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My partner and I are spending Christmas in Istanbul. We're going for 4 nights and our only real plan at the moment is to spend Christmas Day on the Asian side. I'm interested in any general suggestions and info that people have, but in terms of specific questions:
Neither of us has been to Turkey before, so anything you think is handy is appreciated!
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Dec 14, 2014 17:41
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 17:59 |
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Can't speak to how to get around on the Asian side, but there is a commuter boat that will give you on/off privileges up and down the Bosporus all day for about 30TL, or possibly cheaper if you're just going one stop. Don't go for anything that says "tour" on it. The regular boats go past all the cool things, too. I found this page when I was searching and it matches my memory, so there you go. I agree with a lot of the advice they give on other pages, so it's probably a good resource if you don't have anything to go on. Scams are an issue to be aware of, but they weren't the norm when I was there. Remember that a stranger who comes up to you out of the blue is eventually going to want money, and politely decline whatever it is they want you to do. I did notice that change is very rare, so be sure to take small bills with you if you're taking a taxi, because they won't be able to break a 50TL note. Restaurants should be fine with change. Crime's about the same as any large tourist city -- stay alert, keep moving, keep to well-lit areas, all that stuff. In general, don't ever go to a restaurant that you can see from a tourist location if you want to get the best value. Take your time, walk a few blocks away, then go past 4 or 5 places and look through their menus/prices if they're not posted outside. Be wary of places with prices that are written in dry-erase marker on the menus outside, or at the very least confirm the thing you want is a reasonable price. Turkish food is goddamn great and anything you eat anywhere will most likely be amazing. Istanbul was the end of my 2 weeks in Turkey, so by that point we were mainly comfortable going in any place and pointing. Dishes to look out for are: Iskender Kebab (gyro with tomato sauce, butter, and yogurt - it works), Pide (a sort of flatbread pizza, I loved egg/sausage/cheese), Lahmacun (ground lamb, vegetables, and spices on flatbread, aka "Turkish Pizza"), Gozleme (something similar to a quesadilla), and Testi Kebap (meat and vegetables sealed in a clay urn and roasted for a few hours before eating). Testi places usually have a bunch of broken pots around and seemed like the pushiest/scammiest places in my opinion, but you should have it at least once. Finally, see if you can take an hour or two to learn how to pronounce the extra letters in the Turkish alphabet. It looks complicated but it isn't, and since it's newer than the language it doesn't have any of the pronunciation irregularities that English does. For example, şiş looks weird, but it's just the "shish" in "shish kebab." There are some good Youtube lessons for this.
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Dec 20, 2014 12:39
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I have just come back from two weeks in Turkey including about 5 days in Istanbul so here's some info: Scams - shoe shiners will "drop" their brush in front of you if you're wearing boots/shoes and when you pick it up for them they will offer you a free shoeshine as thanks. It isn't free, of course, as they ask for money at the end. One of our taxi drivers took 45 TL for a journey and then said "the notes are torn, I can't change them". I suspected this was a scam but took the "torn" ones back and handed him a 100 TL note. Suddenly there was a 10 TL note in his hand and he kept pointing at the meter saying "35 more". I was having none of this so I said "I've given you 100, give me 55". Funnily enough he completely forgot how to speak English at this point and started shouting in Turkish at me; I took out my phone and said "I don't speak Turkish, but the police do, we'll see what they say!!!" and started dialling (113 for reference). Suddenly a 50 TL note turned up and was shoved at me, I took it and got out with a grin on my face. He still got me for 5 TL but still. Generally if you tell them you're calling the police they fold (told to me by a local guy) as they take this sort of thing pretty seriously. Museums - most of the museums and tourist attractions are around Sultanahmet (Old City). We got a 3 day museum pass which was pretty good value, about 50 TL and we got in almost everywhere except the Basillica which is seperate. Plenty of places to eat and drink there as well; I don't exactly agree with the last poster that you need to walk 3-4 blocks to find value, as all the places in this area compete to such an extent that their prices are pretty competitive. There is a bit near the fish market which is a street full of touristy restaurants and they must have a scam on to keep their prices high because we ate there once and it was rubbish. We didn't bother going to the Asian side by boat because there is more than enough to see and do on the European side (I'd say the most). We got the train to Ankara from Pendik, which is on the Asian side, and the novelty of being "in Asia" wore off in about two seconds. Definitely check prices before you order, especially in the Turkish self-service places with trays full of food that you just help yourself to. We got royally ripped off in Cappadoccia by one of them; they were so friendly I literally forgot to ask the price and he charged me 60 TL for two plates of rice, chicken and chickpeas. I got him down to 50 but all his mates were joining in with the "but this is the price!!" bullshit so it got a bit intimidating. Unless it really was 50 TL, but I doubt it. Pretty sure you can get regular ferries to the Asian side from Sultanahmet. I'd do that if I went again.
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Dec 20, 2014 17:58
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I went a few years ago. There's a few boats that go across to the Asian side, my parter and I took one just to check it out, not much to walk to around the closest stop on the Asian side, but plenty of taxis around if you want to go further in. So either an overpriced tour or take your chances with a taxi to see things there. But the european side is more fun for aimless wandering. Obviously there's a few big things to see, one thing that you might pass by is the basilica cistern. It's near the Haiga Sophia so you'll be in the neighborhood. It's just a bunch of columns sitting in water underground, but there's fish swimming around and it has a neat atmosphere. Worth a visit. We also took a commuter boat up the Bosporus to an old Byzantine fort on the asian side right by the black sea. You get to see lots of stuff on the way, and it makes a few stops. It was enjoyable, but it might not be enough for Christmas day. But there is a really good food around there, its like a cornbread with anchovies or herring in it. Its called hamsili ekmek and I only found around there in all of turkey, its just a snack but I would go back for it. I also recommend to never eat at a pick your own food buffet place, unless you're Turkish I guess. Horatius Bonar fucked around with this message at 04:32 on Dec 21, 2014 |
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Dec 21, 2014 04:24
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Thanks for the help so far, guys! It sounds like a boat trip up the Bosphorus would be a good idea still, though I'm now reassessing how much time we'll aim to spend on the Asian side. It really was more of a novelty thing, so if there's not much to do then I suppose it's best to grab a lunch there and head back perhaps. We definitely want to go to the Basilica Cistern, it sounds like an interesting experience. We will be staying a few yards from the Blue Mosque, so we should be well-situated for other bits of sightseeing.
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Dec 21, 2014 10:42
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Bollock Monkey posted:Thanks for the help so far, guys! It sounds like a boat trip up the Bosphorus would be a good idea still, though I'm now reassessing how much time we'll aim to spend on the Asian side. It really was more of a novelty thing, so if there's not much to do then I suppose it's best to grab a lunch there and head back perhaps. There are still some sights to see, just not as much you'd find in the European side. You can get to Maiden's Tower from Üsküdar, visit Beylerbeyi Palace, and get on the balloon in Kadiköy. There are also some excellent restaurants in both Üsküdar and Kadiköy.
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Dec 21, 2014 20:36
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I didn't notice that you were already there until I'd already written up most of this but I'll put in my two cents in case anyone else is planning a trip. I spent several months teaching English in Istanbul, it was supposed to be a year but the school I worked for was run by the Gulenists so all off the foreign teachers had "visa problems" and they had to let about 50 teachers across the city go in April. I definitely agree with the people who said to get the museum card, it's a surprisingly good value. You should also pick up an Istanbul card which is rechargeable and works on the metro, the buses, the trams and the ferries, pretty much any kind of transport other than taxis and dolmuş (vans/minibuses used as share taxis that operate on regular routes and function as supplemental bus services), don't bother with any organized boat tours, just take the commuter ferries. Just ignore anyone who randomly strikes up a conversation with you in Sultanahmet (the touristy old city), they're just trying to get you into their "uncle's" carpet shop or tour boat or whatever and it's never worth it, this advise doesn't really apply anywhere else in the city though since Turkish people are genuinely really friendly, it's just in the touristy areas that you have to watch out. I agree with the people saying not to eat anywhere within sight of a major tourist draw (with the exception of the Grand Bazaar, there's quite a few cheapish places near there) in general I'd say avoid eating in Sultanahmet at all, head up to the area around Taksim Square (still touristy but easy enough to go a couple blocks off of Taksim Boulevard and find better deals) or take the tram a little further out to the area around the old city walls. Keep an eye on the news when you head to Taksim, you'll want to avoid the area if there are any protests because the public transit is sometimes shut down and tear gas is an unpleasant thing to wander into. I didn't really eat in many proper restaurants because I prefer street food but from the stuff I ate a lot of I'd recommend you trying Çiğ köfte (traditionally raw meatballs, now they're a vegetarian thing made of bulgur wheat, tomato paste and peppers, great in general, especially if any of you are vegetarian), midye dolma (stuffed mussels, I never had any trouble eating the street food version but since it's seafood you may want to stick to the restaurants if you try these), tantuni (sort of like a burrito, meat wrapped in flatbread with a spicy sauce) and if you're a little adventurous kokoreç (sheep intestines braided, cooked on a rotisserie like device, chopped up and stuffed into a pita with tomatos, oregano and red pepper, my favorite Turkish food but I admit a lot of people are put off by it, including some Turks I knew). Also, try ayran (yogurt drink) at least once, you probably won't like it but it's absolutely essential to experiencing Turkey. Despite my bad employment experience Istanbul is a phenomenal city, I wish I had seen this thread before you'd left.
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Dec 31, 2014 10:58
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 17:59 |
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We stayed in Sultanahmet just a few hundred yards from the Blue Mosque, and to be honest we barely left the area because there was already so much to see and explore in the few days we were there. Ended up getting one of those Big Red Bus tours just so we could see a bit more of the city on our last day. I think we underestimated how vast Istanbul is - living in London we had assumed the sights and musea would all be pretty close to one another. There is so much more that we didn't get to see, so I definitely want to return some time! We had a few mediocre meals but we got better at finding good places as time went on. A real highlight was the food at Pasazade, which was an Ottoman-European fusion sort of thing. The entire meal was absolutely delicious! We also had a doner in the Grand Bazaar that was genuinely tasty, rather than being like old rat as doners are here in the UK. I've had ayran before and it's alright. Basically the same as Indian salt lassi. We ditched the Bosphorus boat idea as the weather was awful on the day we wanted to go (ended up doing the Blue Mosque, general exploration, and Grand Bazaar on Christmas Day), but wandered around the grounds of Topkapı Palace, had lunch in Taksim, went down into the Basilica Cistern, around the Hagia Sophia, and explored the area near the spice market and that took up most of our trip. We might've been able to squeeze more in but we were both a bit ill, sadly, so had a couple of hours resting at the hotel before dinner each day. I can't recommend Istanbul enough, it's such a rich, beautiful city. Definitely need more than 4 days there, though.
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Dec 31, 2014 12:02
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