How doable is this plan?

Our party of 4 will be arriving in Istanbul on a mid-April Friday afternoon, and should get to our hotel in the Taksim area around dinner time. We will be boarding a cruise ship for a Mediterranean cruise on Sat. The plan is that we will probably be tired after traveling all day, so to just have dinner and retire for the evening and hit the streets early on Sat. morning to get our sightseeing in before returning to the hotel to retrieve our luggage and head over to check in at the ship for dinner. Breakfast is included at the hotel, so we will be fortified:

We hope to be able to see:(in this order)

Topkapi Palace (and the harems if worthwhile)

Blue Mosque

Hagia Sophia

Basilica Cistern

Grand Bazaar (or Arasta Bazaar if a better choice)

Spice Bazaar

We will need to make a short stop for lunch along the way to satisfy the husbands, so any suggestions for that will also be appreciated.

Any and all feedback is appreciated. Thanks!

Becki

WOW! All in a morning? That will be tough but maybe doable if you walk (and run) real fast and do not care about really seeing Topkapi. So here is the problem. Topkapi Palace (and Museums) do not open until 9am (nor do most things). Topkapi is a big place with multiple buildings, museums, etc. Even trying to rush through Topkapi would take most mortals a minimum of 2 hours and it could even take longer if its a crowded morning and you get stuck in some queues. From Topkapi you can walk over to both the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia but there can be some lines, you need to take off your shoes at the Blue Mosque, etc. The Basilica Cistern can probably be rushed in about an hour (remember, you are paying to get into this place). And that leaves you with the Bazaars. I think the Grand (Covered Bazaar) has about 5,000 shops and stalls. The Spice Bazaar is interesting but just walking the streets does take time.

So, we think you will have to prioritize. You could start with Topkapi, the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia (all in the same part of town) and then see how much time you have for other things. Perhaps the Basilica Cistern will be a place you would have to skip (we actually visited Istanbul 4 times before we went to this fascinating place).

Istanbul is a large and wonderful city. But like most large cities one needs quite a few days to really have the necessary time to see "everything." If you do get into Istanbul early enough on Friday perhaps you could get to the Grand Bazaar which will have most things open until at least 6pm.

Hank

WOW! All in a morning? That will be tough but maybe doable if you walk (and run) real fast and do not care about really seeing Topkapi. So here is the problem. Topkapi Palace (and Museums) do not open until 9am (nor do most things). Topkapi is a big place with multiple buildings, museums, etc. Even trying to rush through Topkapi would take most mortals a minimum of 2 hours and it could even take longer if its a crowded morning and you get stuck in some queues. From Topkapi you can walk over to both the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia but there can be some lines, you need to take off your shoes at the Blue Mosque, etc. The Basilica Cistern can probably be rushed in about an hour (remember, you are paying to get into this place). And that leaves you with the Bazaars. I think the Grand (Covered Bazaar) has about 5,000 shops and stalls. The Spice Bazaar is interesting but just walking the streets does take time.

 

So, we think you will have to prioritize. You could start with Topkapi, the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia (all in the same part of town) and then see how much time you have for other things. Perhaps the Basilica Cistern will be a place you would have to skip (we actually visited Istanbul 4 times before we went to this fascinating place).

 

Istanbul is a large and wonderful city. But like most large cities one needs quite a few days to really have the necessary time to see "everything." If you do get into Istanbul early enough on Friday perhaps you could get to the Grand Bazaar which will have most things open until at least 6pm.

 

Hank

Hank,

Yes, I thought we might have to prioritize, and if we have to make cuts off the list, just needs some opinions as to which would be the best to cut. As to timing, I guess I wasn't clear; we will have about 6 hrs. I could pass on the bazaars, but I think my friend will want to spend at least a bit of time in at least one.

Thanks for your input!

Becki

My opinion: either spend your whole 6 hours at Topkapi, or skip it. You could easily spend a day there, but you can't do it justice in much less time, especially jet-lagged.

I would do Aya Sofia and the Blue Mosque as a group, lunch, then split up for the Basilica Cisterns vs. the bazaars. That should be plenty for 6 hours.

Our party of 4 will be arriving in Istanbul on a mid-April Friday afternoon, and should get to our hotel in the Taksim area around dinner time. We will be boarding a cruise ship for a Mediterranean cruise on Sat. The plan is that we will probably be tired after traveling all day, so to just have dinner and retire for the evening and hit the streets early on Sat. morning to get our sightseeing in before returning to the hotel to retrieve our luggage and head over to check in at the ship for dinner. Breakfast is included at the hotel, so we will be fortified:

We hope to be able to see:(in this order)

Topkapi Palace (and the harems if worthwhile)

Blue Mosque

Hagia Sophia

Basilica Cistern

Grand Bazaar (or Arasta Bazaar if a better choice)

Spice Bazaar

 

We will need to make a short stop for lunch along the way to satisfy the husbands, so any suggestions for that will also be appreciated.

 

Any and all feedback is appreciated. Thanks!

 

Becki

If you skip the cistern and one of the bazaars you can do it in six hours without any problem.

So, I mentioned this thread to DW during dinner (after I had posted my advice). And DW (who also enjoys being in Turkey and Istanbul) said she would recommend skipping Topkapi! Her logic is that it takes several hours to see all that Topkapi has to offer and that would use up most of the time. DW says that the top priority should be the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia and just wandering through the Grand and Spice Bazaars. One might even have enough time to rush through the Cistern.

Hank

So, I mentioned this thread to DW during dinner (after I had posted my advice). And DW (who also enjoys being in Turkey and Istanbul) said she would recommend skipping Topkapi! Her logic is that it takes several hours to see all that Topkapi has to offer and that would use up most of the time. DW says that the top priority should be the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia and just wandering through the Grand and Spice Bazaars. One might even have enough time to rush through the Cistern.

 

Hank

I agree. Topkapi is so vast, you could spend more than a day there. We did the blue mosque, the cistern, the spice market, and a cheap quick lunch, in one day, and that felt like a lot already.

So glad I posted my question! After Hlitner's initial response, I did start rethinking our plan for our day, and thought maybe the best plan was to drop Topkapi off our list. When I saw the rest of the respnses, I knew that was the right way to go. After all, I don't want our day to be a 'National Lampoon Vacation' version of Istanbul. :D.

Thanks to all for your input and any additional advice is appreciated. Places for a quick lunch?

Becki

Our party of 4 will be arriving in Istanbul on a mid-April Friday afternoon, and should get to our hotel in the Taksim area around dinner time. We will be boarding a cruise ship for a Mediterranean cruise on Sat. The plan is that we will probably be tired after traveling all day, so to just have dinner and retire for the evening and hit the streets early on Sat. morning to get our sightseeing in before returning to the hotel to retrieve our luggage and head over to check in at the ship for dinner. Breakfast is included at the hotel, so we will be fortified:

We hope to be able to see:(in this order)

Topkapi Palace (and the harems if worthwhile)

Blue Mosque

Hagia Sophia

Basilica Cistern

Grand Bazaar (or Arasta Bazaar if a better choice)

Spice Bazaar

 

We will need to make a short stop for lunch along the way to satisfy the husbands, so any suggestions for that will also be appreciated.

 

Any and all feedback is appreciated. Thanks!

 

Becki

Your plan appears to include about two days worth of sightseeing. If you go through Topkapi and the Harem (very worthwhile), you will spend a minimum of three hours alone.

We spent about an hour at the Blue Mosque (the line getting inside is long). Hagia Sophia is the #1 site to see, in my opinion. You will spend anywhere from 1-2 hours there.

The Bascila Cistern is interesting and if you skip the Bazaars, you could do it.

The bazaars are interesting, but noI suggest doing them last, in case you run out of time.

Not sure when you plan to check in at the ship, but make sure you have plenty of time to get there, whether you take the tram or taxi. Traffic in Istanbul is heavy, although Saturday will not be as bad a day.

Enjoy Istanbul, it is a gem.

Here is the portion of my cruise review for Istanbul in September 2014

Istanbul

We arrived mid-day and the Hotel Lausos had a driver pick us up at the airport (no extra charge). The traffic was awful and we were glad to arrive at the airport as our aggressive driver probably violated the traffic laws on several occasions. A couple of times the driver went up a one-way street in the wrong direction. The hotel was located in the old (Sultanahmet) district of the city, with its narrow streets that were probably set hundreds of years ago. The hotel had about 50 rooms and most of them became occupied by Constellation cruisers within a couple of days of the cruise. Service was great, the free breakfast excellent, with Turkish and American options and the hotel clean and tidy. TripAdvisor had given Lausos good ratings, but reviews mentioned that its rooms were small. That proved to be true. The hotel room had a whirlpool bathtub and room safe. The bed was comfortable, but we had to leave our clothes in our suitcases since there was no place to store our clothing. Our cabin on Constellation was larger than this room. Still, the hotel was great and we spent little time in our room. We were able to walk to most of the sites in the city. Also, good restaurants were close by. The hotel staff was friendly and always helpful. We would stay there again, if we visit Istanbul once more.

We enjoyed the Turkish food in Istanbul. Turkish food is similar to Greek, Egyptian, Arabic and Israeli food. Moussaka, Kabobs (lamb, chicken and beef), yogurt, hummus and baklava are notable examples of Turkish food. I had searched on TripAdvisor and written down some restaurants close to the hotel Lausos. Every place we dined was great. We enjoyed great meals at the following restaurants:

Amedros Café and Restaurant

Amedros is located about four blocks from Hotel Lausos on Divanyolu Cad. which is on the street were the tram runs. It is a busy street with many restaurants. Amedros is in an area with several other restaurants.

East-West Erhan Café and Restaurant

Erhan is on Binbirdirek Mah. Klodfarer Cad. about fifty yards from Hotel Lausos. It specializes in Turkish and Kurdish dishes. We ate at Erhan twice and with a large beer paid about 75 TL ($38) each time ($1=2 TL). The owner was Kurdish and we talked with our waiter, who was Kurdish. He stated that of Turkey’s 75 million people that one-third (25 million) are Kurdish. I knew that the percentage of Kurds was significant, but did not know it was one-third of the population. The food was great and price reasonable.

Lady Diana Hotel

This hotel has a rooftop restaurant with great views of the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and the city. It is located at Binbirdirek Mah. Terzihane Sok. No:9. The food was excellent, but you pay for the view, as the prices were almost double the prices at Erhan. Still, the view was worth the prices. Several of the Constellation cruisers ate together at this restaurant and enjoyed the ambiance of the view.

Exploring Istanbul

We visited most of the main sites in Istanbul, specifically, the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Basilica Cistern, Topkapi Palace and Harem, Istanbul Archaeology Museums, Byzantine Hippodrome, Spice Bazaar, Grand Bazaar, Spice Bazaar, Chora Church and Theodosian Walls.

After arriving on 21 September, were had the usual jet lag, but visited the Hippodrome and Blue Mosque that afternoon.

Hippodrome

The Hippodrome was the Byzantine version of Rome’s Circus Maximus. Directly west of the Hippodrome was the Emperor’s palace. Emperors had a private path within the place building to the Emperor’s box at the Hippodrome. The Blue Mosque is in that location today. Most of the structures of the Hippodrome were taken to construction buildings in the area. The Hippodrome is now something of a large oval square with column at one end and the Obelisk of Thutmosis III in the middle. The Hippodrome was enlarged by Emperor Constantine in the fourth century when the capitol of the Roman Empire was moved from Rome to Constantinople. The Hippodrome could seat 100,000 spectators. Chariot races were popular in those days.

When we arrived at the Hippodrome, we found it to be partially filled with stalls of a cultural exchange exposition between Turkey and Korea. The Blue Mosque is an imposing structure adjacent to the Hippodrome. It has six minarets rather than the usual four. We entered the courtyard adjacent to the mosque and were approached by a man offering to guide us through the mosque. He said we could pay him what we desired after the tour. I should have said no, but agreed. His half hour tour of the mosque was fine, but I had already read most of the information in my guidebooks. I offered him 10 TL ($5) and he indicated he was insulted, so I added another 10 TL. He still was unhappy, but we left him in any event. We were approached frequently by locals and some would try to just chat with you then lead up to the solicitation visit at a run shop. From then on, we just said no.

Blue Mosque

The Blue Mosque was a very impressive structure. It was constructed from 1609 to 1616. The Sultan meant to build a mosque that outshined Hagia Sophia, which is not far away. Hagia Sophia was the Byzantine cathedral built by Emperor Justinian in the 6thCentury AD. The interior of the mosque is very impressive with its beautiful blue tiles and many windows. Before entering, we removed our shoes and carried them in a plastic bag provided at the entrance. Ginny had brought a scarf to cover her hair. If you plan to visit the Mosque, you must avoid visiting during the Muslim prayers. Muslims pray five times a day, but for some reason a sixth prayer call exists for the Blue Mosque. Inside, there are carpets on the floor for prayers and the wide front of the mosque points toward Mecca, which is designated by the mihrab, a structure next to the pulpit where the Imam preaches.

Hagia Sophia

The next morning, after sleeping 12 hours to recover from jet lag, we set out to visit Hagia Sophia and Topkapi Palace. I had purchased museum passes for each on the internet, so we could skip the line waiting to buy tickets. The only snag with this plan was that our home printer printed the scan able passes on a slightly reduced scale, which did not work on the museum scanner. The museum attendants reprinted our passes for Hagia Sophia, Topkapi and the Harem, but took a few minutes. We decided to purchase the audio guide for each museum that we visited in Istanbul, and I highly recommend that option. You don’t need a guide and you save on paying for guided tours. The audio guides are easy to use and well understood. We paid 25 TL ($12.50) each for admission and another 10 TL for the audio guide. The prices were similar for admission to Topkapi (Harem another 15 TL). Hagia Sophia was an engineering marvel to have been constructed in the 6th Century. Two earlier, lesser buildings were destroyed by earthquake and fire. Justinian wanted a building to last, so the domed roof was the largest cathedral in the World for a thousand years. Buttresses were added by later Emperors to support the dome and walls. The Ottoman Turks converted the building to a mosque after 1453 and the building was converted to a museum by Attaturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic in 1935. The building includes the minarets added by the Ottomans, in addition the mihrab and pulpit for the Imam as well as panels with quotes from the Koran. The Ottomans plastered over the mosaics in the cathedral, since Islam does not allow human forms to be displayed in art. Ironically, this acted to protect the beautiful mosaics. It takes less than two hours to go through the museum using the audio guide and taking in all the mosaics and other impressive features.

Basilica Cistern

The Basilica Cistern entrance is located not far from the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia. The cistern was built by Emperor Justinian to provide water for his palace and the surrounding area. The cistern is huge and while underground, supported by many columns that were taken from other buildings in the 6th Century. You can see that the columns are of different styles and types. Some have art work on them, such as the Medusa column. The cistern was used during the James Bond movie, From Russia with Love. It takes less than an hour to go through the cistern. The audio guide is somewhat useful, but not as good as in the other museums.

Topkapi and the Harem

After visiting the Cistern, we had a light lunch and then moved on to Topkapi and its Harem. We purchased the audio guide for both. We spent the rest of the afternoon going through the Museum and Harem. Topkapi is spread over a large area and includes hundreds of rooms. The first portion of the museum includes the Imperial Gate and Courtyard, kitchens, porcelans, silver items, weapons. The Treasure room is very impressive, with its thrones, and jewels (like the crown jewels). The Topkapi Dagger is included. The 18th century Topkapi Dagger was meant as a gift from Sultan Mahmud I to Nadir, the Shah of Iran, but he unfortunately died before it could be delivered. There are several pavilions in the palace that are impressive structures. They are located close to the north end of the palace, near the Golden Horn (water). There is a section for Islamic relics that included items important to Muslims, such as the Prophet Mohammed’s signet, sword and bow.

The Harem is notable for its decorative tiles and baths and courtyards. The Harem held the Sultan’s wives and concubines. Large Ethiopian eunuchs controlled security at the Harem. We learned that the Harem included women that the Sultan never met, but were sheltered there for some reason.

The palace and Harem took more than three hours to go through with the audio guide. We finished in late afternoon and thought we were museumed out, but we still had more museums to see.

Chora Museum

The next day we wanted to visit the Chora church. The Byzantine church is now a museum. It was located about 4 or 5 miles from our hotel. We could have taken the tram to within a mile and a half of the site, but it required a transfer. We decided to take a taxi. The taxi cost 25 TL with tip included. The church was located in a residential area near the ancient city walls built by Emperor Theodosius, so we planned to walk from the church to the wall and follow it about a mile to where the street along the Golden Horn. The Golden Horn is an inlet of the Bosphorus dividing the city of Istanbul and forming the natural harbor. The Chora was a relatively small church compared with Hagia Sophia, but contained many mosaics that were well preserved. We found the mosaics to be spectacular and well worth the visit. It reminded us of Byzantine mosaics we saw in Ravenna, Italy. After visiting the museum, we walked north for a short distance to the remains of the city walls. Much of the walls were ruins, but in some areas the walls were more intact. In particular, a restoration effort was underway on one section of the wall, demonstrating a massive and formidable barrier that protected the city for over a thousand years. On our way toward the street facing the Golden Horn, we got lost, but friendly locals pointed us in the right direction. We made it too street, turned south on our way towards the Spice Bazaar. We probably walked about four miles to the Spice Bazaar, but the exercise felt good and we saw parts of the city that were not normally exposed to tourists. We saw a wide range of homes and businesses. We saw some housing that could be described as unlivable in most countries, but those building were likely abandoned. Other houses and apartments were modest but clean. Other dwellings demonstrated some level of prosperity.

Spice Bazaar and Grand Bazaar

The Spice Bazaar was a mini version of the Grand Bazaar, but was interesting, due to the many stalls or shops that offered many spices, with the spices piled up in separate boxes like in a Chinese apothecary. There were other items sold in the spice bazaar, like dried fruits and foods, cooked, packaged or uncooked. It was very picturesque and worth the trip. The Bazaar is next to a mosque and built in an L shape. The Grand Bazaar is much larger and over a half a mile from the Spice Bazaar. Between the two bazaars are more shops. By the time we reached the Grand Bazaar, we had clearly been overexposed to shopping. The Grand Bazaar looked like a shopper’s paradise. We did not go through the entire Bazaar, which would take hours. I am glad that we saw the bazaar, but since we had walked from the Chora church we did not linger very long to shop.

That afternoon, the Hotel Lausos had the tea for our group of Constellation cruisers. There were about 24 participating and we all enjoyed getting to know each other. Several of us went to eat at the rooftop restaurant at the Lady Diana Hotel, which had great food and a great view of the city.

Istanbul Archaeology Museums

The next day we slept a little late due to our heavy schedule of sightseeing the previous days. This was our last full day prior to moving to the ship. We decided not to take a Bosporus cruise, since our ship was going to make two transits of the Bosporus. That turned out to be a good decision, since I had two guidebooks of Istanbul and the DK Eyewitness Travel guide of Istanbul had an excellent section on the key buildings and features facing the Bosporus. The Eyewitness Travel guide was great, with much detail and a great map of the city. I also had a Rick Steves Istanbul, which was helpful, but probably unnecessary since I had the Eyewitness Travel guide.

The Archaeology Museums were great. We spent four hours there and loved it, but at the end were definitely museumed out. We did use the audio guide, which was excellent. Admission to the museum was only 10 TL.

There were three museums. The first museum we visited was the Museum of the Ancient Orient. This museum contained antiquities from Egyptian, Hittite, Assyrian and Babylonian civilizations. It contained friezes from the Ishtar Gate of Babylon, which reminded us of a similar exhibit at the Pergamum Museum in Berlin. There was a large and impressive collection of Hittite items. The Hittites were a Semitic people with an empire that was centered in Anatolia in the second millennium BC. The Hittites challenged the Egyptians. One of the most interesting exhibits is the Treaty of Kadesh, circa 1269 BC between Egypt and the Hittites. The treaty included provisions for the protection of the citizens of both empires.

The second museum that we visited was the Cinili Pavilion with Turkish Tiles and Ceramics. This museum includes many beautiful works of art in tile.

The third and most impressive museum was the Museum of Classical Archaeology. This museum was quite large with many impressive items. It included a huge span of history, but much was ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine. We saw many sarcophagi (ancient burial containers) with magnificent sculpturing. The so called “Alexander Sarcophagus” was awesome. It was not actually Alexander the Great’s sarcophagus, but built for another King, but depicts Alexander’s victory over the Persians. There were several impressive busts of Roman Emperors, as well as a bust of Alexander the Great. The museum is loaded with impressive items and is a must see if you visit Istanbul. However, after four hours of non-stop museum hopping, we had reached our limit. We wandered back to the hotel to relax a bit and planned an early dinner, since we were part of a group that planned to see a Whirling Dervish show that evening.

Mevlevi Sema Ceremony of Whirling Dervishes

Several of our Hotel Lausos group opted to see this ceremony, which was arranged by Marianna. It would be wrong to call it a show, since the participants consider it a religious ceremony. Apparently, the participants have a religious experience by whirling in a counter clockwise manner for about half an hour. They did stop a few times during the ceremony. The show or ceremony was interesting and we learned something of the Sufi Islam. The ceremony had is origin in the 13th Century. We were all impressed by the ability of the men to constantly spin for many minutes at a time. However, all agreed that after seeing the ceremony, we would not likely wish to do it again.

After the ceremony, we returned to the hotel, but again visited the rooftop of the Lady Diana Hotel for a nightcap. Again, we enjoyed the awesome views of the city, particularly the lit up Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia.

The next day we checked out of the hotel and our group moved on to check in the Celebrity Constellation. I had arranged for a bus transfer for 14 persons from the hotel to the ship at the cost of 5 euros per person (also for 10 persons from the ship to the airport at the end of the cruise for 7 euros per person). I had found the transfer on the internet with eyewitness travel. I learned that being in charge of such a transfer has its problems. I had located the office of eyewitness and pay for the transfers in advance. When the bus arrived at eleven that morning, the bus had 14 seats, but one was for the driver. The driver got on the phone and another vehicle appeared very quickly, so we all made it to the ship without delay. I emailed eyewitness while on the ship and the response was that the additions vehicle had been arranged in advance. That is possible, but I have my doubts, in any event the transports worked out just fine on both ends of the cruise. We saved a lot not just taking a taxi for both transfers.

4774Papa,

Thanks for the tips. We will allow extra time to get back to the hotel, collect our luggage and get to the ship for dinner, based on your recommendation. Our main sights to see are definitely the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. We don't want to rush thru the Palace, so will save that for another possible trip. I believe Rick Steves' book on Istanbul has some tips on breaking down the Grand Bazaar into specific sections to best use time spent there, so I will take a second look at that as well.

Thanks again!

Becki

Just keep in mind there will be queues. Our hotel was just a few footsteps from the Topkapi Palace. We were at the entrance about ten minutes before 9 am and we stood in line for about 40 minutes to get in. We spent 3 hours at the Topkapi and walked to Hagia Sophia. A line of almost an hour! Some guy spoke to us and told us he could sell us tickets to skip the line. I still think it was not fair and still feel a little ashamed :o to pass all those people waiting in line, but we were willing to pay more and not have to wait an hour to get in.

The next day we took our time for breakfast before we headed to the Blue Mosque. When we got there, there was a line all around the courtyard. So another half hour wait to get in.

We were in Istanbul in October and it wasn't particularly crowded with tourists :eek:

You can purchase your tickets on-line, print out your voucher and skip the lines.

On our first visit to Istanbul we chose to skip Topkapi and see all the other sites.

On our second visit to Istanbul we headed to Topkapi first. I just wasnt impressed like I thought I would be. The treasury was impressive but the rest of the palace is well, eh. I would have loved to go into the kitchens but they were not open to the public.

We are going back again, in early May and will hit all the main sites again (except Topkapi) as we will be with our son and his wife who have not been.

DO NOT skip the cistern…… it is amazing. I would chose either the Grand Bazaar or the spice bazaar but not try to do both. (I would chose the Grand Bazaar - it is a very cool place)

The Arasta Bazaar is very near the Blue Mosque and easy to walk through. It is an open air walkway with shops along either side. The shop owners were friendly and not pushie. Friends who went to the Grand Bazaar found it too hectic and were not impressed.

Just my opinion.....

<<<Karen>>>

Thanks, Karen. I was wondering about the Arasta Bazaar as an alternative. Had read it is less hectic and prices may be better.

Texancruzer, thx for the tip on the cistern. We will try to fit that in rather than both bazaars. I think that would keep the guys happy, and give my friend her time in the bazaar.

4774Papa and Jacqueline, purchasing tickets ahead of time definitely sound like the way to go!

Thanks for all your advice! So very helpful!

Becki

Supposedly better merchandise, too. Cruisemom44 (hope that her handle??) is the one who wrote about it and said if you want better quality then go there. I bought a bag made from old carpets, not a fancy purse but very attractive and some tiles. Don't remember how much it was in 2011 but it wasn't that much. Had nice conversations with the shop owners, too.

<<<Karen>>>

Supposedly better merchandise, too. Cruisemom44 (hope that her handle??) is the one who wrote about it and said if you want better quality then go there. I bought a bag made from old carpets, not a fancy purse but very attractive and some tiles. Don't remember how much it was in 2011 but it wasn't that much. Had nice conversations with the shop owners, too.

 

<<<Karen>>>

Thanks, Karen for the advice on Arasta Bazaar. Much appreciated.

Becki

While the Grand Bazaar can be a bit overwhelming it is still a most interesting and unusual place. It consists of 61 covered "streets" and is the largest and oldest covered bazaar in the world. It has for hundreds of years been the center of trade in one of the most interesting cities in the world….. Istanbul. A truly unique place where east meets west.

I found it fascinating to wander the "streets" (with a map you can get there) watching the shopkeepers open up (we went early) their stores, mop the floor in front of each one, have their morning tea delivered (by guys scurrying about with the neat tea trays) We also found the antique section and to say it was interesting is an understatement. We did not find the shopkeepers to be excessively pushy - a bit yes, but nothing that a firm "no thank you" didn't fix.

I can't imagine going to Istanbul and not visiting the Grand Bazaar….. and I will be back in early May :D

Texancruzer, I don't disagree with you, but since we have such limited time, we unfortunately have to be selective. My friend has read Dan Brown's 'Inferno', and definitely wants to see the sites metioned in the book.

Becki

We found the Spice Bazaar to be more interesting than the Grand Bazaar.

Perhaps my view is tainted by having lived in Saudi Arabia for five years and traveled to Egypt a couple of times.

The Grand Bazaar is interesting, but reminds me of other Bazaars in the Middle East.

We are not huge shoppers on our trips, so there was little of a draw there.

We found the Spice Bazaar to be more interesting than the Grand Bazaar.

Perhaps my view is tainted by having lived in Saudi Arabia for five years and traveled to Egypt a couple of times.

The Grand Bazaar is interesting, but reminds me of other Bazaars in the Middle East.

We are not huge shoppers on our trips, so there was little of a draw there.

I am not a huge shopper either, but my friend is. She had to purchase an extra suitcase for all the souvenirs she purchased for her very large family on our European river cruise. ;).

Becki