Istanbul

[kdowneymd]

We will be visiting Istanbul next July on the Zuiderdam. The ship arrives at 4:00 PM on a Saturday and leaves at 5:00 PM on Sunday afternoon. For those who have been to Istanbul, any recommendations on how to split up the time between the two days would be appreciated. The Spice Bazaar reportedly closes at 5:00 PM and isn't open on Sundays. Is the closing time firm or is it possible we would have some time to spend there? Would we have time to see on of the other major attractions such as the Hagia Sophia before everything closes for the evening ? If we don't want to do a dinner show, do boats go up the Bosphorus in the evening?

[jeanlyon]

Hi, don't think I am allowed to advertise, but if you type Viator into Google, you might find some information :-)

[ama22]

That's not a lot of time to see Istanbul. If you can hire a guide. I would suggest you see the Blue Mosque and Aga Sophia and if you have time to see the Chora Church. It was the highlight of our trip there in Sept. A guide would cut down on the time it takes to get to different sights. Have a great trip.

 

Mary Lou

[Keith1010]

I would also spend a couple of hours at the Grand Bazaar.

 

Keith

[MercedMike]

I really really highly recommend the ship's tours, or a very reputable guide, for Istanbul! It is an amazing city and the crush of people and traffic is also amazing. Trying to get around it any way except in an organized tour would seem to me to be practically impossible. My DW had the tour guide arrange a taxi back to the ship for her and still wound up in a frightening situation!

 

We were there on a Sunday and although the Grand Bazaar is closed, there is a shopping area next to it which seemed to me to be very large and certainly passed for a bazaar to me!

 

Check out our review and pics at http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/med.html

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[ab0si]

I really really highly recommend the ship's tours, or a very reputable guide, for Istanbul! It is an amazing city and the crush of people and traffic is also amazing. Trying to get around it any way except in an organized tour would seem to me to be practically impossible. My DW had the tour guide arrange a taxi back to the ship for her and still wound up in a frightening situation!

 

We were there on a Sunday and although the Grand Bazaar is closed, there is a shopping area next to it which seemed to me to be very large and certainly passed for a bazaar to me!

 

Check out our review and pics at http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/med.html

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

 

 

This just proves that different strokes work for different folks. I find Istanbul a very easy city to get around in on one's own. Taxis are relatively inexpensive and usually honest (unlike Athens). Once you are in the old city, most of the major sites are easily walkable (Blue Mosque to Grand Bazaar is 10 minutes easy stroll, for example, and that is one of he longer walks). There are licensed (and unlicensed <grin>) guide at all the major sites, so if you decide you want one, it is easy enough.

 

The museums, including Hagia Sophia are not open in the evening. In fact, the old town gets rather quiet after 5 -- except for the young travelers who stay in the many hostels in the area.

 

There are many evening cruises on the Bosporus.. most include dinner.

 

Paul

[pcur]

Things come alive around 9PM, because that's when most people go out for dinner. We stayed in Istanbul for 3 nights, and walked from the Intercontinental to a fabulous Turkish buffet restaurant. Do some online research about where to eat. I think it's worth eating off the ship.

 

I would not recommend the Bosphorous at night. You'll want to see the sights, and at night you are just going to see the lights.

 

I agree Viator.com is a great place to research, and you will get times and days of the week their tours are available. I bought tours twice from them for our Western Europe and UK trip this last Spring.

 

Istanbul is a fascinating place.

[kdowneymd]

Thank-you for your responses thus far. We are definitely considering a guide for Sunday. Last year we used EKOL for Ephesus and loved them and will highly consider them for Istanbul. My concern is that given the somewhat different hours we are scheduled to be there,and that we our main day is on a Sunday, the standard tours don't quite fit. I am quite sure Ekol will be flexible and I will value their input but I am interested in other opinions as well in order to try and figure out our plans. We almost never do ship's tours, we have always booked our own and that will be my inclination here, so I appreciate the many differnt view points and sense of distnaces to be covered, etc.

[Ourhoneymooncruise]

We did Istanbul on our own and had a fantastic time, although the ship did suggest passengers take the ships tour.

 

We had absolutly no problems, and we walked from the ship to Blue Mosque, to accross the street to Sophia, then to the grand Bazaar.... We missed the spice market, but really wanted to see it.

 

A private guide would definitly be the way to go, but they will bring you to a carpet store, even if they say they won't when you book.

 

Istanbul was our favorite stop on the cruise,

 

Have a great time,

[pcur]

The carpet store was really interesting. They give you a little lesson on how the carpets are made, the designs, etc., and they serve you delicious apple tea. We enjoyed it.

[eh2zed]

kdowneymd, I think you answered your own question. EKOL was great for us and easy to work with when we were there and Kusadasi in May. They will have a great plan at a good price for you.

[2552phxcrzr]

Some ideas on things to do that first evening:

 

Since you mention you'll be in Istanbul in July, and it doesn't get dark until quite late, you might be able to do a short cruise on the Bosphorus to enjoy the sunset. (If I recall correctly we took a boat from Eminonu.)

 

Consider going to Beyoglu to have dinner at the Cicek Pasaji. On a Saturday night it should be "hopping." (You can take the Tunel (tunnel) underground train from Karakoy to Beyoglu.)

 

http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/go/Istanbul/Sights/Beyoglu/CicekPasaji.html

 

http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/go/Istanbul/Transport/IstanbulTunel.html

 

Also on the same street as Cicek Pasaji is St Anthony's Church

 

http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/galeri/beyoglu/photopages/018.html

 

The tour company you decide to work with should be able to put together a custom tour of sights that are out in the open that don't necessarily require you to go inside to enjoy them.

 

Enjoy your visit.

[jeanlyon]

I thought Ekol were very expensive compared to Viator. The Viator excursions were quite varied and seemed very reasonable. They have good reviews.

[kdowneymd]

H2SO4, thank-you for your recommendations, very helpful and just the sort of thing I am looking for. We had such a great experience with EKOL, I am not tempting fate to try someone else even if less expensive. I specifically booked this cruise because I wanted to stay overnight in Istanbul and Venice but have been frustrated that I haven't had the time to devote to research that I usually do, so I am more dependent on others' advice.

[cruiser1812]

I have used Viator in France and Spain, and I think they gave me the basics. If they are available at your port, I would use them.

[jeanlyon]

Hi, thanks, I was planning to use Viator for Istanbul and now I'm going to.

[bunnyette]

The spice market is open past 5pm - we were there between 6 and 7. I had a guide (CTC Turkey) and he discouraged me from buying Turkish Delite at the Grand Bazaar as he knew where to get some better stuff. He was right! I also purchased some thread saffron which can be difficult and expensive to find at home (plus it was fun to shop for at the Spice Market!)