Istanbul — ex-Constantinople. A rich city with a rich history. It is a common transit zone for many EU/Asia trips, but also a nice stay for a quick and cheap shopping time (mostly wear, tech is still expensive there, but some prices might surprise). You will see a lot of different cultures there, but mostly muslim, european, a bit of asian.
Istanbul is so huge — it is thrice the size of Moscow! It is so huge that Google Maps are misleading, a quick trip to a mall might take like 40 minutes just one way!
Istanbul is a great city, but it is worth acknowledging that it lives under the cultural influence: not that many activities are there. Still, there are a lot of non-formal people in the central city (Kadikoy for example), european music bands concerts, stand-ups! Yet, certainly it could be much better, more massive, but cultural “staples” do not allow many things to use the potential turkish people have.
Don’t get fooled by the memes and some bad experiences — Turkish people are warm and welcoming, yet struggle a lot here and there because of gov’t, economics, and religion “staples”.
Language
Common, used everywhere:
- Hello — Merhaba (mehr-hah-bah)
- Yes — Evet (eh-vet)
- No — Hayir (hah-yuhr)
- Thank you — Tesekkur ederim (teh-shehk-kur eh-deh-reem) or Tesekkurler (teh-shehk-kur-ler)
- Bye bye — Gule Gule (goo-leh goo-leh)
- How much? — Bu ne kadar? (boo neh kah-dar?)
- Stop! — Dur! (door!) or finish (all people understand it)
- Sorry — Pardon
- Check, please — Hesap lutfen (heh-sap loot-fen)
Recommendation is to start with “Merhaba” all the time — it shows respect to the people. You can end the conversation with “Tesekkurler, bye bye” — people like it a lot!
Also, feel free to talk in english — but simplify it and shorten the sentences. People know english, can speak it, but they are not perfect.
Money
You will rarely need to have cash on hand:
- Bazaars. Be careful, they like to “play a fool” with some nasty prices
- Taxis are controlled locally by government. Terminals are almost ALL the time there. If it is not — better skip
Avoid exchanging money at airport. There are ATMs — you can give it a try, prefer Vakif (orange) or Ziraat (red) banks. Ing (with a lion) is international, might work as well. Take like 200 USD (~7000 TRY) — you will spend it anyway. And it is better to have some cash anyway. DISAGREE TO USE THE BANK CONVERSION RATE OR PAY ANY SERVICE FEES (if not in urgency).
But have a sense of prices: 100 USD ~ 3700 TRY. Can Taxi cost 1000 TRY running locally? Unlikely. Only from/to an airport or far away.
Phone / SIM
- Not tested. You can purchase eSIM before leaving your own country — https://www.turkcell.com.tr/servisler/turkcell-e-sim . It should get activated in like an hour.
- Purchase like 20 GB eSIM via Airalo, it is quite cheap nowadays.
- Purchase a sim locally. Arrive to Turkiye. Exit the airport, find the Turkcell or Vodafone authorized office (it will be branded both externally and internally! some shops are faking it), and purchase sim card cheap and fast. Beware: make sure sim card will be purchased to your name, you will need to give your passport.
Also, keep in mind, if you’re going to stay in Turkey for less than 90 days, you don’t need to register your IMEI. Otherwise, according to Turkish laws, foreigners staying in Turkey for more than 90 days have 90 days to 180 days before the IMEI is blocked.
Food
Traditional, yet a lot of european and some asian. Especially in the central city.
Restaurants
Those are our recommendations:
- Big Chefs. Western food, some turkish as well. Ain’t cheap, but good quality. Big Chef cafes and restaurants are located in many places across Turkiye.
- Dali Burger. Western food, burgers. TASTY!
- Salt Chicken. Western food, burgers, nice ones.
Also common chains that serve food we like:
- McDonalds
- Burger King
- Arbys
- Popeyes
- Pizza Lavazza
- Little Ceasar Pizza
- Pide
Must Eat
First time there? Those are the things which you need to try:
- Lahmacun — Not for everyone — it is bread soaked in gravy and slices of meat.
- Pide — Turkish pizza, yay!
- Baklava — Sweet pastry
- Dolma — Leaves-wrapped rice, meats
- Turkish delight / lokum — Jelly, sweet cubes. Especially with rose and nar flavored!
- FRESH FRUITS! A LOT! Don’t skip a chance, it is dirt cheap there!
Shopping
Medicine
Beware! Pharmacies are closed on weekends — there is only 1 working per city on weekends.
Water
Su (water in turkish) better being bought in bottles.
Food
Migros, Carrefour, Bim — great places. Make sure to purchase Baklava and Turkish delight!
Transport
Public transportation
Just use taxi, honestly. Public transportation like Metro, Marmaray, Metrobus require a payment card, but do accept credit cards easily nowadays.
Taxi
- Apps: Uber? Yes, mandatory. Bi-taxi is another option, but not as reliable.
- Pay: Credit card. Check it ahead of time!!!
Can I be tricked? Yes. When sitting — check the taxometer. It should be fully seen. Don’t be afraid to ask about it. During the drive — check how fast it ticks — it should be consistent. Otherwise call it out, tell to stop, pay it, call another taxi.
Taxometer shows too much already? Well, don’t be a fool the next time. For now — pay what feels like a fair price, tell that you will call a police otherwise (155 or 157).
Airport transfer
The new airport has a shuttle which goes around the city — HavaIST. It is cheap, reliable, comfy. USE IT!
What to Visit
If you are a cat-person, certainly don’t forget to take some cat food with you when doing some trips. Cats there are used to humans, you can even pet them, but be careful — cat-mom’s won’t like that sometimes.
- Basilica Cistern — Quite an interesting place
- Hagia Sophia — Very interesting and famous mosque, worth it, although recently became quite expensive if you are not a muslim
- Grand Bazaar — Don’t buy anything there, go there for an experience
- The Blue Mosque — Quite a beautiful, iconic mosque
- Topkapi Palace Museum — Very lovely place
- Kadikoy — a district around it. It is the asian side of the central city. Gorgeous buildings, just walk around it, using Google Maps to seek points of interests! Like, a famous bull statue
- Emaar Square Mall — a really nice mall
Don’t purchase tours on streets — look it on TripAdvisor. You do you, but recommendation — discover things on your own!
Scams & Safety
Istanbul is a safe-ish city, except touristy areas, which you will visit often.
- There are a lot of gypsies in the centre of Istanbul — keep your pockets shut, make sure nothing hangs out, don’t even stop, pay any attention, just move on.
- “Games”. If you see a child asking something, or a ball on a street — move on, don’t “accept the challenge”.
- Hide your camera or anything expensive — don’t give anyone a signal that you are an easy pick
- If possible, look cheap/normal — no gold/expensive wear
- If possible, wear your bag at the front — it is strange but safer
- Don’t leave many valuables in your hotel — hide it under your bed, on a shelf, anywhere, or take with you in a bag, ideally in a hidden pocket
- If someone talks to you in english on the street — move on
Common scams
- Anyone handing you anything: If someone tries to hand you a flower or candy and says it’s free, don’t take it. Once you’re holding it, you pretty much bought it, and nothing is free
- Beggars
- Photographers
- Tour Guides — be careful
- Wallet snatching