Istanbul Trails ~ Your Istanbul Tourist & Expat Travel Guide
Your personal Istanbul city trip & expat guide
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I think it’s fair to say that the Bosphorus is the maritime counterpart of Istiklal Caddesi – it’s one of the busiest ’streets’ in Istanbul. Or should I say the world, since it’s the second busiest strait on the planet. On average 48,000 vessels per year transit between the Sea of Marmara and the Black [...]
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No Istanbul experience is complete without a cruise up the Bosphorus. A bold statement? Sure, but in my opinion, it is as crucial as visiting any of the other major sightseeing spots. Certainly from June to September it’s one of Istanbul’s greatest pleasures. There are several ways to take a tour on the Bosphorus. But [...]
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The map below shows the route that the ferry takes during the Scenic Bosphorus Tour. A cruise on the Bosphorus (Boğaziçi) is simply put an excursion you can’t afford to miss. There are plenty of highlights and the sea-breeze offers a welcome refreshment on hot summer days. Not to mention that the setting is extremely [...]
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The Turkish national dish is undoubtedly the kebap. Kebap refers to a variety of meat dishes, consisting of grilled or broiled meats (usually lamb or beef) on a skewer or stick.
The word kabab is ultimately from Arabic and originally meant fried meat, not grilled meat. Only in the Turkish period, did kebap gain its current [...]
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Köfte is commonly translated as meatballs – but this is selling the Turkish versions a bit short. It is believed that there are 291 different kinds of meatballs (köfte) in Turkey. However, originally meatballs came from Iran. They called a mixture of vegetables and eggs covered with meat küfte. Once the Turks got their hands [...]
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The Turkish Grand Prix will take place on June 7 2009 and is the seventh Grand Prix of the 2009 Formula One World Championship. The venue for this Formula One motor race, which debuted on August 25 2005, is Istanbul Park (Istanbul Parkı), also known as Istanbul Racing Circuit. Drivers and spectators alike praise this [...]
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I wrote in an earlier post that a minority of Istanbul’s taxi drivers are not shy of hustling tourists. So I thought it would be helpful to provide my readers with a cab fare list for trips from Sultanahmet or Taksim to the most common Istanbul tourist destinations or the airports. This way you’ll be [...]
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By far the most convenient (but not always the quickest) way to get around in Istanbul is by taxi. They are plentiful, operate day and night, take up to four persons, are compared to the US or Europe fairly cheap, and they can be easily hailed on the street or found at taxi ranks. Unfortunately, [...]
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The best way to absorb a city is of course by exploring it on foot. In addition, some of Istanbul’s ancient streets are so small a car barely fits in it. And with Istanbul’s huge traffic jams in the city center, it is often even a time-saver.
But before you rush out of your hotel to [...]
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People often ask me if booking a hotel online is safe. And if so, whether I can provide links to hotel booking sites that are trustworthy and/or offer hotel rooms at the lowest prices available. Since I’m merely running a blog about Istanbul (and not a travel agency), this has always been a tough question [...]
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