Beautiful Istanbul, practical advice to enjoy your holiday there
Istanbul is a great city, it has everything to make your holiday truly exceptional provided you don't look or act too much like a tourist. There is little more I can say about the city that hasn't been said before only to say that walking around is the best way I found to discover those places tour operators don't necessarily take you to or if they did they don't give you the chance to linger and enjoy the place. Tour operators are on a schedule, it is a business for them, their pace is not leisurely and keeping your tour guide within eye shot is a challenge. What's the rush! Indeed.
This was not my first visit to Istanbul, but unlike my last trip which was for business, this trip was with friends and we had a packed schedule. It was exhausting especially for the older members of our group. But it was a good experience and I learned a lot about what to do and what not to do, which places to visit again and which ones to avoid, where to linger longer and discover and learn more about and where to pass through quickly.
This time around I stayed at a hotel in Taksim, a locality on the European side of the city just across the Golden Horn from old Istanbul, or Constantinople as it was known, what we and the Ottomans referred to as Constantiniye. Our hotel was little more than a bed and a place to rest, watch TV, enjoy free WiFi, shower, shit, pee and have breakfast, not necessarily in that order. Avoid the mini bar, buy what you need from the shops a few feet from the hotel. There was no room service to speak off. When I ordered bottled water the receptionist said he would buy one from the shop next door and send it up! But on the plus side the room was clean and comfortable and apart from one cockroach in the breakfast hall, so was the rest of the hotel. Breakfast was hearty and the local cheeses were exceptional.
Taksim, the locale and the Square, are full of hawkers selling everything from polo shirts to shawls, trinkets and toys. Best thing is to avoid them, politely wave your hand and say no thank you and walk away, save your money for the Grand Bazzar where the choices and quality are far superior. Early morning, around 8:30 on a week day is the best time to visit the Bazzar. The shops are just opening up for the day's business, vendors are having their tea and are eager to start their day well. This way you avoid the crowds and you can guarantee that whichever shop you go in to you will have the vendor's undivided attention. They are usually more eager to sell and likely to give you the price you ask for. The Turks are a superstitious people like us Arabs, they believe starting the day well, giving a good price, pleasing the customer, means the rest of their day will be successful and profitable. Inshallah!
Istiklal Street is the longest and busiest thoroughfare that starts at Taksim Square and leads up to the impressive Galata Tower. Avoid this street on weekends as the throngs will be epic and if you are like me and do not like being shoved and bumped then best to leave this street for a weekday at a time when the crowds are not as bad.
When on holiday, food is a very important component of enjoyment, diets are put on hold and belts are loosened, as such you want to have a good and tasty experience. Some eateries around Taksim's many tourist hotels can leave you with a very skewed and unfavourable impression of Turksih food. Turkish food is actually very good and very unique, the flavours differ significantly from Lebanese or Greek gastronomy, but you have to know where to eat. As a rule, I would say avoid the small eateries near tourist hotels where waiters constantly invite passersby to come in and eat.
One unpleasant experience we had on this trip was at the simply but poorly named Istanbul Restaurant where we were told that since we were only having Shisha and beer (times five) we could not sit on the better table but instead we were squeezed against the wall in a dark corner. The shishas and beers took half an hour to arrive, the beers were already poured in glasses, an amateur mistake, the shishas were dirty and tasted like an explosion at a fruit factory. The mint and lemon flavour we ordered was unrecognisable. We saw a table of five (Europeans) loudly complain about the service, get up and leave. Knowing that the waiters wanted us to leave as quickly as possible so they can seat another group, we decided to stay a half hour longer. The lesson here: don't fuck with the Lebanese, we bite!
Back to tour operators, when booking a 'Turkish Night', be very careful. Ours was not very pleasant. Gar Musichall, remember the name, avoid it if you value your hearing and if you have a reasonably sensitive palate. The place is literally located under a bridge! It's entrance is kitschy to say the least, well worn and dirty, the main hall where you have dinner and watch a show had the faint aroma of sleaze mixed with the mustiness of wet dog and cheap wine. The food in a word was revolting, apart from the main course, the French fries and rice were good, the chicken was tough bordering on leathery, desert was a visually unappealing fruit salad with a dollop of cream. The entertainment left a lot to be desired. The booze is included in the package, so if you are unlucky enough to find yourself there, drink profusely, at least enough to make the prerecorded music sound better than it actually is, the performers more skilled than they actually are, and the food, should you eat it, guaranteed a swift exit via projectile vomiting! In a word, avoid it at all cost.
On a more positive note, Istanbul has far better quality venues to enjoy, so ask around, if you know any locals ask them. If you want a cheap holiday, by all means sleep in a budget hotel, there are plenty that are clean and are located in both a convenient and quiet locale of the city, one such locale is a hilly residential area just up from the Ciragan Avenue, across from Yildiz Park. It's a charming neighbourhood that is centrally located with a view of the Bosphorous from the roof top restaurants.
We found a great place to eat with great ambience and a sophisticated clientele, a mix of locals and foreigners: Faros. It's cuisine is international but extremely tasty with many options to choose from, from pasta and pizza to hamburger, steak, delicious and filling salads and sandwiches. The service is extremely friendly and the servers are very polite, removing and replacing any food you complain about promptly without question and apologising for any inconvenience. It's located just across from the Point Hotel Taksim. Eating at the more upmarket five star branded hotels, like Intercontinental, Four Seasons, Shangrila, or the Ciragan Palace Kempinsky are other options for the budget traveller as an occasional special treat.
The cost of a holiday should not vary significantly if you do not go for the cheapest options all the time, Turkey is a far less expensive place to eat in than Beirut for example. Transportation is or should be just as cheap, just beware of taxi drivers who tell you their meter is busted, leave and take another taxi. Another affordable transport option is the magical 'Istanbul Kart' or card, which you can buy for around seven Turkish Liras, fill it and refill it to any amount and before you travel home return the card to the vendor who will pay you back your five Lira deposit. You can use the card to travel by bus or metro. A single trip buy metro costs around two Liras. It's fast and efficient, just beware the locals they tend to be in a perpetual hurry to catch their train and they elevate speed walking to an art form. Apart from the slightly humid and hot underground station environment, the metro is a great option for moving around the city in a timely manner and avoiding the midday traffic jams.
The hotel we stayed at cost us 115 euros per person per night, but just across the road, a few feet away, another hotel charges 130 euros for a more comfortable and spacious lobby, restaurants, a pool, a sauna, and health centre. Use of the pool and health club facilities are free of charge for hotel guests. Well, our hotel had a sort of sauna, a dodgy Central A/C unit that kept breaking down due to the regular power cuts!
A meal for two at the Ciragan Palace Kempinsky's pool and Bosphorous side restaurant costs around 250 Turkish Lira ($118) which is very affordable compared to prices at comparable five star venues in Lebanon. Although, I have to admit their Shisha was on the pricy side at 140 Turkish Lira, but the sheer beauty of your surroundings there make it worth it, if I do say so myself.
Well, I hope I was of some use to all you would be travelers out there. My vocation as a journalist makes me want to share whatever little information I have that I deem useful, at times I may be harsh in my criticism and upset a few people, that is not my intention, I try to be fair. To my wonderful hosts, the Turkish people, I want to thank you for allowing me to enjoy your beautiful country and the beautiful gem that is Istanbul.
This was not my first visit to Istanbul, but unlike my last trip which was for business, this trip was with friends and we had a packed schedule. It was exhausting especially for the older members of our group. But it was a good experience and I learned a lot about what to do and what not to do, which places to visit again and which ones to avoid, where to linger longer and discover and learn more about and where to pass through quickly.
This time around I stayed at a hotel in Taksim, a locality on the European side of the city just across the Golden Horn from old Istanbul, or Constantinople as it was known, what we and the Ottomans referred to as Constantiniye. Our hotel was little more than a bed and a place to rest, watch TV, enjoy free WiFi, shower, shit, pee and have breakfast, not necessarily in that order. Avoid the mini bar, buy what you need from the shops a few feet from the hotel. There was no room service to speak off. When I ordered bottled water the receptionist said he would buy one from the shop next door and send it up! But on the plus side the room was clean and comfortable and apart from one cockroach in the breakfast hall, so was the rest of the hotel. Breakfast was hearty and the local cheeses were exceptional.
Taksim, the locale and the Square, are full of hawkers selling everything from polo shirts to shawls, trinkets and toys. Best thing is to avoid them, politely wave your hand and say no thank you and walk away, save your money for the Grand Bazzar where the choices and quality are far superior. Early morning, around 8:30 on a week day is the best time to visit the Bazzar. The shops are just opening up for the day's business, vendors are having their tea and are eager to start their day well. This way you avoid the crowds and you can guarantee that whichever shop you go in to you will have the vendor's undivided attention. They are usually more eager to sell and likely to give you the price you ask for. The Turks are a superstitious people like us Arabs, they believe starting the day well, giving a good price, pleasing the customer, means the rest of their day will be successful and profitable. Inshallah!
Istiklal Street is the longest and busiest thoroughfare that starts at Taksim Square and leads up to the impressive Galata Tower. Avoid this street on weekends as the throngs will be epic and if you are like me and do not like being shoved and bumped then best to leave this street for a weekday at a time when the crowds are not as bad.
When on holiday, food is a very important component of enjoyment, diets are put on hold and belts are loosened, as such you want to have a good and tasty experience. Some eateries around Taksim's many tourist hotels can leave you with a very skewed and unfavourable impression of Turksih food. Turkish food is actually very good and very unique, the flavours differ significantly from Lebanese or Greek gastronomy, but you have to know where to eat. As a rule, I would say avoid the small eateries near tourist hotels where waiters constantly invite passersby to come in and eat.
One unpleasant experience we had on this trip was at the simply but poorly named Istanbul Restaurant where we were told that since we were only having Shisha and beer (times five) we could not sit on the better table but instead we were squeezed against the wall in a dark corner. The shishas and beers took half an hour to arrive, the beers were already poured in glasses, an amateur mistake, the shishas were dirty and tasted like an explosion at a fruit factory. The mint and lemon flavour we ordered was unrecognisable. We saw a table of five (Europeans) loudly complain about the service, get up and leave. Knowing that the waiters wanted us to leave as quickly as possible so they can seat another group, we decided to stay a half hour longer. The lesson here: don't fuck with the Lebanese, we bite!
The appetizer course at Gar Musichall
On a more positive note, Istanbul has far better quality venues to enjoy, so ask around, if you know any locals ask them. If you want a cheap holiday, by all means sleep in a budget hotel, there are plenty that are clean and are located in both a convenient and quiet locale of the city, one such locale is a hilly residential area just up from the Ciragan Avenue, across from Yildiz Park. It's a charming neighbourhood that is centrally located with a view of the Bosphorous from the roof top restaurants.
We found a great place to eat with great ambience and a sophisticated clientele, a mix of locals and foreigners: Faros. It's cuisine is international but extremely tasty with many options to choose from, from pasta and pizza to hamburger, steak, delicious and filling salads and sandwiches. The service is extremely friendly and the servers are very polite, removing and replacing any food you complain about promptly without question and apologising for any inconvenience. It's located just across from the Point Hotel Taksim. Eating at the more upmarket five star branded hotels, like Intercontinental, Four Seasons, Shangrila, or the Ciragan Palace Kempinsky are other options for the budget traveller as an occasional special treat.
The cost of a holiday should not vary significantly if you do not go for the cheapest options all the time, Turkey is a far less expensive place to eat in than Beirut for example. Transportation is or should be just as cheap, just beware of taxi drivers who tell you their meter is busted, leave and take another taxi. Another affordable transport option is the magical 'Istanbul Kart' or card, which you can buy for around seven Turkish Liras, fill it and refill it to any amount and before you travel home return the card to the vendor who will pay you back your five Lira deposit. You can use the card to travel by bus or metro. A single trip buy metro costs around two Liras. It's fast and efficient, just beware the locals they tend to be in a perpetual hurry to catch their train and they elevate speed walking to an art form. Apart from the slightly humid and hot underground station environment, the metro is a great option for moving around the city in a timely manner and avoiding the midday traffic jams.
The hotel we stayed at cost us 115 euros per person per night, but just across the road, a few feet away, another hotel charges 130 euros for a more comfortable and spacious lobby, restaurants, a pool, a sauna, and health centre. Use of the pool and health club facilities are free of charge for hotel guests. Well, our hotel had a sort of sauna, a dodgy Central A/C unit that kept breaking down due to the regular power cuts!
The magical gardens of the Ciragan Palace by night
Light show at the Ciragan Palace pool overlooking the Bosphorous
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