Istanbul DIY. What we did. (w/photos)

[CuTiAngel]

I’d like to share with you all what we did during our time in Istanbul for the Grand Mediterranean cruise in May. Our ship docked in Karakoy and we utilized their efficient public transportation to see parts of the Old Istanbul (the Sultanahmet area) and the New Istanbul (Istiklal Cadassi).

 

Our ship (Ruby Princess) docked at Karakoy Yolcu Salonu, a station close to both the Karakoy and Tophane tram station, at 8 in the morning. We walked out of the terminal building and was surprised to find the streets so busy that early!

 

To get small bills/coins for buying Jetons at the machines for the tram, we decided to go to the nearby Baklava shop for breakfast.

 

The baklava and tea at Karakoy Gulluoglu was so delicious! My husband commented how it’s much tastier than any he had tried in California. The tea was so strong that it worked better than double shots of espresso for me. Because it was so good, we came back for a second round prior to getting back on the ship in the afternoon. It was also a good sign to see many locals were in and out of the store for breakfast. (Tip: we picked the Baklava we wanted from the counter, took the plate to the cashier to pay by weight, at the same time, paid for the tea, then went to the tea station for it. Not sure if there was a simpler way, as this was how we were instructed at the shop.)

 

We walked two blocks up from the terminal, if you turn left, you’d see the Karakoy tram station; however, we turned right, and found the Tophane tram station. At Tophane, the Jeton machine is on the farther side of the station. We bought multiple Jetons for later use as well.

 

To go from Karakoy/Tophane to Sultanahmet, where Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque are located, you wait for the tram from the side that goes to Bagcilar (see photo below).

 

 

Our first destination was the Topkapi Palace. We got off at Sultanahmet, walked around the outside of Hagia Sophia while noticing the crowd, turned left, passed a few street vendors, and walked up to the gate of the Topkapi Palace. Once you pass the gate, there is another few minute walk to the ticketing and entrance. The line was long but kept moving. The entrance fee was 25TL, cash or with credit card.

 

The line to enter, for security check, was much longer and slow. Both tour groups and individuals go to the same line. Audio guides are available for a fee for about 13 languages.

 

 

There was a bottle-neck with crowds at where the Throne Room was, and it did not look like there was any way around it, with constructions and all.

 

We read tips online about avoiding long lines at the sight, thus, first stopped by the Harem just to buy the tickets (another 15TL with separate audio guide for a fee), then went straight to the Treasury. It was around 10 and the entry to the Treasury was like a zoo. The crowd was trying to squeeze into that little door to enter. No photography was allowed inside the Treasury. I was very impressed by the 86 carat diamond and the emerald dagger and purchased a postcard later that day as a souvenir.

 

Coming out of the Treasury and walking downhill through an alley, you’d find a restaurant and an impeccable view of the Bosphorus. You would also find free restrooms there. The facility was small but acceptable.

 

 

There were more rooms to check out. Beautiful tile works everywhere. Our last stop at the Topkapi Palace was the Harem. Remember we purchased tickets early on in an attempt to avoid line? The line was about the same, but by the time we were to visit to Harem, the strong sun was right on top.

 

A bummer was to find out just a few days prior to the cruise that the Harem no longer provides a guided tour with the ticket. We did not purchase the Harem audio guide thinking the signage would be as sufficient as the ones in the other rooms at the sight.

 

The Harem was very much different from the tone of the rest of the palace. Quite a contrast. If you decide to go, I would recommend renting the audio guide simply because the signage was kept at a minimal. There was a snack shop outside the Harem. The muffins and pastries were 6 or 7 TL each.

 

As we were walking out of Topkapi Palace, we saw the crowds just kept growing and growing. Loads of tour groups were arriving. We felt lucky to have selected this sight as our first stop.

Next stop: Hagia Sophia

 

 

We arrived at Hagia Sophia right on my schedule at 11:30am. There were children groups gathered at the gate and the ticket office. The workers instructed us two to go to the side ticket office with only 2 people ahead of us, and then to the entrance gate bypassing the children. We lucked out again on lines.

 

My note wrote “go up to the 2nd floor” and I forgot why. While I was walking up the never-ending stairs, I kept wondering, “Is this going to be worth it?” And my verdict was yes. The view from the 2nd floor was much nicer and easier for me to take photos of the whole place. (One nice touch they had was the few chairs right by the top of the stairs.)

 

Since we pretty much only did a walk-through on our own and did not read the words on the panels which explained the sight (I felt to have read enough in books), it took us about half an hour.

[CuTiAngel]

Next stop: Lunch

 

We crossed the street, passed the cistern (where we went after lunch) and walked along a side street called Incili cavus sok, which was full of restaurants. With the suggestion of a travel blog I read, I took my husband to Mozaik, a pretty nice restaurant with outdoor sitting.

 

 

Beautiful view of a mosque (with music and prayer). Clean and relaxed side street. Large menu. The meal was started with a complimentary, fresh and delicious hummus and bread. We ordered Cizbiz Kofte (a lamb and beef meatball dish), Manti (a dumpling dish), an Ayran drink and a cola. The meatballs were the tastiest and juiciest that I’ve ever had. The dumplings with the sauce was so delicious. Words just couldn’t describe how good the meal was! The entrees were priced from 18TL but I believe you get what you pay for here.

 

Next stop: Underground Cistern

 

Maybe I read too much hype about it, and it ended up to be just okay for my experience. My husband enjoyed the visit though. Beware that the floor was wet and slippery.

 

Next stop: Blue Mosque

 

Beautiful architecture. I had prepared my own scarf to cover my head and a shoe bag for our shoes. However, the line was long and almost non-moving and they said it would close in 15 minutes for prayer. We decided to not to go inside but took a peek from an opening.

 

Next stop: Spice Market

 

We jumped back on the tram with pre-purchased Jetons, getting off at Eminonu. We got off the tram to an underpass with local merchants (5 TL shoes!) and came up in front of a huge mosque. The Spice Market was to the right around it. The market was fun with cool finds. We picked a few things and were ready for the next thing.

 

Next on our Itinerary: check out the Tunel funicular, walk along Istiklal Cadassi to Taksim Square

 

It was probably considered an off-the-beaten-track way to see Istanbul, as there were a lot less tourists to be seen. (It’s still touristy to me with the antique tram on Istiklal Cadassi.) When I travel, I like to see the historic stuff and also places the locals hang out.

 

Either you choose to cross the Golden Horn on foot, or hopped back on the tram to Karakoy, you would find the Tunel funicular station near the Karakoy tram station. It was housed in a building 20/30 feet away. The Tunel uses a different type of Jeton so you need to purchase it at the machine/window prior to getting on. It takes you to the west end of Istiklal Cadassi. You will see a busy pedestrian street when walking out of the Tunel station.

 

 

This is a street full of affordable and trendy fashion boutiques, and local eateries such as doner kebab shops and Turkish ice cream stands. After half an hour or so of leisure walk along the street, we arrived at Taksim Square.

 

 

To the right, we saw escalators and that was where we got on the funicular to get to Kabatas, where we will transfer to the tram station close to the ship. At this point, we ran out of Jetons and had to buy more. The ones came out earlier today were red and here they were blue. (They were the same as we could use the blue one on the tram as well.) The transfer at Kabatas was very easy. The next thing we knew, we were back to Tophane tram station and walked back to the ship terminal building along a street all selling automotive related products.

 

After the second round of Baklava and Turkish tea, we did some last minute shopping at the grocery/snack shop next door, stopped by the duty free shop, and then returned to our cabin. (Tip: After some comparison shop, Istanbul was probably the cheapest port to buy cigarettes for souvenirs at the duty free shop among the ports in our Grand Mediterranean itinerary.)

 

Hope you enjoy reading the post! After I’m done with all the port DIY posts, I will put up the ship review with the links to these posts.

[Maryandi]

Wonderful, Thank You!!!. I was just researching Istanbul today in preparation for our 2013 trip.

 

This post just brings it to life !

 

MaryAnn

[themutis]

Thank you for sharing - this will help with our planning too.

 

What other ports did you go to?

[24butterfly]

Thank you! What did you not find so great about the Cistern? We've been to the other places, and have reserved the Cistern for this trip....Also, (we're going to be there on a Friday)--I thought to take a "T" word--(taxi) to save on the leg work, then do the tram thing to Eminonu (for Kadikoy) b/c we'll be walking around there alot...

 

Thanks also for the pix of the tram station at Karakoy and which side to look for. VERY helpful.

 

Looking forward to your response.....

[cruisecountess]

Your posts were wonderful! We will be returning to Istanbul next summer and, although have seen the sights you highlighted (except cistern), really appreciate the restaurant recommendations. Thanks.

Harriet

[Keith1010]

Excellent posts. Thank you for taking the time to share all of this with us.

 

Keith

[CuTiAngel]

Wonderful, Thank You!!!. I was just researching Istanbul today in preparation for our 2013 trip.

 

This post just brings it to life !

 

MaryAnn

 

You're welcome. Happy planning!! =)

[CuTiAngel]

Thank you for sharing - this will help with our planning too.

 

What other ports did you go to?

 

In the Grand Mediterranean itinerary, we also went to:

Venice

Piraeus/Athens

Kusadasi

Istanbul

Mykonos

Naples/Pompeii

Livorno/Pisa/Florence

Rome

Monte Carlo

Barcelona

 

Hope you enjoy planning your upcoming trip!

[CuTiAngel]

Thank you! What did you not find so great about the Cistern? We've been to the other places, and have reserved the Cistern for this trip....Also, (we're going to be there on a Friday)--I thought to take a "T" word--(taxi) to save on the leg work, then do the tram thing to Eminonu (for Kadikoy) b/c we'll be walking around there alot...

 

Thanks also for the pix of the tram station at Karakoy and which side to look for. VERY helpful.

 

Looking forward to your response.....

 

The Cistern is fine, however, for me, the research I had done on it pre-cruise took away some of the joy. It did not have much more than what I saw in photos. I do understand if Istanbul is having a hot sunny day, the cistern would be a nice, quiet, cool retreat. Would I recommend others to go? Yes. It's still one of the very unique places in the world to check out.

 

The photo I took at the tram station was actually at Tophane. All the stations I encountered basically share the same logic as far as platform goes... I'm glad you find it helpful. =)

[CuTiAngel]

Your posts were wonderful! We will be returning to Istanbul next summer and, although have seen the sights you highlighted (except cistern), really appreciate the restaurant recommendations. Thanks.

Harriet

 

Thank you! I found travel food blogs and Tripadvisor quite helpful when looking for restaurant recommendations. Enjoy your trip next summer! =)

[CuTiAngel]

Excellent posts. Thank you for taking the time to share all of this with us.

 

Keith

 

Thank you, Keith.

[auburngirlie]

In the Grand Mediterranean itinerary, we also went to:

Venice

Piraeus/Athens

Kusadasi

Istanbul

Mykonos

Naples/Pompeii

Livorno/Pisa/Florence

Rome

Monte Carlo

Barcelona

 

Hope you enjoy planning your upcoming trip!

 

Since you cruised princess did you do any of their excursions? If so, which did you enjoy/dislike? I've done this cruise before, but it was 8 years ago, so my memory fails in some areas. Also--did you post your cruise review? Would love to read it (as you are super reviewer!). Thanks so much!

[cruisemom42]

Since you cruised princess did you do any of their excursions? If so, which did you enjoy/dislike? I've done this cruise before, but it was 8 years ago, so my memory fails in some areas. Also--did you post your cruise review? Would love to read it (as you are super reviewer!). Thanks so much!

 

I did a very similar cruise with Princess in 2006. I'm generally a DIY person but was traveling with my mom who insisted on using the ship's excursions at every port.

 

Truthfully -- and I don't mean to be negative -- it was this cruise that firmly convinced me NOT to take the ship excursions if they can possibly be avoided. The excursion we took for Istanbul spent an unconscionably long amount of time at a deluxe lunch and another LENGTHY stop for a carpet "demonstration" and pitch....so much so that we ended up with only a scant half-hour at Haghia Sophia, the last stop of the day, and it was already getting dark (hard to get photos). I was almost crying tears of frustration.

 

Since then, I've gone back to Istanbul several times and done it on my own with no problems whatever (as a solo woman); the tram is quite easy and avoids the traffic snarls that slow down all the big-bus tours.

 

As regards other tours on Princess, my only suggestion would be to select the smaller group tours wherever you can (I think they call them "Elite" or something similar). At least they tend to move along a little more quickly....

 

What really gets me on all the tours are the forced shopping stops -- the Cameo Factory on the Pompeii tour, the Rug Factory, the Leather factory (Kusadasi), etc....

[CuTiAngel]

Since you cruised princess did you do any of their excursions? If so, which did you enjoy/dislike? I've done this cruise before, but it was 8 years ago, so my memory fails in some areas. Also--did you post your cruise review? Would love to read it (as you are super reviewer!). Thanks so much!

 

We did a couple tours with Princess, one being the Ephesus and House of Virgin Mary tour, and the other being the Pisa and Florence On Your Own.

 

Because I was a newbie to CC, I hesitated joining a private tour in the roll call. I went to the Meet n Greet and got familiar how it went so we'll probably do some private tours starting from the next cruise!

 

The ship tour we took in Kusadasi was fine. We had a knowledgeable guide and the pace was good. He pointed out many good spots for photographs. Not much of a sales pitch in this tour except he told us the numbers of "Princess recommended" vendors at the end of the Ephesus tour. Of course they were way overpriced and were expected to be. We were dropped off at the ship terminal entrance, which was close to the bazaar and we did our bargain shopping there instead. With the limited public transportation in Kusadasi, I would recommend this ship tour.

 

As for the Pisa and Florence On Your Own, I would recommend it only if you are new to the two cities and want to see both at once. Once is enough for Pisa, for me at least. The good thing about this tour you will have enough time to see the Pisa tower, and some of the Florence highlights (although you would need to decide between The Academia or the Ufizzi.) Note that the walk between the bus drop-off place, the meeting point, and the sights was quite a distance, especially for Florence. As for the sales pitch, our meeting point was a leather shop, which was okay as the clean restroom was free to use and the sales part was only a minute or so.

 

No, I haven't finished the cruise review, and am planning to do it after finishing the DIY reviews of the ports. So far I've only done a DIY review on Athens: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1648875

[CuTiAngel]

What really gets me on all the tours are the forced shopping stops -- the Cameo Factory on the Pompeii tour, the Rug Factory, the Leather factory (Kusadasi), etc....

 

I guess I lucked out on the leather factory in Kusadasi with Princess tour. =I

[cruisemom42]

I guess I lucked out on the leather factory in Kusadasi with Princess tour. =I

 

Maybe they have heeded the complaints of numerous past customers, lol. :D

[VinTek]

CutiAngel.

 

Pop me a note (it's on the Meet and Greet attachment in our Roll Call). When I get your e-mail address, I give you access to the pics I took during the cruise.