For a 7-day trip to Istanbul, how much money do I need? Is 7 days a good amount of time? What precautions should I take? What do I need to know before traveling? Where should I stay? What is the best time to travel?
hey, came back from IST a couple of month ago> how much money do I need?a lot. the whole city is a tourist trap. and the tourist sites are also expensive. basilica cistern was $70 AUD for a 10 min walk around. hotels were affordable though.> Is 7 days a good amount of time?yes, should give you enough time to do all the historical sites, and explore the asian side> What precautions should I take?dont be gay> What do I need to know before traveling?try not being a faggot for once in your life> Where should I stay?i stayed in karakoy and i would stay there again when i go back. it's on the tram line, and even walkable to Taksim and the historical centre. and an easy ferry to the asian side. i got an average $100 AU&D per night hotel in karakoy. and tyhat did me fine because i was always out exploring. hagia sofia was under renovation about 2 months ago. don't know if/when that will finish. also, the mosque part of hagia sofia is the most beautiful, just say youre muslim and they'll let you in. IST is a solid 8/10 trv destination. the only negative is its expensive.
>>2903750I personally wouldn't right now. See: >>2903755. Due to the currency a lot of the attractions come with exorbitant charges for foreigners. Hopefully in the future these will go down. There is a tourist card I believe you can get but paying the approx £30 I spent on the Basilica Cisterns is ridiculous, as is spending a comparative sum on the Galata Tower. The Blue Mosque is free to enter, fortunately. I'd personally rather spend the time in other parts of Turkey. Also be warned that Istanbul Airport is one of the worst, its infuriating how awkward it is despite being so new. Haven't been to Sabiha but that's used to low-cost flights to Egypt and such. Though they were separate trips, Istanbul put such a downer on my experience to Turkey compared to everywhere else that I had visited. Its annoying how large a city it is yet how little there is to show for it outside the mainstream tourist sites everyone already knows. With London, Tokyo, Paris etc. you can get completely lost in them and find all kinds of niche things to explore. Istanbul doesn't really have this.
>>2903755Wtf is an AUD?
>>2903770im this nigga >>2903770. despite it being expensive, i enjoyed it. but the basilica cistern left a bad taste and i stopped going to the tourist sites after that. otherwise i would have checked out the topkapi palace and dolmabahce palace. ill do more of turkey next time i go there, but i hear the tourist spots in the rest of turkey arent much cheaper. also, yes, fk IST airport>>2903803yeah, dont know.
>>2903750>how much money do I need? Who even knows. It used to be really cheap all around but Tayyip is now milking tourists hardcore to the point of daylight robbery. One thing's for certain - stay the fuck away from buying anything in Sultanahmet, everything there is massively overpriced. Or Istiklal Cadesi, for that matter. Side streets are fine.>Is 7 days a good amount of time? Sure. Or more. Istanbul is so packed you can spend ages there and not run out of things to do. I must have spent like two months there in total over the years and I still have fun and see new shit whenever I go out.>What precautions should I take? Do not pick up the brush. You will understand when it happens.>Where should I stay? Wherever's the cheapest that isn't right at the border of Tarlabasi.>What is the best time to travel?Autumn, spring. Just not peak tourist season.>>2903770>Its annoying how large a city it is yet how little there is to show for it outside the mainstream tourist sites everyone already knows. With London, Tokyo, Paris etc. you can get completely lost in them and find all kinds of niche things to explore. Istanbul doesn't really have this.I couldn't disagree more. There is an absolute fuckload of sights outside of the Hagia -> Blue Mosque -> Grand Souvenir Bazaar -> Galata -> Taksim standard tourist route. For example the last time I've been to Istanbul for a week and a half, I spent most of it tracking down every last Byzantine remnant I could find - the Kucuk Aya Sophia, the fragments of the Theodosian Walls, the Valens aqueduct, the Chora church, the ruins of Chalcedon on the Asian side and a bunch of smaller stuff like old Byz churches converted into mosques in Fener.There's a lot of other varied unique small things to check out too - the Partiarchate of Constantinople, the Princes Islands with their ban on car traffic or the Ortakoy Mosque which has an honest to God baroque interior. I swear I could never get bored of this city.
>>2903808I would have gone to see the Chora church (now a mosque) though they charge for admission, from what I've glanced 20 Euros it seems which is way too much for what it is. I did walk outside it and the area was nice but I would have liked to see the Byzantine interior. Valens sounds good though and I'm assuming the Theodosian walls are free to see. Whilst Ortakoy looks nice on the outside, unless you're going there to pray, I really can't see why you'd spend much time inside. Honestly Ravenna left far more of an impression on me as far as Byzantine art and architecture goes, and since Islamic art generally prohibits the depiction of human beings, Turkish art doesn't really hold any interest to me. There's some lovely-looking books, calligraphy and patterns, but nothing that really inspires or pulls at the soul. Honestly, I don't know how you can spend that much time Istanbul to see those. I'd be far more interested to go to Edirne largely out of historic value but are aware that it may be a similar experience (though for lack of crowds presumably better). What was the most fascinating thing you saw?
>>2903828>What was the most fascinating thing you saw?Gypsy women dressed in burkas sitting in a high traffic tourist area with a series of carefully arranged props, an drugged toddler laying on the ground, a hefty bag of McDonald's garbage open and being sorted thru, a feast of half eaten McDonald's food carefully arranged and laid out on a tea towel.
>>2903803Austrian dollar, dude
>>2903828>What was the most fascinating thing you saw?Honestly, just the city changing over the years. I walked into Balat and the main road was a bunch of pastel houses and freshly painted rainbow steps running up the hill - hipster cafes, umbrellas hanging above you, loads of tourists buying handicraft, the whole deal. This was the exact same spot where 20 years ago a literal retard with a mangled arm and torn clothes crawled out of a near-collapsed wood and stone shack and stood there in the middle of the desolate street, drooling at me. The absolute last fucking place I expected to see gentrified this hard.>>2903915Kek, that too. Saw the exact same scene twice.
>>2903750I went last march, and for 7 days I spent 400 euros with everything (eating , transport and tickets to stuiff)
>>2903978>7 days I spent 400 euros with everything (eating , transport and tickets to stuiff)like how?we were out like ~1600€ for 2 persons for a week excluding flightswe didn't even do anything fancy
>>2903989The fuck did you eat? Or you went to the most expensive restaurants next to famous stuff? One lunch is like 30 euros at normal restaurantsOthersHaga sophia - just go to the muslim line and nobody caresBlue mosque - for freeSuleyman mksque - for freeGalata tower - 40 eurosCistern 40 eurosTopkapi - 50 eurosAlso I made my own turkish lamp for 30I never spent more than 800 euros on a trip and I travel a lot
>>2903750im in kadikoy rnhotel average $80/dayfood average $8/meal but honestly for good healthy food its like $15$40 per sightseeing shit$10 day transport if mix public and taxibest things:catsself serve cheap healthy foodeverything is ultra walkeableferry is kinosurprisingly safedownsides:alot of grumpsterswe are mosque funding paypigsnot much to do
>>2903993>One lunch is like 30 euros at normal restaurantsyeah so 2 persons x 2 meals x 7 days = 840€we spend less than that on food thoughthen 100€/day for a hotel (could've been ~70€ in good locations, but wife wanted this specific one, anyway would've just ~200€ less)we did more historic / archeological stuff, and got the official museum pass (which I calculated was worth it), plus other outrageously high entrancesthink like 1/3 of the budget was just for tickets / entrances>never spent more than 800 euros on a trip and I travel a lotwell we were at 800€ per Person for the week, 1600 for 2
>>2903755Where's the best place to meet local women (not hookers)?
>>2903750>7-day trip to IstanbulThe staff at your hair clinic already told you this when you booked your operation
>>2904049Im seeing as many women with nose jobs in Istanbul as manlets with hair plugs
>>2904042(you) dont
