Istanbul ( Archived) (10)

Hello, lovely people!

As I will have vacation when summer is already over here.. I'll try to catch some sun somewhere else.. For example - in Turkey, in Istanbul :)

Have anyone been there?

I would really appreciate all kinds of usefull info (hotels, places, activities...)

Thanx in advance

Thanx for sharing Darren I'm sure, I'm gonna love it there too

P.S. I hope ur visits to Riga were OK too :)

thanx for warning, I'll be carefull :)

thanx for warning, I'll be carefull :)

Hello Mimi, I live in Istanbul and I can tell you personally it is an incredible and an amazing place to visit and live in.

There are many interesting place to visit: All the usual Touristy places such as : Sultan Ahmet, Aya Sofia, Topkapi Palace,Dolmabahce palace, The Grand Bizaar and of course the cosmopolitan district of Taksim, Beyoglu.

Beside this Istanbul has sooo many other gems to other such as: The Bosphorus (The huge strait between Europe and Asia), you can take amazing all day cruises on this for 15 Liras - like 10 Dollars, Eminönü - The best place to eat fish and to visit beautiful mosques, Anywhere next to the sea: Besiktas, Ortakoy, Bebek, Arvanutkoy... you can walk along next to the sea anytime day or night (very romantic) and have panoramic views of this incredible city. Also you can pass over to the Asian side by ferry for less than a Dollar and go over to Ancient 'Uskudar' - one of the first settlements of the city or to modern Kadikoy .... whereever you go ...you will have a blast ... there is quite no other city like this. I have lived in Istanbul close to 3 years now, and cannot find anything as close to stanbul and it's beauty.

As some of the other people say ... 'Oooh its no safe' and'I'm worried about human trafficking' of course things like this happen! This is a huge city with 18 million people living in it, you just have to be careful when you come here, don't give men too much eye contact, keep your head high and always look confident, don't encourage them with a smile, just use your common sense and you will be fine, I have been here a while now and of course minor things have happened to me, but such incidents have made me stronger and taught me more about how to behave on the Istanbul streets.

Istanbul is an wonderful place to visit and see and you will be made to feel very welcome indeed. Have a great time! xx