Istanbul on our own: How We Did It

[puablo]

We just got back from a sailing on the Norwegian Spirit in June, and did most ports on our own. Since I gained all my information from Cruise Critic, I felt it would be helpful to report how we did each port. This post is on our day in Istanbul with an 8am debarkation time and an all-aboard time of 6:30pm.

 

Istanbul is an incredibly easy, no-brainer city to do on your own. While we had a long port day, we actually finished and were back on the ship a whopping 2 hours early. And contrary to what people on the ship tell you, you DO need Turkish Lira for transportation and admission fees, but you do not need Lira for purchases in stores. We bought ours in advance from Travelex, but ATMs are plentiful.

 

To start, there are two cruise terminals, one is closer to the Galata Bridge and one is slightly further back. While nobody stated the name of ours, I assume it was Salizpari (the one further north) because we were northeast of the Tophane tram stop. Regardless of where the ship docks, it's right by the tram line. You can't miss it, because the tram runs through the street and you can see the tracks at all time. Not only does this make initially finding the tram easy, but you can use the tracks throughout the day to get your bearings if needed.

 

We left the ship at 8am, walked to the tram tracks, and turned left. There was an ATM on the right side of the street that some cruisers used to get their Lira. Follow the tracks until you reach a tram stop. For us it was Tophane, and was a few blocks south. The machines give you tokens and accept coins or bills (and possibly a credit card, but I didn't pay attention to that so I can't be sure). It was only about 2 T.l. per person. You use the token in the gate to let you into the tram stop.

 

We took the tram from Tophane to Sultanahmet, it took only about 10 minutes. Even if you didn't pay attention to the names of the stops, it's easy to find Sultanahmet, because the tram is above ground and you can clearly see the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque. The tram will pass the park that separates these sites, and the stop is a few blocks later. We got off at Sultanahmet and backtracked along the road with the tram tracks and entered the park between the two monuments - again, easy to find even without a map.

 

At this point it was only 8:20 in the morning! We took our pictures of each building and headed towards the Blue Mosque. You walk through the front into a courtyard and head around back, the tourist entrance is in the far back left of the building. It was Friday, and the sign said it didn't open for tourists until 9am, so we walked around a bit to admire the building. But then tour groups arrived and started lining up, so we got in the line and they started letting people in very soon, at a little past 8:30. We were wearing long pants and my wife had a scarf on her head, but you don't need to worry about a dress code here - they will put a baby blue poncho over those who are not dressed appropriately, which in our case was a lot of people. Oddly, most women wearing pants and no headscarf were let in just fine with no poncho. Everybody has to remove their shoes though, but they provide plastic bags to carry them in. You do not check your shoes anywhere because you don't leave through the entrance you came in.

 

The Blue Mosque is just one big beautiful room, so we weren't in there long, just about 15 minutes to soak it all in. After that we headed to the Hagia Sophia, which opened at 9am, and we arrived just a couple minutes later. No line, easy entrance. While visiting the Blue Mosque was free, the Hagia Sophia was not, I believe it was about 20 T.l. per person. It's well worth it! We spent about an hour inside. Going upstairs is included in your ticket, there's no extra fee for the top floor.

 

After the Hagia Sophia was the Underground Cistern. If there's one thing in Istanbul that is unmissable, it's this. The Basilica Cistern is amazing, and also the cheapest ticketed attraction at only 10 T.l per person. While stunning, it's not very large, so even at a very leisurely pace and lots of pictures, we were only there for 20 minutes.

 

At this point we had seen the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, and Basilica Cistern and it was only 10:40 in the morning! So we decided to go to somewhere we previously intended to skip: Topkapi Palace.

[puablo]

Topkapi Palace was not mentioned in tour books as being a major, must-see attraction, and with all due respect there's a reason for that. The grounds are nice, the buildings are nice, but compared to the other sights in Istanbul it's easily the least important thing to see. So if you have a shorter port time or want to save money, you won't really miss much if you skipped the palace. The best part is the Harem (the series of buildings that the sultan and his family lived in), but it's a separate ticket inside the palace. At 25 T.l. to enter the palance and 15 T.l. to enter the Harem, that adds up to be a lot of money to see something that - in my own opinion - is nowhere near as impressive as the other places in town. It's still nice, and it's worth seeing if you have the time, I just wouldn't make it a top priority.

 

We finished Topkapi at 12 noon, and walked along the east side of the Hagia Sophia to get some chestnuts and turkish delight from food vendors in carts. A few more pictures in the park between the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque, and we were off to the Hippodrome just southwest of the park. There are only two obelisks to see there so it's neither an out of the way walk, nor a time consuming endeavor. We stopped for lunch at the Sultanahmet Koftecisi, recommended by Rick Steves, and ordered their two major entrees: kofte meatballs and doner kebab. Unfortunately it wasn't memorable, and I've had better versions of each in the US. Your mileage may vary.

 

We headed west down the street with the tram on it, past the Sultanahmet stop, heading towards the Grand Bazaar. There are tons of places to eat here, including doner kebab and gyro places aplenty (most of which I wish I ate at). Lots of places to stop and get turkish coffee or turkish delight as well. A decent map is useful here to find the Grand Bazaar, though there are signs, and it's not far from the tram line, so you shouldn't have trouble finding it.

[puablo]

We entered the Grand Bazaar at about 1:30pm. It's rather underwhelming, surprisingly, for two reasons. First, for being a really neat old "shopping mall" (admiring the ceiling doesn't get old), the historical importance of the place gets sapped by the fact that there's roughly 6 stores I didn't want to shop at, repeated about 500 times. Ok ok, that's a severe exaggeration ;), but to me there was something about seeing the same modern-looking purse, watch, and lamp stores repeated nonstop that took away from the place. I expected hundreds of stores selling unique, interesting products - and while there are a few gems in the bazaar, it's mostly tourist junk. Though admittedly, those lamps are pretty cool to look at.

 

The other reason why it was less than we expected is because it is nowhere near as overwhelming as people warn you about. If you show interest in something, the salespeople can be a little pushy, but when you come in expecting a massive assault (as everyone seems to claim), it's not a big deal. Of course it probably helped that we didn't show much interest in anything. But even if you do, a curt "no thank you" and walking away ends any harassment.

 

After a healthy amount of time exploring the bazaar, we headed towards the shopping area we were really excited for, the spice market. Or at least we tried... get a good map! We walked out the wrong side of the bazaar, walked a few blocks and ended up... back in the bazaar. I still don't know how we did that. Eventually we left via the northeast exit and walked due north until it dead ended at an old tower, and turned right towards the spice market.

 

This was the best area for shopping in town, at least that we saw. The western approach to the market is filled with cafes, baklava bakeries, and spice & nut vendors galore. I'd advise paying attention to this block but avoiding purchases until you've explored the entirety of the Spice Market, because a lot of the stores are similar - but all impressive. Strangely, the vendors on the east side of the market are pushy, and the remainder are not. We probably made 3 passes along the inside and outside of the market until we chose the store we liked the most and drained every last Turkish Lira we had on tea and spices. Watch out for "turkish saffron", they like to peddle orange-ish fake stuff here. Some vendors will happily admit this and then show you the real, pure red stuff. 100% pure saffron was about 20 T.l. per gram. And tea is very, very cheap here.

 

We finished all of this by 3:30pm. We backtracked west to get some baklava and apple tea at a bakery a block west of the spice market, then strolled across the Galata bridge (first the bottom, then the top) and back to the ship on foot. It was a very easy walk. We got back on the ship at 4:45pm... just under two hours before all-aboard. I briefly considered going out to the Galata Tower, since we had time, but we had a full, satisfying day so we decided to take it easy and call Istanbul done.

[puablo]

One final note: many people almost missed the ship. We ran into a few and it turned out they were all stuck in cars or cabs. Traffic in Istanbul, especially later in the day, is absolute gridlock. When doing Istanbul on your own, don't get in a car unless you plan to get back early. Though you certainly do not need a car unless someone in your party has mobility issues - Istanbul is completely walkable, and the tram is very helpful if you want to move around quickly or save your feet.

[mygreyhound66]

Hi and thanks SOOO much for your reviews, this is exactly the information I have been seeking for our upcoming trip - so I have added this to my trip booklet !!! really appreciate all your info, you sound like the same type of traveller as us!

[chaz2010]

Thank you puablo for this great review. We are hoping to DIY on our stop in Istanbul in November.

 

For others going there this year, I have found this very helpful website regarding prayer times. You can't tour the mosques during prayer times:

 

http://www.namazvakti.com/Main.php?WSLanguage=EN

 

From that page click on "monthly times" on the left, then on the next page choose the month you are going to be there. All the days of that month with the prayer times are displayed. You need to schedule your visit to the Blue Mosque, or any other mosque, around this schedule.

[puablo]

I now wish I took a picture of the tourist schedule at the Blue Mosque, I remember it being more restrictive than I expected. Like, it was only open for something like 9am to 11am, then from 2 to 4, and that was it. (I am wildly making up those numbers, don't take them seriously.) But that said, the sign clearly said it opened for tourists at 9am that day, and they let us in just after 8:30.

 

What I suspect is that the posted times were more of guidelines stating "yes, you can come in for sure during these times", and really they just close as needed for undetermined durations before and after prayer. That makes sense, as most guide books also just give estimates as to how long they close before & after prayer.

 

My advice would be to go to the Blue Mosque first, that way if it's closed you can at least note the posted times and come back later. Since most of the attractions are close by, you're rarely going to be far from the mosque anyways. We went to the Blue Mosque first simply because the other attractions don't open until 9 and we got off the tram at 8:20.

[sire_bobbie]

Very useful review, will be sure to use this next time we are in Istanbul.

[Kebva]

Thanks for the tips for Istanbul!

I'm looking forward to it :-)

[Keith1010]

Excellent review. Thanks for sharing.

 

We love Istanbul.

 

Keith

[texancruzer]

The Blue Mosque is not open to tourist during prayer. They pray 5 times a day and this website tells you about it and how the times are determined.

 

http://islam.about.com/cs/prayer/a/prayer_times.htm

 

I noticed that in your review you did not visit the Basilica Cistern. On our first visit to Istanbul I had not planned on it either.....but it was right there across the street from Hagia Sophia so we went in. What a wonderful surprise ! Definitely worth a half hour or so..........

 

We missed Topkapi our first visit, but did go our second time in Istanbul. I agree with you, while interesting if time gets tight I would skip it too.

[bfmac]

The last time we were in Istambul in 2007, there was a shuttle that you could take back to the Port. The sign said it was free if you were on a ship's tour or otherwise you could pay. We were on Princess. Does anyone know if this still exists? If so, is it available from the ship to the Bazaar as well?

 

Thanks. :)

[puablo]

The Blue Mosque is not open to tourist during prayer. They pray 5 times a day and this website tells you about it and how the times are determined.

 

http://islam.about.com/cs/prayer/a/prayer_times.htm

 

I noticed that in your review you did not visit the Basilica Cistern. On our first visit to Istanbul I had not planned on it either.....but it was right there across the street from Hagia Sophia so we went in. What a wonderful surprise ! Definitely worth a half hour or so..........

 

We missed Topkapi our first visit, but did go our second time in Istanbul. I agree with you, while interesting if time gets tight I would skip it too.

 

Oh we saw the Basilica Cistern alright, it may very well have been my single favorite place in the entire city. I highly recommend it to everybody. Topkapi, yeah... it's nice and all, worth seeing, but when I ran into people on the ship who saw everything but Topkapi I told them the didn't miss much. That's not really fair to the palace, but it's accurate relative to the other sights in town. Now, if someone missed the Cistern... that would be sad.

[puablo]

The last time we were in Istambul in 2007, there was a shuttle that you could take back to the Port. The sign said it was free if you were on a ship's tour or otherwise you could pay. We were on Princess. Does anyone know if this still exists? If so, is it available from the ship to the Bazaar as well?

 

Thanks. :)

 

That is probably a per cruise-line offering. I know our ship (NCL) had no such thing. However, the tram is great. It's roughly ~2 lira each way, and goes within a block or so from the Grand Bazaar, and within a couple blocks of the ship, regardless of which terminal you docked at. The stop for the Grand Bazaar is Cemberlitas, and the Bazaar is about a block northwest of there.

 

The spice market, which is just on the other side of the Galata Bridge from the port, is the Eminonu stop. Though unless you have mobility issues, you likely won't need the tram for such a short walk. Someone who likes walking could easily do the whole day without riding the tram once, if they so desired.

[cruisemom42]

The last time we were in Istambul in 2007, there was a shuttle that you could take back to the Port. The sign said it was free if you were on a ship's tour or otherwise you could pay. We were on Princess. Does anyone know if this still exists? If so, is it available from the ship to the Bazaar as well?

 

Thanks. :)

 

I think Princess still offers this but it might be better to ask on the Princess boards to find someone who's been to Istanbul recently.

 

I would still strongly urge you to consider taking the local tram instead. It's cheaper, faster (the buses get stuck in horrible traffic; the trams have a dedicated track), and very, very simple.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

That's good advice. We were there on a weekend and traffic was not bad at all but during the week we were advised to not wait until the last minute to get back. People I talked with used the public transport with ease.

[bfmac]

Thanks for all your helpful replies. My husband definitely wants to go to the Cistern. Could you walk there from the Bazaar or take the tram? What stop would you take?

[puablo]

Thanks for all your helpful replies. My husband definitely wants to go to the Cistern. Could you walk there from the Bazaar or take the tram? What stop would you take?

 

You can definitely walk. Once we took the tram in the morning from the ship to Sultanahmet, we never took it again. It's a very easy city to walk - although the way from the Grand Bazaar directly to the Spice Market is potentially confusing, everything else is near the tram track. We only took the tram to save time and beat the first tour groups everywhere. From then on it was extremely useful in getting your bearings, as the tram tracks are directly on the street and go everywhere you would want to go.

 

As for the tram, you would probably want Sultanahmet, which is also the name of the area that encompasses the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, and Cistern. The Cistern is on the west side of the tram tracks across from the park on the east side that separates the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque. The Cistern is also near the Golden Milestone (it's on most maps). I'd bet 99% of tourists to Istanbul walk right past the Cistern, even if they don't know it's there. It's very, very centrally located. Absolutely worth the 10 lira and 15 minutes of time!

 

I would imagine the stop prior to Sultanahment, the Gulhane stop, is also a short walk, as it's near Topkapi, and Topkapi is directly behind the Hagia Sophia.

[bfmac]

Thanks again.:)

[texancruzer]

You are right !!!! I went back and reread your review......seems I missed the whole paragraph about the cistern. Just wanted to make sure people didn't miss that little gem !

 

As for walking........ we used the tram exclusively both day on both trips (2009 & 2011) as it is easy, cheap, fast and safe.

 

We took the tram to the historic district and then walked everywhere from there. We did not take the tram to the Grand bazaar but walked from the cistern. Its only a few blocks.

 

Best tip : google online for a map of istanbul.....familiarize yourself with where everything is...... it is all very close together. I would NOT walk to or from the ship tho...... on an 11 day cruise you do enough walking without doing extra :D

[arandar]

Glad to read your excellent review. The day we are in port the Topkapi Palace is closed. I was going to take the ship tour (They allow cruise ship excursions) in order to get in. Now I'm wondering if it is worth the money.

[puablo]

Glad to read your excellent review. The day we are in port the Topkapi Palace is closed. I was going to take the ship tour (They allow cruise ship excursions) in order to get in. Now I'm wondering if it is worth the money.

 

Hmm, tough call. I don't want to advocate skipping the palace in general, but I would say to skip it if it meant missing anything else in the city (like the Cistern, Hagia Sophia, or Blue Mosque). If taking the tour means missing out on those, or anything else you want to do, I'd reconsider the tour. If you think you can still see everything else, go for it!

 

The general consensus that I've found - and agree with - is that compared to the other places, Topkapi just isn't as impressive. The grounds are pretty, but the best stuff is in the harem (additional cost), so if you go on your own it's a total cost of 40 lira per person to see everything. Personally I didn't think it was really worth it, but at the same time I glad I went since we had the time to do so. We only spent an hour there. If someone was rushed for time and wanted to scrap something from their list, this is the area I would advise skipping - but only for that reason.

 

Below is a picture of part of the harem section. I am greatly summarizing here, but the bulk of the buildings more or less look like this. Cool? Yes. But I would not sacrifice time elsewhere for it, when the other sights are arguably more impressive.

 

[redcc55]

Great and valuable review. We are on the Spirit Aug 2. I am always looking for thorough reviews like yours. How many lira did you bring with you? Thanks, Red

[puablo]

Great and valuable review. We are on the Spirit Aug 2. I am always looking for thorough reviews like yours. How many lira did you bring with you? Thanks, Red

 

We brought 320 lira, for two people. That was how much we got for 200 US dollars at the time. I originally figured it was overkill, but I had suspected (correctly) that I would buy a lot in the spice market. However, the market vendors would have all accepted Euro, and did so once I ran out of Lira. The museums specifically state they only accept lira though, and that's where a lot of our money went. I believe the Hagia Sophia was about 20 T.l., Cistern 10 T.l., Topkapi 25 T.l., Harem 15 T.l., for a total of 140 lira just for us to enter all those places. It would have been far more if we had rented the audioguides. However, each of those ticket offices were traditional museum ticket counters so I can only assume they would have taken a credit card, but we didn't try.

 

We also spent lira all day on snacks from food vendors, a sit-down lunch, Turkish coffee, etc. Originally I thought I had way too much money so I kept using the lira when I would have otherwise used a credit card. By the time we were at the spice market we had 47 lira left, so we bought 47 lira worth of tea and spices - which at their low prices means a LOT of tea. We later used Euros for baklava, got lira as change, and in hindsight I should have bought more spices or tea because at this moment I have 8 lira that I never bothered exchanging back to dollars.

 

Bottom line, you can get away with Euros at pretty much all vendors, but you must have lira if you want to pay admission fees with cash. It's also a good idea to have lira if you want to ride the tram - some stations do reportedly accept credit card but I read online that some are cash only. We used lira at ours.

[AttilaTheFun]

Heads-up, you can purchase tickets to Hagia Sophia (it's 25 TL per person whether you buy online or in person) at:

https://www.muze.gov.tr/buy_e_ticket

 

This allows you to skip the line - you just print the ticket and they scan the barcode. The ticket line wasn't too bad first thing in the morning, but can get long, and why waste any time in line when you don't have to?

 

As a point of reference, we bought our tickets to Hagia Sophia online in advance, spent 10 TL per person for the underground cistern, spent 20 TL for lunch at Sultanahmet Koftecisi, 8 lira for tram rides (2 lira per person, per ride), 10 lira for a fish sandwich at the boats and 2 Cokes, and about 90 TL at the Grand Bazaar and Spice Market. Grand total: 150 TL for the 2 of us.

 

For budgeting, I think it really matters how much you think you'll spend on souvenirs/gifts. The merchants in the Grand Bazaar told us where the nearest ATM was when we needed more money. I'd suggest taking slightly less TL than you think you'll need, since you can't use it anywhere else in Europe and the merchants will happily accept euros or dollars (although their exchange rate may be questionable). The museum/sites and restaurants will require TL.