My Istanbul Experience

Recently we spent a week in Istanbul. Who would have guessed?

Being from Romania and having a huge historical connection with the Ottoman Empire visiting Istanbul was something that I always wanted to do.

To be completely honest I wanted to visit Constantinople but I had to adapt to the times I live in. 😁

With all of that, for some reason after having a tough time finding a hotel in the area I wanted I started having mixed feelings anticipating the experience.

I couldn’t be more wrong, but more on that later!

Planning

Planning the trip didn’t seem a big issue – but… it was.

Flights

The first milestone was to find the best deal for the flights. Using the regular travel hacks from Travel Youtubers I found some decent-priced tickets with a low-cost company.

But after a quick Google Search, I found out that on a rating site, the company had 1 star out of 5.

In comparison WizzAir which in my limited experience had the least comfortable planes had 2 stars.

So, I started looking for another alternative. And luckily I found one.

We booked a direct flight with Turkish Airlines – which wasn’t ideal either, but more on that later.

The flight was more expensive but it’s Turkish Airlines after all – it was a little over 100 euros per ticket and we were a group of 4 people. So that’s an extra 400 euros for the group. 🤑

Accommodation

Picking the right hotel proved to be a challenge.

For context, a few months before our trip someone from our family went there. And they had a lot of complaints about the hotel they booked.

Also, the reviews from the internet didn’t really help with the accommodation subject either.

Browsing the options on Booking which would also fit in our budget confirmed what we heard about it.

There were many sketchy-looking offers – at least according to my standards.

For example, some of them were in the basement. Or they had shared bathrooms even if the photos made it look like the rooms had private bathrooms.

Or worse for me, the beds are much smaller than we are used to in Europe. For context, I’m a big boy, I’m 193 centimeters tall – around 6 feet 2 for my buddies over the ocean.

After spending a long time browsing we narrowed the list to only 2 places that looked decent.

Luckily the final choice was much better than I expected.

But more on that later.

Transport

Going in with the advice from our family we knew that public transport is really good in Istanbul.

However, we wanted to make sure that getting from the Airport to the hotel would be as easy as possible due to the early time we were flying.

So we reached out to the hotel to see if they have some kind of connection with a transportation company that we could hire.

And luckily, they had a service for that.

The service seemed expensive, although after going through the experience I have mixed feelings.

But I’ll tell you about how that shortly.

Flight to Istanbul

The theoretical departure time was a little over 9 AM. This meant that we were supposed to be at the airport around 7:30 AM so that we could check in our luggage.

And the ride to the airport takes 40-50 minutes to which we add the time it took the parking company where we left our car to take us to the airport door – so that’s 1 hour and 20 minutes.

All in all, we had to wake up at 5 AM. 😮

Waking up before 10 AM feels like some sort of punishment to a couple of night owls like us.

Enduring the pain of waking up, we woke up at 5 AM even if we got in bed around 3 AM, did our thing, and then drove to the airport.

Check-in

We got to the airport as planned – 🎉 surprise 🎉 – check-in was still not open so we had to wait before giving our luggage.

Oh, and something worth mentioning is that this was exactly one day after the planet stopped spinning due to the Crowdstrike outage.

So with that in mind imagine how non-stressful that was.

Eventually, the airport wizards 🧙‍♂️ did their thing and we checked in luggage in and got over security.

To board… or… not to board

Passing security allowed us to breathe easily, everything was rolling and moving as expected.

Until it wasn’t, obviously!

We get to the gate, and we go to the coffee place right next to it and wait – and wait, and continue waiting.

When it passed the departure time my breath started to feel a little heavier. But 20 minutes after the departure time – boom 💥 – the queue started moving and we were boarding.

We get into the plane, we get to our seats. Everyone ready… aaaaand – we don’t go.

Getting airborne – eventually…

Everyone was seated, and all was good. But nothing was happening – starting to feel like a trend, huh?

After some time the crew comes with water and starts serving it to the thirsty people. And they try to calm the angry Romanian Mob.

The pilot starts speaking, the plane has some sort of electrical issue and we have to wait some more for it to get fixed.

10 minutes later, the AC goes out. And the heat wave starts making its way into the plane.

Which triggers the Romanian Mob even harder and the show gets even harder.

Eventually, we departed – precisely at the time we were supposed to land. Luckily the flight takes only 1 hour and 30 minutes.

The day wasn’t ruined – even with a little over an hour of sleep.

Turkish Airlines Experience

Even if the flight was short, I got a little taste of how it feels to fly with Turkish.

I know, from the way I’m picturing it may sound like I’m a monkey who just got out of its cage for the first time. And in a way… I am. 🐵

I’ve been on flights since forever, my dad lived in another country pretty much all my life so I’ve been back and forth on planes since I was little.

But most of the time were low-cost flights because initially they were much better priced than regular airlines and eventually they became the only options I had for European flights.

With that in mind going on a Turkish flight I had big expectations. And they delivered!

We flew economy even if the cost difference for business was relatively small. For a 1-hour flight, it wasn’t worth the extra cost.

I found out that flying economy with Turkish is a whole new experience compared to flying companies like Wizzair or Ryanair.

The biggest win was the seat space. I was able to fit in it! And that’s a problem I had since I was 16 years old.

And even for a short flight, they gave us food – which we knew of from our family. But what we didn’t know, was that it was eatable – unlike the one you pay extra for with Wizair.

Welcome to Turkey!

We landed! And we got an airport tour while the plane was taxing through the gigantic Istanbul Airport.

Side Quest: Find an ATM to withdraw some lira because the airport transfer needed to be paid in cash and after one hour of sleep I forgot to take some EUR cash when I left home.

We get off the plane and start touring the enormous insides of the airport to figure out where to get our luggage and go.

Side Quest Completed! We found an ATM with a queue in front of it. We wait our turn, we withdraw money and we pay a commission – which eventually proved to be a tourist trap. More on that later.

We get our luggage and we get to the meeting point as instructed by the hotel crew.

15 minutes later, we are in the car and on the way to the hotel! 🎉

I don’t remember much from the way up to the hotel because the car was so comfortable so I slept the 40 minutes it took us to get there.

We arrived! 🎉

Hotel

Our hotel was in the Faith neighborhood. Which was precisely what we wanted, but about that in the next section!

The hotel is the Emin Palace Hotel. And it was the best option we found in the budget we had.

If I remember correctly when we booked it there was a 4-star rating and a grade of 8.4 on Booking. However, now it shows as a 3-star.

But I can assure you, it felt like a 4-star hotel!

Room

The room was exactly what we needed!

Decently spacious – at least by my standards, very clean, and with a decent AC unit. Which is a must in our area of the world in July!

The bathroom was clean and it was just right!

The shower cabin was spacious enough so that I could wash without hitting the walls – which is an issue I had in a lot of hotels.

Breakfast

The breakfast was decent. Not ideal, but good enough!

The food was always fresh and tasty. The only thing that wasn’t there was a big variety of dishes. It was similar every day.

And for a stay of a week towards the end it started to get dull.

Also, the coffee was not that great. Or at least that’s what the rest of the group told me – I didn’t try it.

I always opted for the vişne juice – sour cherry juice.

Staff

I left the best part for the end. 🤞

The staff was simply lovely! The guys at the reception were always helpful and did their best to make our stay as good as possible.

Always prompt when we needed things like an extra blanket – let’s say my lady likes higher temperatures and I can’t sleep if the temperature is that high.

The room was cleaned every day, the towels were changed every day.

Every day we found new and fresh bottles of water in the room.

It was simply lovely!

Neighborhood around the hotel

You probably are aware already that we were set on the area we want to stay in.

For us, it was very important to see the old places and to experience the Turkish way of living. Or at least as much as we could as inexperienced tourists.

But we didn’t expect to like it that much!

We stayed in a very crowded area where it felt exactly as we wanted it to be! The stereotypical oriental neighborhood.

The streets were small, only one car could fit at a time. And there were lots of shops with clothes, food and all sorts of stuff.

Basically, we had everything we needed 5 minutes away from the hotel!

We had great family restaurants around us – although we found one that we didn’t like too. But all the others were amazing.

A strong point was that everything was close, including public transport. 10 minutes away from the hotel we had Tram connections, Metro connections, Bus connections, and lots of taxis.

We learned that trams and metros are the best way to commute in the city, but we’ll talk about that later.

Also, something that I loved was the food!

I loved the food so much that I’ve been back for a little while and I’m feeling like the food we have in Romania sucks – although we have some great dishes too, but that’s another discussion.

Food

The food… oh, the food!

Man – the food was amazing!

The first contact we had with Turkish food was on the day we arrived at our hotel.

We were very tired but the group was hungry, so we had to find some food fast.

And we found a very tiny place on a lateral street, we got some Adana Kebab and simply fell in love with it!

We ate 2 more times in the same place and I can easily say that it was the best Adana Kebab I had in Turkey.

It was run by a lady and a few younger guys and it was delicious. It came with bulgur some sort of bread and a small salad.

We ate Adana in a couple of other places, they were all good but this first one was the best.

Also, the Turkish Delight is amazing! But the ones you can buy from the specialized shops, the ones you get from the supermarket are very similar to what you can also find here in Romania.

Here you have the card of the shop where we ate the best Turkish Delight and we also drank some exceptional tea:

The baklava was too much for me, it was way too sweet for my taste. But my companions loved it, so I guess it was just me.

We tried other dishes too, but I can’t remember the names of any of them.

But in summary, almost everything we ate was amazing. The only exception was in a Uzbek restaurant where 3 out of the 4 dishes were not that good.

We sorted it with Ayran – which by the way cannot be compared with the one we have in Romania.

Public Transport

The public transport was the best I have seen up to this point.

You can get from anywhere to anywhere with a tram, a metro, or a bus.

Everything works with a card called Istanbul Card to which you can add funds. And then you can use it for anything, tram, metro, train, bus even the ferry.

And even if some people looked dusty and dirty, there was no bad smell.

There was no bad smell on the streets, on public transport, or anywhere else.

The Google Maps data was accurate most of the time. The only time where it wasn’t accurate was when we crossed over to the Asian side of Istanbul.

Google Maps was telling us to get on the B1 bus which was removed 5 years beforehand. But with a little googling, we figured out that we were in the right place, we just had to get underground and hop on the Marmaray train.

The train crossed the Bosporus underground, which didn’t feel special, it just felt like any other metro ride. 😅

The highlight of the public transport in Istanbul for us was the Haliç station which is basically a stop on a bridge over the Golden Horn.

It was very cool, the views from up there are amazing!

The best part was that for us it was on the way from our place to Taksim Square so the day we visited the Taksim Square and Galata Tower we just made an earlier stop when we got back.

And from there we walked to a Hookah place 10 minutes away from the bridge. From which when we left, we walked 10 minutes and hopped on a bus which took us close to the hotel.

The ad-hoc guide

On one of the days we wanted to visit Hagia Sophia so we hopped on a tram and got there.

When we got off the tram we arrived in a big square and from there we had to figure out where to go.

Eventually, a guide from the square came to us and got us hooked with an offer that we couldn’t refuse.

Instead of visiting Hagia Sophia, he offered to take us through the Topkapi Palace – we went for it.

The guide took us through the large queue at the entrance and got us in through a side point so that we could skip the queue.

Then took us through the palace and told us so many interesting stories about the rooms, the sultans, and their personnel.

Overall, the price of the guide was worth it. Simply because the stories were not written on the walls and I’m sure the official audio guide doesn’t tell you the tabloid-like stories he told us.

The palace is huge! I definitely recommend taking on a guide to show you around at least for the inside rooms.

You can make it on your own in the rooms where they showcase weapons, kitchen tools, and other artifacts.

Those have everything written on the panels.

Here you have a photo of the sword of Stephen the Great – a great ruler of Moldavia:

But for the rooms, I definitely think the guide made a huge difference.

The Day Tour Experience

The day after the first guide experience we booked an organized tour through the hotel.

Now with that, I had mixed feelings.

It was a fairly small group, 10-15 people. And we had 2 guides.

Both were speaking English but one of them was also translating to Russian for the Russian speakers.

I categorized them based on age, one was around 45-50 years old and the other was around 20-25 years old.

The younger one was very friendly and he enjoyed telling us small stories about the places we’ve been to.

The older guy wasn’t that friendly and he only told us the standard descriptions – or at least that’s how it felt for me.

The tour took us to the following objectives:

✅ – The Iron Church
✅ – Balat
✅ – A boat trip on the Bosporus
✅ – Hagia Sophia
✅ – The Blue Mosque
✅ – The Hippodrome

In all places the older guy was talking mostly to the Russian speakers and the younger guy was talking to the English speakers.

On the boat trip, 2 girls were talking on the microphone and describing to us what we could see on the sides.

For us, the bonus was that the younger guide from earlier sat next to us and the whole trip he gave us a lot of extra information about the objectives we were seeing.

The tour was 80 euros per person which was 100% worth it for the extra information the younger guy gave us and it also covered the cost of the boat trip and the entrance fee for Hagia Sophia.

The mixed feelings I have are about doing it again. Because without the younger guide, it would have been a boring experience.

Mathematically, the boat trip would have been 35 euros per person without the day tour and the entrance fee for Hagia Sophia would have been another 30 euros per person.

So in total 65 euros out of the 80 would have been only for fees.

In our case, I’d say that it was worth it, but I wouldn’t recommend doing it because the guides you get may not be the same as the ones we had. It may be boring.

Areas of Istanbul

Thinking back to the time there I can’t stop from comparing the 3 main sides that I see from the time I spent there.

The three main sides were Taksim Square, the Faith area, and the Asian side of Istanbul.

I’m sure that there are people who are way more experienced in visiting or living in Istanbul who will think that my way of looking at this is simplistic.

But remember, I’m an inexperienced tourist who spent only a week there.

Taksim Square

I’m starting with this part because from what I’ve seen on the internet that’s what most people find the touristic part.

And to be honest, that was my impression too.

The vibe there is more towards the Western countries. There are lots of brand shops, a really long pedestrian street and the vibe felt more western to me.

It was fun visiting it, but it wasn’t the reason why I visited Istanbul. For me, Istanbul was a way to experience a more oriental lifestyle.

I’ve been to Western countries, I’ve seen how they live and I’m experiencing it every day living in a western inclined country.

So visiting Taksim was a nice experience, but it was not why I went there, therefore I wouldn’t say it was something that I’d do again there.

Faith

Faith was the highlight of the trip. Not only because we lived there but also because the vibes there were oriental.

Lots of people are everywhere, including small shops, good and affordable food, etc.

When we go back to Istanbul we’ll definitely choose a hotel in Faith and we’ll spend most of our time there. Because the atmosphere and the people there were spot on what we were looking for.

And if you are looking for an oriental experience in Istanbul I would definitely encourage you to spend time in Faith.

Get lost on the streets there, interact with as many people as you can, test the food, and do your best to experience the place.

Asian Side

This part was a very pleasant surprise.

Some reviews and stories picture the Asian side as more traditional and even some were making it look like a more close-minded part of Istanbul.

That’s 100% wrong! The Asian side was amazing!

Even if we spent only a day in that part of the city it was amazing.

The atmosphere was close to the one in Faith, the people were as nice as the people from the European side.

And a nice perk was the pricing. The costs seemed lower in this part of the city.

Food, drinks, and even clothes were less expensive than on the European side.

If you are going to Istanbul, make sure you spend some time on the Asian side. And based on my experience a day is not enough.

Next time we’ll go there we’ll spend more time on the Asian side!

Flight Back

Most of the trips I took over the years were getting boring towards the end. Usually, I was looking forward to getting home.

But not in Istanbul! The day we left I felt a regret that I was going home.

We had to leave, so with that regret, we packed and headed to the airport.

The car that picked us up was a Mercedes van, but this time it wasn’t comfortable at all. The driver wasn’t that skilled and the AC wasn’t working.

So we spent 40 minutes in heat and going from side to side held only by the belts.

The experience in the Istanbul airport was fine. Queues were big but organized, we didn’t wait much anywhere.

Baggage drop was smooth, no queue, just a robot and we were ready for security.

We went through security in 10-15 minutes with no issues!

After security, there are lots of shops – like most airports.

The food court is diverse, you can eat from Popeys to Adana Kebab.

Boarding gates are well equipped with comfortable chairs, smoking rooms, and immense windows so that you can watch airplanes take off while waiting for your own takeoff.

We boarded and flew home with no problems this time!

How would I do it again?

Probably a better heading would be ‘How will I do it again’.

I’ll definitely go back!

Main points

The lessons are the following:

• Cars are not an option – public transport 150%!
• Drink lots of tea
• Lentil soup is a must!
• Adana Kebab is legendary!
• McDonald’s has immense portions
• Why so much food?

Now seriously, next time we won’t get any transport service. We’ll use the train and the tram to get to the hotel.

We will eat only in small places and lots of street food.

We’ll stay more than a week because time is relative in Istanbul.

Maybe we’ll book the hotel on the Asian side to experience it even more.

Even if the guided experiences were nice, I wouldn’t get a guide next time.

Perfect Itinerary for 7 days

• Day 1 – Arrive and relax
• Day 2 – Sultanahmet – Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, Blue Mosque
• Day 3 – Taksim Square, Galata Tower and Haliç station
• Day 4 – Minimum of 30.000 steps getting lost on the streets
• Day 5 – Asian side and shopping if needed
• Day 6 – Asian side
• Day 7 – Relax and departure

Conclusion

The conclusion is pretty much everywhere in the article. I’ll definitely go back!

Istanbul was amazing, my favorite city up to this point.

If you are thinking of going there go for it!

Let me know in the comments what your experience was like in Istanbul or if you have any questions.