Me and hubby were thinking of visiting Turkey this summer and currently i am looking at tickets, hotel and other traveling details. Has anyone been there? Can you suggest any economical hotels to stay at? Any other tips for traveling to Turkey/places to see etc? Thanks for any help…
Re: Help plan a trip to Turkey
We went to Istanbul for our honeymoon and stayed at the Ritz there. It’s not an economical hotel by any means so I can’t help you with that.
But we did do a lot of touristy stuff. For the first 2 days we went to the old city and saw the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Spice Market, Grand Bazaar and took a boat around the river, it lasted about 2 hours and was extremely boring. If you wanna do the touristy stuff, I would say the places I have mentioned are worth going to except the boat and if you won’t be going for many days then definitely go to the first three places I mentioned.
Topkapi Palace also has a museum inside which was awesome. Once you get inside the palace you will have to buy tickets to go insdie to see the harem, that was a pretty good experience also if you have never seen a palace harem before.
We went to a restaurant called Reina in Istanbul, it was amazing. It’s a huge place, outdoors by the water and has 5 restaurants inside serving different cuisines. You sit almost underneath the bridge there (forgot the name) but its a beautiful bridge which changes colors constantly and the views are spectacular from there. Its definitely a restaurant worth going to but its one of the more pricier ones in Istanbul (for two people you will probably be spending around $150-200). Another great restaurant which is a chain there is called Kose Basi, this one is a must try if you are a meat lover. most of the time we had breakfast at the ritz, that was way too overpriced but delicious. other places we went to were just local places that i dont remmeber so i guess not worth mentioning.
tweethina also went to turkey and has a thread in this forum, you should check that out and pm her for more info specially if ur travelling to other places in turkey instead of jsut istanbul.
http://www.paklinks.com/gs/travel-tourism/314609-turkey.html
Also I have heard Izmir is a beautiful city and worth going to. BTW if you dont know the language, be prepared! We took the taxi everywhere and most of the drivers didnt know english. The only people I found that knew english were other tourists like us! Make sure you get a map. The conceirge at our hotel was very helpful, they gave us a good map and asked what types of things we wanted to do/see and told us what is worth seeing/doing and then called the cabs and told them exactly where to take us. They also gave us a business card which had the map of the Ritz on th eback so if we got in a cab and the driver didnt know english we just gave him that and he took us to the hotel.
Just make sure that when you wanna go back to the hotel you know how to tell him, or the conceirge at ur hotel tells u what to tell them (gives u a map or a paper with directions in turkish that u can give to the driver just in case).
Re: Help plan a trip to Turkey
we are going to turkey in june this year ,Its first time we are going there so I will keep checking this thread for information .
Re: Help plan a trip to Turkey
Thanks sumorani for the info and the link.. i was actually planning to goto Istanbul alone but the other thread has made me wanna see more. We are plannig to go for around 10-14 days .. So which cities should we add.....ankara, capodocia,seljuck, antalyia (from deer's post)?
Re: Help plan a trip to Turkey
I am going there in may and I hope I shall stay there for a week, I can try to do something for you Inshaallah
Re: Help plan a trip to Turkey
We went to Istanbul in December last year, it was beautiful!
We stayed at Atlantis Hotel. It was literally walking distance from Grand Bazaar, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, and Aya Sophia. The room that they gave us was neat and clean(only thing the shower area was kinda small). Service was good, they also provide free breakfast to all customers. Free PC to use in the lobby. They will pick and drop you to airport for an extra charge. You can check their rates here Atlantis Hotel in Sultanahmet
Food, you’ll find lots of choices in all price ranges. Just one thing, try to avoid restaurants that are right across or next to popular tourist places because they’ll be over priced. Quality will be bad too. If you go near Grand bazaar you’ll find food is cheaper, some delicious breads with cheese/keema/veggies toppings, kababs & rice and yummy desserts. Also try their hazel nuts, they’re GOOD!
Currency, Euro dollar is more valuable than Turkish liras so keep more of these, you can convert euro into liras whenever you need to quite easily in Sultan Ahmet
Transportation, you can take cabs but they’re going to be a little expensive because the drivers are kind of chalaak in a desi way they try to overcharge you! 
They have a very good tram system, here’s some info Airports, Bus, Tram, Train, Taxi, Metro, Ferry & Ship Transport in Istanbul, Turkey
Sight seeing, I’ll say you can see Sultan Ahmet in 4 days. You’ll need like an entire day for Topkapi Palace Museum and more than half a day for Aya Sophia because they’re quite big. Blue mosque tour won’t take too much time. You can take tram to see Spice Bazaar but do check out which days these places are open, we unfortunately went to spice market only to find out it was closed!
Language, if you’ll be only in Sultan Ahmet then you don’t have to worry about not knowing Turkish because most places have people who speak English but if you’re going to other areas in the city then you have to know at least some Turkish to get around!
Check out virtualtourist.com for reviews from other people who went there.
I’m sure you guys will enjoy Istanbul. Turkish people LOVE desis especially Pakistanis. They’re very polite!
Hope it helps!
Re: Help plan a trip to Turkey
hey contact me on [EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected] i am also plannig to go there it will be nice to go there with a group..
Re: Help plan a trip to Turkey
Thanks Corrupt Angel, that indeed was very helpful!
Whitemountains we'll be traveling from Middle East and our dates aren't confirmed either so maybe that won't be possible..Thanks for the suggestion though :)
Re: Help plan a trip to Turkey
Turkey Travel Planner is probably the best source of information to plan a trip to Turkey. It has sample itineraries, recommended hotels, sight seeing info, transportation information and a lot more.
We were in Istanbul last summer and I will share my experiences/suggestions as I get some time in the coming days.
Re: Help plan a trip to Turkey
There is nothing in Ankara except anitkabir and shopping malls
Re: Help plan a trip to Turkey
I would recommend going to both the Asian and European sides of Istanbul via the boat/ferry. :)
I went with a friend so the language barrier was not there. But it's true that people don't know much english like you find in Pakistan or India. I found it interesting and strange at the same time :)
We also went to Bursa to visit some friends and went upto Mount Uludag which was GREAT!
I want to go again! Loved Turkey!
Re: Help plan a trip to Turkey
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