Here’s Everything Important you need to know about Istanbul and Antalya.
(Admin, if this post qualifies to be pinned for future Turkiye inquiries, feel free to do so)
1) BASICS:
• Get your visa (either get help from a travel agent or do it yourself)
• Book and reserve everything at least 2- 3 months before you land in Turkey to avail better pricing on Hotels/Air-bnbs and Airlines. Most bookings of accommodation do not require you to pre-pay for the space until you’ve arrived. Airline, you have to pay when you reserve/book.
• Mental Preparation: Lines and queues will be super long in Turkiye, be it for tickets, retail outlet, anything popular. Please be mentally ready to stand in long queues with patience.
2) WHEN YOU LAND:
• 1st THING: Buy a Turkish SIM
(Airport: very expensive, rates start at TL500+ for the starting internet+call package, if you search around other mobile kiosks at the Istanbul Airport, you might find a sim for TL350 (which we ended up getting) – covered us 15 GB internet (more than enough for 10 days) + 750 minutes local calls)
Best to buy the SIM from a nearby market around your hotel (Isteklal, Taksim, Grand Bazaar etc, The starting cost there will be TL350 as well, lucky if you find something cheaper!)
TurkCell, TurkTelecom, Vodafone etc are few of the Turkish Network companies. Techno (a retail outlet selling various tech brands under one roof) in Turkey mainly available at the Malls was selling a starter Sim pack at under TL 300 as well.
• TRANSPORT: Take the HavaIst Airport Shuttle bus from Airport to main city. It’ll cost you under TL90 per person (depending on the route) and is very reliable.
Taxis are very expensive in the country, our Airport to Taxi cost us TL 360 (Port Bosphorus area – Karakoy)
HavaIst will make a stop at specific stations, from there you’ll either have to Taxi or take a bus to your hotel. If you have a lot of luggage, take a taxi, otherwise, a single suitcase should be good for the bus.
Travel within the city is absolutely affordable on buses, Metro and Tram. We experienced all 3 means and we loved it! Super clean, on-time, affordable and fast. For Bus, tram and Metro, a one-way route costs roughly between TL 7.15 – 8.
Get your InstanbulKart from a Yellow machine available at any public transport stop. Do not speak to an individual who happens to stand near the yellow machine, speaking fluent English, scam you into getting the card from him for TL 50 while it only costs TL 15-20 from the yellow machine. Use Google Lens for all foreign language translations. It’s a life saver!
IstanbulKart is enough for all individuals in the family travelling via public transport. You just have to swipe/scan it for each individual separately.
• Get all your exchange matters done at Grand Bazaar side because the rates are GREAT in the morning (we got Lira at 15.5 against $) and by night, they reduce the rate to 14.7-14.3.
The BEST exchange rate is received through Credit Card payments or Debit Card payments. I will only recommend NayaPay Card. My husband recently subscribed to it and used it for shopping in Turkiye and he only got charged Rs. 12.5 – 12.8 per TL (which was/is amazing! With no hidden fees)
I used my bank Credit Card and a Lira cost me around Rs. 13ish
• Affordable Things in Turkiye:
Clothing, Food, Movie tickets, Transportation, even sneakers I’d say (as compared to PK)
Sports footwear is twice/thrice cheaper than Pakistan.
• Expensive Things in Turkiye:
Tech, good quality footwear (excluding sneakers here)
3) ISTANBUL
My travel to Turkiye was such that I didn’t know what day it was, what Calendar date it was. I simply knew I had to wake up to amazing breakfast, great views and great experiences. Loved the entire visit and Istanbul has a piece of my heart
!
We couldn’t get enough of this city!
The weather was fantastic, sunny with cool winds in the morning and mildly cold during the night.
> STAYS/TRANSPORT:
* We stayed at the Port Bospohorus side (Karakoy) for 2 nights, and the remainder 2 nights at Sultanahmet side.
We liked our stay better at Karakoy because of the following reasons:
= Less crowd
= Taxis were cheaper for Karakoy than Sultanahmet (When we landed and took the Havaist to Sultanahmet stop, the cheapest taxi we could get was for TL 360 for a 10 minute drive (because hotels around that area are all on steep and narrow roads) Yeah, that expensive in that area! We took a taxi because we had 4 suitcases, too much to carry in a bus).
= No taxis go short distances, therefore, if you think a taxi driver will take you to the nearest HavaIst stop, it’s unlikely. We had 5 suitcases by the end of our trip therefore, we took a taxi to the airport from Sultanahmet (cost us TL 340).
If you only have one small or one large suitcase that you can drag around, then take the tram/metro/bus to the nearest Havaist stop and then board the airport shuttle to reach the airport.
> LOCALS:
* We found a few locals to be very rude, for instance, the man in charge of Airport taxis outside the Airport exit road. He was rude and so were a few more around Isteklal street. We only came across rude locals in Istanbul, none in Antalya.
Majority of the Turks were very warm, welcoming and helpful. Therefore, we didn’t really get bothered once we came across friendly locals.
> FOOD:
* Food is amazing in Istanbul; for those of you who mentioned food being bland really need to reconsider your taste buds.
We enjoyed the doner, kahve, tea, Adana Kebabs, Ekmek kebabs as well as Turkish mezze platter. These are just a few of many items we gulped in the city. Oh man, the SOUP! The soup they make, esp. the lentil soup is SO delicious!
My husband has a sensitive stomach and in Pakistan, every other week his stomach acts up if he eats out. Is Turkey, not once did he have an upset stomach even though we ate almost everything from street vendors.
Food recommendations:
1) Marmara Café (Isteklal) – LOVED the food -my top pick
2) Adana kebabs at Babel Ocabaşi Nevizade (Isteklal)
3) Hafiz Mustafa, of course (it’s everywhere in a busy area, so chill and roam around, you’ll find many)
4) Gulluoglu at Karakoy
5) Zeno under Bosphoru Bridge (amazing live music, gorgeous view, great sheesha (TL 140) and if you enjoy alcohol, great Turkish beer). Their Turkish tea was the best I had in the entire city.
5) Starbucks all over Turkiye is super affordable. We always got 2 Grande (medium) sized drinks and a chicken Fiesta sandwich for under TL 100. We were amazed because that’s under PKR 1400. Starbucks is at every busy area, so you won’t miss out on any.
6) ShakeShack at Istinye Park is also extremely affordable but we found the burgers to be o.k (we have better beef burgers in Karachi). The shake was good.
> SHOPPING:
Shopping is awesome at the following Turkish brands/outlets (we found most of them both in Istanbul & Antalya):
(i) LCWaikiki (Clothing)
(ii) Koton (Clothing)
(iii) Colin’s (Clothing)
(iv) Dogo (footwear – more on the pricier side but they have very unique sneakers and shoes/bags)
(v) IN Street (one-stop shop for all sports sneaker/shoe brands. Lumberjack is an underrated but good brand)
(vi) Penti (for the ladies)
(vii) Gratis (cosmetics and toiletries store where prices get slashed by 20% if you provide them a Turkish number at checkout)
(viii) MiGross – Supermarket
(ix) Koçtaş – Turkish IKEA for all home-based articles
> ATTRACTIONS & Billing
(i) Topkapi Palace is huge and requires a half day visit. We skipped it because it was not on our budget, plus, we didn’t want to go for a half day visit.
Ticket price: TL 420/person
(ii) Dolmabahce Palace: I so badly wanted to visit this palace but again, the ticket cost per person was TL 350/person so I opted out for this visit
(iii) Galata Tower – You guys HAVE to go to this tower! The cost was TL 130/person and man, all so worth it. It overlooks the entire Istanbul (more in images)
(iv) The 2 Mosques (Hagia Sofia and Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet):
Entrance is free, queue is long, but the Blue Mosque was under construction, there was nothing to see there in particular.
Hagia Sofia was spellbinding in all its glory and architecture. Both Christian and Muslim values are very well apparent in the build of the entire structure.
(v) The Cruise ride at sunset. It cost us TL 130/person after a bit of haggle. Absolutely worth it. Magical, beautiful, fulfilling and spiritual !
(vi) Emirgan Park and Gulhane Park (very serene, away from busy areas and crowded with Tulips during the season!)
4) ANTALYA:
> The city has its own charm and vibe. Every single local was super welcoming, friendly and helpful. No complaints. Antalya survives and thrives on Tourism, therefore, all locals are very warm with a smile on their face.
> SHOPPING:
Liked shopping at FullaModa
> ENTERTAINMENT/ATTRACTION:
* Watched Doctor Strange at MiGross Mall of Anatalya: Gold Class cinema and Ticket cost us TL 70-80/person. Good movie and great cinema.
* Antalya Aquarium and Wild Park
* We used BinBin and Marti on the beachside. It was a lot of fun!
* Pubs and bars everywhere in Antalya are fantastic in Kaleici. The entire nightlife at Kaleici is very romantic! Edinburgh has great food and drinks.
• Hadrian’s Gate is a must visit.
> STAY/ACCOMODATION:
We stayed 2 nights at Konyalti beach side and 2 nights at Kaleici (old town)
5) PERSONAL OBSERVATION AND NOTES FOR SELF:
Turks love cleanliness, therefore, be mindful and respect their culture, way of life and habits.
Turkiye has created a local brand for almost everything; I mentioned Koçtaş above, then there’s Gratis, and various clothing brands. Their prices are better, quality is decent to good and pricing is good on the pocket. The Turks have really invested their time into building an industry where the locals can thrive without any dependency on international firms/outlets.
Every Turk is well dressed! They love dressing up and Fashion is their second name. From the very conservative, religious, to the very secular, all of them look great! They’re blessed with beauty everywhere.
In my observation, I noticed that mainly blue collar jobs are taken up by the older generation, i.e. if we visit any Mall, bazaar or even restaurant, the staff responsible for cleaning will never be a young or a middle-aged individual. It was always a senior citizen (I may be wrong). I noticed most of the youth were hired at more notable posts like Police, Guards, Retail Outlets etc.
If you love Trekking and adventure, Turkiye has a lot to offer to quench your Adventure thirst but you need to get in touch with the right people based there.
The love and care for animals is applaudible. Every stray and street animal is well fed, shtered and loved by everyone.
If you’re in your teens, 20s or early 30s, I’d humbly suggest not to waste time in thinking you’ll enjoy everything after you retire. Your current age bracket is ideal for travel, exploration and experiences. Go ahead, take 7 days off of work and dive into this world that has so much to offer outside your bubble.
I’ll end this long post by saying I couldn’t get enough of Istanbul; it was/is simply the right place for everything anybody will want to have in a city.
Hope this helps all of you planning for Turkiye.
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