This was my second trip to Istanbul, so I decided to do a little hints and tricks post for you guys:
Where to stay:
If you want to do a lot of sightseeing, you'll probaly stay in the old city part, so you have everything within walking distance. BUT choose your hotel here carfully, the buildings are very old and if you want to have a pleasant stay you should take one of the leading hotels and not go under a 4star rating. Actually, thats my hint for all Istanbul Hotels!
Nice places to stay are also in the Taksim area or along the Bosporus. If you get a great offer for a well known Hotel, you should not try someting new.
Where to shop:
I love the Istinye Park Shopping Center, there you find everything you need, from a turkish food bazaar to the big ones as Prada and Dior as well as ZARA & Co. You'll also find a lot of turkish designer shops, so you dont have to run errands to find those all... and of course we want to shop things we dont get everywhere in the first place!
Where to eat and drink:
I love turkish food, my favourite is called ALI NAZIK, which is basically Kebab with yoghurt and aubergines, really delicious. I cant recomend a special restaurant, but if you dont know what to eat, turkish pizza is also very delicious and you cant do anything wrong.
Along the Bosporus are very nice restaurants and bars, they all looked very nice!
Tricks:
The traffic in Istanbul is horrible, people spend a lot of time in their cars. If you can walk or take the metro, dont hesitate.
The TAKSI drivers drive as crazy as possible, if you dont like their driving dont hesitate to tell them: slow down- they will understand.
Never take a taxi from the street. Big Hotels and Shopping Centers have their own taxi drivers and you can tell the staff where you want to go. They will tell the drivers and you will come there in the shortest and cheapest way. If you want to go back walk to a hotel nearby, they will organize you a taxi as well.
If you take a taxi from the street, you'll pay more money as normal, the taximeter run somehow a lot quicker, they will drive really dangerous and sometimes even screw you with the money.
In the end you will have a wonderful time in this vibrant city!
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