On this page you can find details on how to travel in Istanbul – when to go, what are the prices, etc. Technical details, but super important when you travel around!

When to go and for how long? 

I think the best moment to go is when it is warm and sunny. Our first day was rainy and cloudy, so when the sun came out we felt like in a different city. Normally, in May there is already quite nice weather, but we were just unlucky.

When it comes to the duration – 3,5 days is absolutely enough to see main points. We even managed to get to less touristic parts of the city, but we would be able to easily fill in 1 more day by going to some trips outside the city. I can imagine that if you want to visit it in more “relaxed” way, then you would rather go for 5 days.

How to travel around?

Most of the things in the city are easily reachable by walking, but sometimes it means quite a long walk. If you will be tired with walking or you want to commute longer distance, just remember not to  take taxi – my friend told me these scary stories about tourists taking taxis for a short distance and paying a lot of money as driver went by completely ridiculous route around the city. It’s much safer to take Ubers and they are relatively cheap in comparison to western Europe. When you are coming from / going to airport you can also try to get the airport shuttle, which can be arranged by the hotel (around 30 EUR). However, they are more expensive than Uber (unless there is multiplication in Uber) and it will take more time as you will have to wait in the line with other travellers. Don’t forget to buy some Internet transfer package as otherwise it will be quite expensive Uber ride!

To be honest we didn’t use public transport too much as we were trying to walk everywhere. However, Metro system looks like being quite developed and you can reach to many places by it. The only time we used public transport was when we wanted to get to the other side of Bosphorus – we needed to catch the “Marmaris” line. On the way back we took ferry – it took longer, but was very nice experience.

What to take for photography? 

Most of the time I was using also 10-24mm f/4.0 – due to very wide angle and optic stabilisation this lens was perfect for architecture and all interior shots (especially in museums). I had my 16-55mm f/2.8 and it was useful as well, but I missed something longer time to time, so I could take nice shots of the other side of the river / Bosphorus.

It’s quite easy to find good accommodation at the cheap price in Istanbul. We took “Alilass hotel”, which was very nice and located in the middle of the historic district (5 minutes from Hagia Sophia). The only drawback was that the room was quite small and bathroom was technically located inside that room. But service, breakfasts and rooms quality were superb. At the same time it’s worth to remember that you are going to spend most of the time outside the room so it doesn’t have to have all the facilities and super quality.

What are the prices?

Istanbul is relatively cheap city bearing in mind it’s big metropolis and capital. Due to its size there are limitless options – for example you can find very expensive restaurants, but there are also many cheap kebaps. It’s up to you which one you want to choose. Some of the price examples:

• Dinner in a good restaurant: 15-25 EUR / person

• Entrance to Aya Sophia: 8 EUR / person (40 liras)

• Entrance to Topkapi palace: 13 EUR / person (65 liras)

In many places you can pay with the card, but you should always have cash with you as sometimes it is the only option. For example we couldn’t get to Galata tower without cash. For withdrawal we used ING ATMs as there was no additional fee there. And of course as always – Revolut card to limit the exchange fees.How to book entry tickets?
Most of the tickets you cannot buy in advance, so you need to do it at the spot. In some cases there are lines if you will come later in the afternoon, but most of time it will be quick to enter. There is also an option to buy Istanbul pass, but for us it was rather not good deal as we didn’t use public transportation and selection of places did not suit us.