Today we are making a trip to Istanbul, the largest city in Turkey, situated on 2 continents – Europe and Asia. Istanbul is a city that everyone should visit at least once in their life! The culture, the architecture and the tradition is something you won’t find anywhere else! I would love to share my Istanbul experience and make you want to visit it too! So, hop on the train and let’s go!
Table of contents
- How to get to Istanbul
- Where to stay in Istanbul
- What to visit
- Boat tour
- When to visit Istanbul
- Istanbul advice
How to get to Istanbul, Turkey?
Istanbul has a huge airport (Istanbul Airport – İstanbul Havalimanı) that opened around the time that I was there. Since I arrived by bus from Greece and traveled to Cappadocia from Istanbul Atatürk Airport, I didn’t get to see it. This airport has many connections all over the world so getting there by plane won’t be a problem!
If you are visiting Istanbul from Thessaloniki by any chance, there is a 10h night/day bus. When we visited it was around 60 euro round trip. The most recent information I found is around 80 euro round trip.
Where to stay?
You won’t see me staying in 5* hotels so forget about the luxury! I am only a student at the end of the day!. Not having a big budget doesn’t mean that you won’t find a great location! We found Taksim Safe House and it is only a 5 min walk to Taksim Square! Taksim Square is a busy shopping, nightlife and dining area which makes it a major tourist area of the city.
Our accommodation was a 1 min walk from Istiklal Street, one of the most famous avenues in Istanbul. It is visited by nearly 3 million people in a single day! Now this is what I call a perfect location! Since this avenue is always busy, you don’t have to worry about walking late at night. Someone is always there, which makes it feel a lot safer! We stayed here for 3 nights for around 30 euro per night per room which is a great deal. Since we had a discount code we ended up paying only 2 euros for the 3 night stay which is just crazy! I couldn’t find our accommodation but I found the one very close to it, feel free to check it out!
Since I am a student I can’t recommend some fancy hotels. Personally the accommodation is never very important to me. When I am traveling I want to use the money on places to see rather than on accommodation. In the end of the day I don’t spend that much time in the room anyway. Nonetheless the place has to be clean no matter the price!
What to visit in Istanbul, Turkey?
Istanbul is so big that not even a year would be enough to visit everything. Since we were there for 4 days, we had to make the most of it. We started our first day at 7:30 right after arriving with our night bus. After leaving our luggage we went to explore the city. We started with visiting Galata Tower and then walked across Galata Bridge all the way to Column of Constantine where we ate a börek and chilled a bit.
We walked down to Sultanahmet near Sultan Ahmet Mosque or more famously called The Blue Mosque. There we took some pictures and went in front of it. Women have to cover their hair before entering the surroundings, so make sure to have a scarf with you. Near it is the famous Hagia Sophia which we didn’t enter so we just admired it from outside. In the evening we took a walk down the Istiklal Street and went in some stores.
The next day we decided to walk to Grand Bazaar. There we spent around 2h just walking around and drinking some tea in Sark Kahvesi. I bought some shirts and a perfume and of course I had to bargain. There they don’t even let you pay the full price, they just start lowering the price by themselves and expect from you to continue!
Boat tour is a must on your Istanbul trip
We spent the afternoon walking next to the sea and then we hopped on a boat for a sunset ride. We got on the boat under Galata bridge and and it made a tour to Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge. By the time we came there it was already dark so the lights were beautiful! The ride was about an hour long and the views were incredible! The price for these boat tours is around 3 Euro which is a great deal! Later we got a grilled corn, walked to the Haliç station and took the train back to Taksim before grabbing a late dinner in Hayri Usta.
Third day on our Istanbul trip started with a coffee in front of our hotel. We met a friend that did her Erasmus in Istanbul. She introduced us to her friends before heading to an amazing breakfast with so many different kinds of food and unlimited amount of tea! The place is called Van Kahvaltı Evi and I highly recommend it! After a very tasty breakfast we went to a rooftop café which had the most amazing view of the city!
We decided to watch the sunset over on the Asian side on the Çamlıca Hill. This place is so beautiful and the sunset was one of the most beautiful ones I have ever seen! This huge red sun was setting right behind the buildings and it just looked magical and out of this world! I wish I had a camera so that I could take a better shot! But yet again iPhone photography had to do the trick. We were there for around 2 hours enjoying the view. Later we got some tea and desserts in Çamlıca Sosyal Tesisleri. The views from this hill are really stunning and are one of my favourite moments from this trip! From this viewpoint you can see both sides of Istanbul. At that moment I realised how big this city actually is.
When to visit Istanbul, Turkey
We did our Istanbul trip in March and I think that it’s a great month for visiting. The crowds weren’t big and the weather was great. I would say that spring and fall are the best time to visit. Reasons are smaller crowds, no heat and the accommodation prices are not as high. We visited from 17-20th of March and the sun was setting at 19:00. This gives you enough time to explore during the day, enjoy your evening and go to bed at a normal hour to be ready early in the morning.
Advice while on your Istanbul Trip
- Be ready to listen to a lot of prayers because they are on speakers in different times of the day. For me it was interesting and something new!
- Take a comfortable pair of shoes because you will be doing a lot of walking!
- Get a safe backpack for your Istanbul trip – you don’t want to worry about your things while exploring the city. This is the one that I use and I highly recommend it!
- If you don’t have much time in Istanbul I would definitely recommend taking a boat tour. That way you can enjoy the view of the city and see much more than you would if you only went for a walk.
- Make a list of things you want to visit while there so you have an itinerary and don’t waste any precious time.
- Go to a Turkish bath (hammam)! We didn’t have time for it, but I regret not visiting it now.
- Take enough time and go from Istanbul to Cappadocia to experience some magic!
- Have an amazing time on your Istanbul trip!!!
Explore more!
In these crazy times, traveling is getting a bit more complicated. Remember to never stop exploring and enjoying life to the fullest! The world is waiting for us to explore it and we don’t have a lot of time to see it all. With this being said, the best thing to do is to start right away! I wish you many smiles, travels, new friendships, new destinations, a lot of love and most importantly great health! Until our next adventure, yours truly, Donatela!
That looked like a packed few days. A lovely mix of sight seeing, shopping and eating like the locals.
It was! We had to use all the time we had! I agree, I love to experience a bit of everything but sometimes it’s hard to fit it all in my schedule.
lovely post! you included so much… I love the travel tips too 🙂 thanks for sharing! it reminded me to add Istanbul to my bucket list after the pandemic is over!
Thank you so much! Istanbul is definitely worth being on the bucket list! I hope you will go soon and enjoy it as much as possible!
Love Istanbul! Really lovely post. For the first trip I would recommend to stay somewhere near Sultanahmet Mosque or near the Grand Bazaar as it is close to the tram and in easy walking distance to the main attractions
Me too! Thank you so much! Staying in that part of the city must be amazing as well! Maybe next time I will look for accommodation in that part of the city!
Beautiful post! I love that you ended it with some advice on visiting, too! it made me definitely want to plan a trip to Istanbul.
Thank you so much! I hope you will start planning and visit it soon!
Istanbul looks so beautiful and a city I’d love to explore! That’s great that the weather is so nice in March and good to know. I’m hoping to make it there next year.
It is a beautiful city, so different than Europe. We really did had great weather and I think it’s a great month to visit! I have my fingers crossed for you!
Looks like there’s so much to do in Istanbul, it’s definitely a place I’d love to visit one day. The mosque is beautiful, such a stunning building. And I’d love to walk through the bazaars and try all the delicious food
The city is hugee!! I couldn’t believe it! There is so much to see and explore that not even a year would be enough! The mosque is stunning! I hope you will visit it soon and get to experience it and eat all the delicious food!
Really love the post. Love the advice you gave. I can’t wait to visit.
Thank you so much! I hope you will visit soon!
Great post! I love that you included the part “when to visit.” And I would love to read more about Cappadocia as well. Turkey is sitting on my list so I’m going to save this for later.
Thank you so much! Did you read my post about Cappadocia? It is really is magical place! I hope you will visit Turkey soon and explore as many places as possible!
Fantastic. I would love to be there one day. Thanks for sharing this very informative and helpful post, lovely pictures too.
Thank you so much! I hope you will visit is soon!
Istanbul looks like such a beautiful city! I’d love to visit! The Grand Bazaar looks like so much fun! I love the look of the stalls selling all of the glass lamps, they look so pretty! The boat tour sounds incredible too. What a great way to see the city! Thanks for the great guide!
It is stunning! The Grand Bazaar has anything and everything you can imagine! I loved the boat tour because it’s the only way to see some parts of the city when you have only a few days. You are welcome!
Simply amazing. I have been and cannot wait to go back. I would recommend a Turkish Bath if your budget can accommodate it.
Yees Turkish Bath, thank you for reminding me! That’s one thing that I didn’t have time for and I really regretted it after! Next time it is definitely on my list! I will make sure to add it in my post!
I loved Istanbul but was only there for a day. I would suggest at least a week as there is so much to see and do. I loved the markets and walking the pedestrian streets. The activity on the bridge was quite interesting.
I agree you definitely need more days, I was there for around 4 days and it definitely wasn’t enough for everything!
Your photos are breathtaking!! I’ve never visited Istanbul before, but I’ve recently seen a few travel videos about it & have grown more curious about it. 🙂 I also appreciate that you shared affordable housing options for the rest of us budget travelers! Thanks for sharing your experience! Xx
Thank you so much! Istanbul is incredible and I hope you will visit it soon! I like people to know that you don’t have to spend all of your money on housing but rather spend it on experiences! But to each their own!
Istanbul looks incredible! I am also a student, so it’s nice to know that there are cheaper accommodation options for when I visit! Thanks for the helpful guide.
It really is! I love finding something cheaper so that I can spend more on other things! I am glad you liked it!
I’ve always wanted to visit Istanbul! I totally agree with you on accommodation not being as important as I also prefer to spend my money on other things. Good to know that it’s possible to find some budget options in Istanbul! Thanks for the great guide 🙂
Thank you so much for the kind words! I hope you will visit Istanbul soon and I’m glad you’re with me! I am always up for an adventure rather than having great accommodation!