airport…can catch any taxi off the street and ask for flat rate to the airport. Depending on the time and location, it can be like 200-250TL.
- Taxi – safest most hassle-free way is to use the BiTaksi app (and you can turn on the meter option if it’s hard to get flat-rate taxis), but these are unavailable at times. Grabbing one off the street (as a foreigner) can tempt drivers to rip you off with prices 3-8x more than what locals pay. They may even claim that it costs more because of traffic, etc. My advice is to never ask for the price to get anywhere (they will always over-quote). Instead just get in and say meter. Then make sure the meter is running at a reasonable rate (not too fast). A fair price for the meter is basically somewhere around what the BiTaksi app quoted you and maybe 10-15% more. Just know..they sometimes take different turns (because of over-confident memory) or to avoid clogged streets.
- Dress code – don’t wear shorts or tank tops on the street, and especially in the religious areas. This goes for both guys and girls. You’ll not only stand out more obviously as a tourist but can also seem very immodest. On a really hot day, sure some locals do wear shorts but the knee-level ones and not shorter.
- Crime & Safety – pickpocketing and bag-snatching is usually more common in old Istanbul touristy areas. Regarding walking through neighborhoods at night. All areas I’ve been felt quite safe. But you can always take precaution by not walking alone where you don’t see anyone. The taxis are cheap enough anyway.
- Women’s equality – yes Istanbul is absolutely safe for women and solo female travelers. But Turkish culture is still very misogynistic in some ways. You might indeed run into men who don’t respect women as equals. Or you will find men who are kind and respectful with women but suddenly turn possessive in relationship. It’s not uncommon for Turkish guys to forbid their girlfriends from going out without them. Also in Turkish culture, jealousy is expected…as if it’s a way of showing that you actually love someone.
Nearby towns:
- Only closest are Ankara, Izmir, and Antalya (which are all 5 hrs driving or more). Generally…people prefer the beach destinations.
Unfiltered notes:
- Will upload my notes from friends who live here, later.