Istanbul Advice

[forgap]

We are about five weeks from embarking  on Explorer Istanbul to Istanbul.  This is, I believe, our third try for this port given Covid and the war in Ukraine.  We plan to arrive 5 days before the cruise, staying at the Continental and we are seeking advice about our “must do’s”.  We love food, authentic or innovative, so restaurant recommendations are appreciated and food tours - east/west centric.  Any advice is greatly appreciated!  

[Gilly]

I can't remember the name of the pedestrian street heading down from Taksim Square to Beyoglu Tower,  (the street with the tramlines) there are several restaurants - probably very touristy - which can be fun.  Turkish people are jolly and love to interact and the one we chose (with two ladies sitting in the window making flatbreads - on my blog as usual! - was really good.  We asked for their recommendation and the (sharing) platter of food which appeared was both delicious and remarkably cheap. It was a fun evening all round, really and exactly the sort of evening that got us in holiday mood.  We went to a similar restaurant for lunch as part of our Regent Go Local tour, but on the other side of the water in ?Moda? ?Kadikoy?  (somewhere near the Haci Bekir Turkish Delight store 😉)

Must dos are all the usual sights - the cistern is particularly amazing if it's open - but the tours you plan to do with Regent might affect your choices.  (Highly recommend that Go Local tour btw)

Edited September 7, 2022 by Gilly

[mj_holiday]

It has been 10 years since we stayed a week in Istanbul but some recommendations:

• Find a copy and watch the movie "Topkapi", probably your local library will have a copy.
• Our first evening in Istanbul we found a restaurant on top of a hotel in Sultanahmet (I remember thinking I had considered this for a place to stay) no elevators (are you in shape), spiral stone staircase, and I really think the name was Margara Palace  (we stayed in Margara boutique) We were seated on the balconey and enjoyed a nice meal.  In the middle of it there was the call to prayer echoing across the city.  I remember saying to DH, now I know we are in Istanbul.

• Sultanahmet - is the "old city" where there are the sites (markets, mosques, cistern, etc.  This is where there is so much to see just walking around also.

• On the bridge that goes across the Bospherus there are a couple restaurants on the lower level.  One of these (at least) will bring a cart of fresh fish on ice for you to select you dinner.  Fun, not cheap.
•         Have fub.

[Cef123]

We spent several days in Istanbul at the end of our May 2022 Barcelona to Istanbul cruise (on Explorer). We signed up for the ‘Taste of Two Continents’ Food Tour. It was truly amazing… learned so much and ate too much. I would do this tour again in a heartbeat. 
Loved just wandering about this incredibly vibrant city. 
We also both experienced a traditional Hamman… thoroughly enjoyed that too. 😄.

Have a wonderful cruise and enjoy Istanbul.

[forgap]

Thank you for all the advice.  Seriously researching now!   @Cef123 do you trmrmber the name of the Hamman?

[Cef123]

The Hammam was https://www.hurremsultanhamami.com 

It was recommended by our guide from one of our Regent excursions when we arrived in Istanbul.
if you go to their website, it is in Turkish, click on the heading ‘Dil’ on the extreme right and it will give you the option to bring up the English Website.
you can make a reservation on the website, or call them.

Just an FYI: males and females are separated, I really enjoyed my ‘alone’ bath time, but it would have been more fun to go with a girlfriend. 
I also wish I’d allowed more time at the end of the spa time, just to sip my tea and people watch.  Sometime during your time there, be sure to visit the restroom….. I’ll say no more 😄.

Enjoy…

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Do you mean the Intercontinental?

[Linda VH]

We took tea at the Ciragan Palace Hotel Kempinski every time we were in Istanbul. Lovely view of the Bosporus and great food.  We had a private guide who was a historian the first time we visited Istanbul and it was his recommendation for a “chill out” time.

[forgap]

2 hours ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

Do you mean the Intercontinental?

Yes!  Still jetlagging from vacation.  

[mrstanley]

Go on TripAdvisor.com and plug in Istanbul.

All things regarding what to do will pop up.

 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

We spent 6 days there about 15 years ago.  Stayed in the old part of the city, the Sultanahmet, but I'm sure the other side of the Golden Horn will be fun too.  We went to a bunch of mosques and museums. Apart from the obvious Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia, there is the Suliemaniye Mosque, which is beautiful.  Then there's the Kariye Mosque which is a former Christian church, the Chora, which has magnificent mosaics. 

 

And the palace of Topkapi, which is beautiful and  will take at least a half day.  The Sultanahmet itself is great for just wandering--wonderful old architecture. And the Cisterns are fabulous too. Lots of fun restaurants, and even a small market street which we enjoyed, called the Arasta Bazaar, near the Blue Mosque.

 

Then there's the markets. We never made the Spice Market because we got lost, but people say it's wonderful.  The Grand Bazaar took the better part of a day.  

 

We took the HoHo bus one day, although it was slow getting around and involved some waiting. There's a cable car over on the north side of the Horn that's fun, and lots of shopping. The tram line that goes around the city seemed very efficient and useful, but we didn't actually use it.  We walked a lot!

 

We also did a great day trip via ferry to the Princes Isles, which are off the coast in the Sea of Marmora.  Quite charming, although the weather might not be great in October. We booked an excursion through our hotel, but it turned out we had a private guide.  Took a horse carriage around the island, had lunch. 

[Aloha 1]

The" must sees" would include the Hagia Sophia, Cisterns, Blue Mosque, perhaps a Bosphorus cruise, The Spice Bazaar, the Grand Bazaar, dinner at one of the many waterfront restaurants near the ferry docks. 

Edited September 10, 2022 by Aloha 1

[1982CruzStart]

When we went we hired a private guide that took us to almost all of the 'must sees' noted above. It was a great way to see the highlights of the city. Unfortunately we were there on a holiday so didn't get to see the bazaars as they were closed. 

[Linda VH]

Still remember the bazaar.  Apparently there is a toilet inside the bazaar but I did not know that.  Paid to go in toilet at the beginning of the bazaar which was a hole in the ground that you had to straddle.  Never forgot that lol!

[RachelG]

Cisterns were closed when we were there in June, but definitely a must do if open.  The blue mosque and Hagia Sophia are definitely must do. I don’t think you could get a bad meal in Istanbul, but definitely go to one of the fish restaurants.

[Cruizer Diana]

On 9/9/2022 at 11:46 AM, Linda VH said:

We took tea at the Ciragan Palace Hotel Kempinski every time we were in Istanbul. Lovely view of the Bosporus and great food.  We had a private guide who was a historian the first time we visited Istanbul and it was his recommendation for a “chill out” time.

Hi Linda,

I’d heard about tea at the Ciragan Palace Hotel Kempinski and wanted to know if others had done this and would recommend it. I noticed that  Shoreexcursions Group offers this as a private tour (with Dolmabahce Palace for $358/pp for two… $158/pp for a group of 12. This seems a bit pricey if we can’t get a large group together. Did you do this as a private tour or did you make a reservation and take a taxi to the hotel? If you booked yourself, what did the hotel charge? Thank you for any suggestions!

Diana

[CardowMD]

@forgapThank you for asking the question. I am doing Navigator Nov 5 starting in IST, staying at Intercontinental for about 4-5 nights. Really looking forward to my first visit to Istanbul. Look forward to hearing what you uncover on your visit. 
 

@Gilly Do you remember the name of the dining venue with the two ladies making bread? I will be solo but plan to get a guide/tour for the first day and a couple of tours.

 

Has anyone been to the Archeological museum?

[Gilly]

7 hours ago, CardowMD said:

@Gilly Do you remember the name of the dining venue with the two ladies making bread? I will be solo but plan to get a guide/tour for the first day and a couple of tours.

 

Oh. @CardowMD there are times when the Universe works in strange and mysterious ways!  Last evening, having returned from our most recent cruise, I decided to get out all my cruise notebooks to collate all the different suites/staff members etc into a "little black book" for future reference, so when I read your question this morning, I knew exactly where to find that information!  In my little notebook from 2010 (!!) I find the business card from Otanik   -which I just put into google maps to check.  It appears to still be there 😉    Regent accommodated us at the Ritz Carlton which sounds good but is in the middle of a busy traffic system, so I suspect the Intercontinental could be better.  Here's my blog post from that day with more details of the restaurant too

 

We haven't been to the Archaeological Museum but have been to the Cisterns, which are a must-see (and may be part of the same museum...I'm not sure)  Have a great time in Istanbul, one of our favourite cities!

[CardowMD]

@Gilly Thank you so much for this. Will check out the rest of the trip blogs! 

[Linda VH]

Cruiser Diana,  We went to one our own several times.  Great food and views.  We took a taxi from the ship each time we’ve been in Istanbul