Middle East Travel

» Thermium - Istanbul travel for NY's

Hello Mr. Taylor,

My name is Thomas Dunne and I was given your name by a good friend of mine, Catherine Tse, of Suite101. She advised me that you would be a good person to talk to about travelling to Istanbul.

I would love to hear your recommendations - particularly on places to stay! Most of the options for the NY;s time for travel from here is via packages offered to various hotels, some of which include the options for packaged tours. We have not travelled in that manner before, as we have always preferred just finding our own apartment, locating a local market, and getting into things! Any chance you have feelings one way or the other about travelling with a group or independently to Istanbul?

We are in Sarajevo for at least another 11 or 12 months, so we're certainly open to travel outside of and beyond the holiday season too! If you have a spare few minutes, feel free to check out our blog of our (mis)adventures, at:

http://kurdisana.blogspot.com

...doubtful that it is travel-writing quality, but perhaps worth a laugh or two....

Many thanks in advance, and hope to hear from you soon.

Thomas Dunne

-- posted by Thermium

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» hughtaylor - Istanbul travel for NY's

In response to Istanbul travel for NY's posted by Thermium:

Hi Thomas

Good to hear from you. Catherine told me you were looking for information
Like you I prefer to travel independently although sometimes I will book a package trip because it is cheaper than I can get a scheduled flight.
I hesitate to recommend places to stay as I have not been to Istanbul this year and accommodation is changing all the time.
Even if I am returning to a hotel I have used before I always check to make sure it still has the same owners or management. There's nothing worse that booking into an old favourite, discovering it has recently changed hands and has live bands playing until 3 in the morning.
What I do when I am traveling or planning a trip is to check what's available via the internet. There are a variety of good sites but the one I now use most of the time is Expedia
. In the last year I've booked accommodation using their site in Mexico, Jordan and Amsterdam. I was more than happy on each occasion. For apartments I have used owners direct.

I'd be inclined to book the first two or three nights in an hotel, identify a few self catering options then check them out when you arrive.
I also prefer to travel alone but have also been to Istanbul as part of a group tour. I found it useful in terms of giving quick introduction and overview of the city. But on subsequent trips, alone, we got a lot more out of the city just wandering about and talking to people. If I get a chance later in the week I'll post an article about our experiences and how, late one night, we ended up locked inside a local shop discussing the political situation with a couple of Kurds.
There's a lot to see and do in Istanbul but things not to miss the Topkapi Palace, the Blue Mosque, the Bazaar, that famous hippy hangout The Pudding Shop and the Hagia Sophia which like Petra is in the running to become one of the Seven Wonders of the World. You can vote here
for it and Petra.
I'll try and put some time aside during the week to look at your blog.
Maybe when you are in Istanbul you can pop into one of the internet café's and let us know how you are getting on.

-- posted by hughtaylor

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» Thermium - Istanbul travel for NY's

In response to Istanbul travel for NY's posted by hughtaylor:

Thanks so much Hugh for getting back to me, most appreciated. Yeah we have had similar amazing experiences meeting locals in Paris and Brugge whilst staying in self-catering accomodation. Often we use vacation Rentals by owner - www.vrbo.com - an excellent resource we have found, although not sure what capacity they have in the middle east.

And for hotel/B&B reviews we'll often check out Trip Advisor. Actually four out of five possible hotels for the package tour we're considering had some reviews on trip Advisor, and one of the ones we had considered had consistently disastrous reviews. That said, based on recent reviews from this fall for the Historia hotel, we're thinking of making our booking there. (www.historiahotel.com).

We'll definitely check out the sites you mention. i had not heard of The Pudding Shop, so will add that to our list!

Will drop you a line and let you know how we make out....thanks again.

Thomas

-- posted by Thermium

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» hughtaylor - Istanbul travel for NY's

In response to Istanbul travel for NY's posted by Thermium:

Thanks for the information on vacation Rentals by owner. I had not heard of them before.

The reviews on Trip Advisor can be helpful but I've seen recent examples where some reviews condemned and establishment and others praised it.

Booking for the first couple of nights only builds in a bit of a safeguard just in case.

-- posted by hughtaylor

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» hughtaylor - Istanbul travel for NY's

In response to Istanbul travel for NY's posted by Thermium:

There's a particularly fine guide book to Turkey that I discovered about eight years ago. I was talking to a Turkish tour guide who swore it was his Bible and managed to source a copy in Istanbul.

It's 'Turkish Odyssey, A Traveler's Guide to Turkey and Turkish Culture', by Serif Yenen.
I've since found it in other bookshops including Stanfords in London.
You can view the online version at www.turkishodyssey.com
before making a decision to buy it.

-- posted by hughtaylor

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» hughtaylor - Istanbul travel for NY's

In response to Istanbul travel for NY's posted by hughtaylor:

This morning's post has brought me a review copy of Globetrotter Turkey from New Holland Publishing.
It's so hot of the press it's not in the shops yet.
It's a good looking guide, it's compact and it may be just what you need for your New Year trip Thomas.
But wait until I get a chance to read it in depth then I'll post a review letting you know if it's worth the money.

-- posted by hughtaylor

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