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Istanbul - gate to Asia?

A travel journal to Istanbul by walkman

Blue mosqueMore Photos

Istanbul is said to be a gate from Europe to Asia. I say it's not truth. Istanbul is continent by itself. Maybe also pays "once to see the Istanbul and you can die".

  • 9 reviews
  • 6 photos

Istanbul - gate to Asia?Best of IgoUgo

Overview

Sultanahmet, Hagia Sofia, Galata, Golden Horn, Great Bazaar, Harem

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

walking

Hostel IstanbulBest of IgoUgo

Hotel

Hostel Istanbul is located in Sultanahmet, where many other hostels and hotels are placed too. It is not too big a building, with two floors and a terrace. Price was 5 USD per night in the dormitory and 1.250.000 TRL (that was about 25 USD in 1998) on the terrace. I recommend sleeping on the roof, or terrace. It is a good, calm place and you can sense the atmosphere of Istanbul in the night. I especially liked to see how seagulls fly around the minarets of Hagia Sofia. You can see them every evening when the weather is good.
  • Member Rating 3 out of 5 by walkman on August 1, 2000

Hostel Istanbul
Sultanahmet Istanbul, Turkey

Street FoodBest of IgoUgo

Restaurant | "Meals, you can find on streets"

Kebab - You can find many kinds of kebabs in Turkey. The best are usually Iskenderun and Adana.

On the streets you can find usually Doner, which is made of chicken meat. Search for those made of lamb or goat! They are sold as pieces of meat on a plate, in ekmek (something like a baguette) or in bread (that salty pancake kind). The best doner I ate in Istanbul was in the upper part of the bazaar.

Lahmacun - Lahmacun is a salty pancake filled with a mix of meat and vegetables and spices. It is good fast food. The best can be found under the Galata bridge.

Melon - You can eat melon on the streets in Istanbul. They sell it cooled directly on the street. It's very fresh!

Shellfish - the ones under under Galata bridge are especially good. They sell them raw with a lemon. For the first time it can seem quite strange, but it is delicious.

Baklava - Baklava is a cake full of honey and sugar syrup. It is one of the best things Istanbul has (IMO). It is sold in kilos in many candy shops and confectioneries.

Cakes - there are many kinds of cakes sold on the streets of Istanbul. Especially good are those with sesame seeds on them, but before buying check for freshness. And if you want to eat something really delicious, search for honey cakes in the lower bazaar.
  • Member Rating 4 out of 5 by walkman on August 1, 2000

Street Food
Throughout Istanbul Istanbul, Turkey

Aya Sofya/ Church of Holy WisdomBest of IgoUgo

Attraction | "Blue mosque"

Inner yard of Blue mosque
Blue mosque, or Sultanahmet if you want, is the most popular mosque in Turkey. However it is not the biggest one. All around the mosque there are many beautiful parks with fountains and nice paths. Today this place starts to get quite overcrowded with local guys selling postcards and guides or anything else, and they are around everywhere. If you want to taste the atmosphere of this place, you'll have quite a hard task. Still it is possible. Especially in the morning at about 6 o'clock.

In the evening a light show takes places in the Sultanahmet. You can see colorful lights playing with four high minarets of the Blue mosque and over this scene a voice in some language speaks about history of this building. The language is different every day. One evening it is in German, the next one in English, French and so on.

When I was walking around the place for the first time when such a light show was there I felt like I was in an Alfred Hitchcock movie. I think that the show was quite a nice manifestation of the beauty of Blue mosque, still I was quite afraid when suddenly the thunder-like voice shouted into the calm evening and the minarets of Sultanahmet changed to dark green.
  • Member Rating 4 out of 5 by walkman on August 1, 2000

Aya Sofya/ Church of Holy Wisdom
Sultanhamet Istanbul, Turkey

Hagia SophiaBest of IgoUgo

Attraction | "Hagia Sofia"

Hagia Sofia the second time
Hagia Sofia is one of most popular buildings (if not the most popular) in Istanbul. It was built as a temple by Byzantines a long time ago. After Constantinople was captured by Turks (or Otomans if you wish) these guys, under the influence of Islam, changed this temple to a mosque. They built four minarets around it and it became one of the biggest mosques of the kingdom.

It seems that the Hagia Sofia was reconstructed a little bit in the last few years. And today it is one of the symbols of Istanbul. For this place, I think 'A picture is worth a thousand words' definitely applies.
  • Member Rating 3 out of 5 by walkman on August 1, 2000

Hagia Sophia
Sultanahmet Square Istanbul, Turkey
+90 212 528 4500

Macka ParkiBest of IgoUgo

Attraction

Macka is the modern quarter of the city situated to the north from Golden Horn on a hill. You can find many embassies and consulates in this part of the city. There is also the very nice Macka Parki, which is a good place to rest when walking around Istanbul. It is also possible to sleep in this park if you are not afraid of dogs and homeless people, or police. I did it twice and it was quite a good experience. Nothing bad happened to me except two policemen who disturbed us and one homeless guy who after a few Slovak bad words went away with a strange look on his face.
  • Member Rating 2 out of 5 by walkman on August 1, 2000

Macka Parki
Macka Istanbul, Turkey

Grand BazaarBest of IgoUgo

Attraction

He who did not visit the Great Bazaar in Istanbul, visited nothing there. It is the reason to visit Istanbul. It is quite huge. The Bazaar takes one whole quarter of the city between Galata and Fetihye (to the north-west from Sultanahmet). On the top of the bazaar there lies the Old Bazaar, where you can buy mainly gold and leather goods. There are also antique shops there. But this part of the bazaar is not opened during the weekend. The rest of the bazaar is, for me, quite more interesting. In the nearest streets you can admire old spice markets, or the farther south you go, up the hill to Sultanahmet you can find clothes, tools and other practical goods.

And if you visit this place in the evening at about 6 p.m., when sellers close their shops you can be witness great theater. In half an hour all the shops and tables with goods disappear and after an hour you can freely walk through the streets without even knowing where you are. Everything is calm and lazy there. It is a whole other city after all the people are gone.
  • Member Rating 4 out of 5 by walkman on August 1, 2000

Grand Bazaar
Kalpakcilarbasi Street Istanbul, Turkey

Beaches of KyliosBest of IgoUgo

Attraction

If you want to spend some time near the sea in Istanbul and want to visit some calm beaches, visit Kylios. It is village on the northern part of the Bosphorus. You can get there by local busses from Galata bus station. It is quite a nice resort and the sea is great there...
  • Member Rating 2 out of 5 by walkman on August 1, 2000

Beaches of Kylios
Kylios village Istanbul, Turkey

Galata bridgeBest of IgoUgo

Attraction

Fish market
Galata bridge is another good place to take a walk through if you have nothing to do. There are many fishermen on it fishing in the waters of the Golden Horn. There you can eat fresh shellfish with lemon. They are delicious!
  • Member Rating 4 out of 5 by walkman on August 1, 2000

Galata bridge
Galata Istanbul, Turkey

About the Writer

walkman
walkman
Bratislava, Slovakia

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