The Ultimate Istanbul Travel Guide
I have had so many people reach out and ask me for travel tips, and about how and WHY we decided on Turkey for our last vacation….and to be honest, we had pulled out a map and told Jack we would let him pick a country to visit. First he picked Sudan, but that just wasn’t realistic, so Turkey was the 2nd runner up. I was slightly nervous at first, but after loads of research and reading other blogs online, it seemed completely doable. We found super cheap flights on Turkish Airlines (about $700 roundtrip per person) , and decided on 3 cities to visit: Istanbul, Cappadocia, and Antalya. I already knew a ton of information about Cappadocia from seeing it explode in popularity on Instagram over the last couple of years (I guess we’re a little late to the party–but that’s definitely nothing new over here, since I am chronically late to just about everything….hehe) so to actually be going somewhere I had seen so many amazing pictures of was pretty exciting. But in this blog post, I’m primarily focusing on Istanbul just because there is SOOOO much to see and do and we didn’t get to do half of all the things on our list.
We left out of Chicago on a 7pm flight to Istanbul that took roughly 12 hours. I always will recommend night flights if kids are going, because its just so much easier. Jack wasn’t feeling well when we left which definitely made me have second thoughts the entire drive up to Chicago. However, I took him to Urgent Care before we left town just for peace of mind, and the nurse practitioner assured me it was just a cold or virus and he would be fine in 5-7 days after it had run its course. UGH! Luckily, our flight there was amazing and Jack slept the entire way; only waking up when we landed to ask for apple juice.
My best advice to give is to avoid the airport taxis in the Arrivals area and head to a taxi stand outside the airport since cab drivers are NOTORIOUS for overcharging tourists. Or research ahead of time how much it would cost to get from the airport to your hotel and negotiate a flat fee (we did this and I think it was 75 Turkish Lira to get to the Ritz). This is so important because the traffic there is similar to New York and you could end up spending tons of money if you get gridlocked in a traffic jam or stuck in construction while the meter just keeps on ticking. In Istanbul we stayed at the Ritz Carlton on the Bosphorus and I would highly recommend this hotel a thousand times over to anyone travelling here. It was not only gorgeous, but also safe and in a perfect location, and had the most friendly and welcoming staff I have ever met in my entire life.
The Ultimate Istanbul Travel Guide
Must-See Places
A couple must-see places in Istanbul are the Blue Mosque, which is in the Sultanahmet area (go early in the day to avoid afternoon prayer times). Also make sure your shoulders and legs are covered and you have a head scarf with you before you enter. The entrance is free, but make sure you take a pair of socks in your purse if walking around in bare feet creeps you out like it does me because everyone must remove their shoes before going in.
The Grand Bazaar has the best shopping of anywhere I have seen. You can definitely haggle with the shopkeepers for better prices so don’t dress super fancy and look like you’re swimming in cash or they will not budge on their prices for you. There is literally everything you could ever want here I could’ve wandered around for hours shopping (just make sure you pack all the beautiful glass or ceramic dishes/coasters/lamps etc very carefully….a lot of my stuff was broken when I got home and unpacked it). But since 3 year old boys aren’t keen on shopping for hours we didn’t get a chance to stay long. But I definitely would recommend spending a big chunk of time here. Keep your purse and belongings close though, we were warned of pickpockets but honestly, we only encountered genuinely wonderful, kind people.
Turkish folks are some of the friendliest people I have met. Everyone was picking up Jack and offering us coffee and nuts, it was soooo refreshing after how nervous I had initially been to visit here. We had the best kebobs and desserts afterwards and then walked around the neighborhood a bit and eventually came across a large playground that we let Jack play at. Its crazy how well the kids all played together, even when they don’t speak the same language. They are truly so innocent and just wanna be friends and have fun.
There’s honestly so much to do in Istanbul, its hard to cram it all in 3 days. Especially with kids, you kind of need to just do what ya can when ya can. But a couple other really great spots we visited were Topkapi Palace, Vogue Rooftop Restaurant (make sure you sit outside to get the most stunning views of the Bosphorus), and the Hagia Sophia Museum, which used to be a Christian church until it was later turned into a mosque. It reopened as a museum for the public in 1935 and has the most amazingly beautiful murals, architecture, and mosaics.
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