This document is prepared for a friend of mine who intend to visit Istanbul. It can be helpful for the other visitors as well...
Have FUNNN...
This is a rail transportation map of Istanbul.
1.
Prince Islands (There is a couple of them but I
would advice Buyukada.
a.
Buyukada
b.
Heybeliada
c.
Burgazada
You can go to Buyukada(Big Island), and take a “fayton” carriage with
horses, and take off in Aya Yorgi, after you take off, a step hill is waiting
for you to walk. Up there, you can enjoy avery wide view of Istanbul and
Marmara sea. There is an old church, for orthodox I suppose, but very important
one, people visit in each year in Easter.
There is a small, cosy restaurant with nice home made wines.
2.
Bosphorus tour
There are a couple of options for that
a.
Sehir Hatlari (Big traditional boats, I like
them sitting outside the boat. They are not available all time, in the link you
can find the schedules.
Long Trip
Short Trip
If you take a long tour, you can leave the
boat in Rumelihisari and walk up to the castle for a view of both Karadeniz and
Marmara sea.
b.
More frequent one but not take you all the up the Bosphorus, upto second
bridge.
http://www.turyol.com/en/bogaz-turu-gezileri.asp
3.
In Sultanahmet there are various museums, but I
am sure you do not miss Hagia Sophia (Aya Sofya), Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet) and
Topkapi Palace and Harem. But I would also recommend Yerebatan sarnici.
I would suggest you to buy a museum card as
well.
4.
Galata Bridge, Down the bride there are various
fish restaurants, you can try.
5.
Grand Bazaar
If you walk to Eminonu from Sultanahmet,
you can pass inside the Grandbazaar, which is a must see.
6.
Istiklal Caddesi (Taksim), very long straight
street, with a tram passing in the middle of the street. It is pedestrian only street;
an old one and you can find very interesting things in that area.
a.
One is Galata Tower, worth seeing from the top.
During the ottoman empire, in 1600s a man called Hazerfen Ahmet Celebi, made an
artifical wings and flew through Anatolian part(Uskudar).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galata_Tower
b.
Nevizade, a small street on Istiklal with many
bars, and night life.
c.
If you come from Eminonu to Istiklal, you can
eat turkish desserts (Baklava) in Karakoy Gulluoglu.
For turkish delights, there are two brands which are
very good.
Haci Bekir
and Cemilzade…
7.
Take the boat from Eminonu or Besiktas to
Kadikoy. It is in Asian side. The Kadikoy market is very cosy, especially fish
market. There are various place to eat
something, Kadi Nimet is a place you can eat fresh fishes.
Ciya
Restaurant is famous with kebaps and Anatolian cuisine. No reservation is
needed for both restaurants.
If you walk in the streets of Kadikoy, you can reach Moda, a
very peaceful place for me to have a breakfast with Simit and Cay(tea).
Moda Cay Bahcesi
You can take a taxi from there and you can see the locals
best hanging around location in Istanbul, Bagdat Caddesi. (Taxis are not
expensive in Turkey, the only concern is the traffic.) you can take off the
taxi in Saskinbakkal, which is almost the middle of the very long shopping
street.
8.
Nisantasi, is one of the luxurious area of
Istanbul. With expensive brands and famous faces (Turkish of course). J
Another trendy place is Bebek. I guess it
is the best Starbucks view ever in all around the world.
9.
From Bebek, you can take a very small boat which is very cheap (5 tl per
person) to pass the Anatolian side, Kanlica. It is famous with yogurt, there is
a small tea house as well.
