My husband and I recently returned from a week in Istanbul. This forum is always good with advice, therefore i wanted to add some tidbits to help another's adventure. We are a couple in our mid-30's.
Hotel--we stayed at the Ada Istanbul 62 Euros cash/night for a small, clean room with breakfast, free wi fi and free calls to US or Canada. That in itself was a plus b/c I could call back and talk with my kids. The owner is very pleasant. The hotel was a 4-5 minute walk from the Blue Mosque area. Transport to and from the hotel roughly 20 Euro.

Sight seeing--In the sultahament area much of the area is accesible via walking or by tram. The cistern, blue mosque, hagia sophia and Topkapi Palace were the sights we visited, along with walking around Taksim Square. We took the Bosphorus Boat tour, got off at one of the stops and bussed back to the blue mosque area. There are people, people everywhere, for Istanbul has a pop of 15 million.

Ephesus--we did a day trip . we flew to Izmir on Atlas Jet in the morning, bussed to the Ephesus area c/o Atlas' free shuttle bus, toured, and returned via air that night. I have the name of a GREAT tourguide. Fatma Acar is reasonable, very pleasant, and knowledgeable and made our Ephesus day a joy. Contact me if you would like her information/email. Or you can google her, she has a website. It was worth the money to have a tour of Ephesus, She also took us around Istanbul for a day and makes tours that fit your schedule and budget.

Dining--There are SO many restaurants around. We dined mid range (avg meal with beer was 60-70 TYL). This would include a kebab or casserole dish, rice, bread, and beer. We saw some of Rick Steve's recommended restaurants and ate at one in the Taksim area, otherwise we just found something on the street. The street names were difficult to find. There are also many little bakeries, doners (meat on a stick), and I saw a couple of starbucks, mcdonalds.

Shopping--The Grand Bazzar is huge, We looked around but ended up buying stuff away from this area b/c they definitely hike up the prices. The Spice Market was a great local place to walk around and get a few knick knacks.

The people were very friendly and welcoming. Many knew English, and welcomed you with a cup of tea. You will enjoy your time in this city. It is filled with so much history and culuture. Please let me know if you have any specific questions, I'd be glad to answer them.

Safe Travels, Experience the culture, and Have a piece of baklava for me!

Hi

Thanks for that. Particularly interesting is that by flying to Izmir, a free shuttle bus to Ephesus and a tourguide you can do it as a day trip.

Sounds like you had a wonderful trip and made the most of your week. Thanks for posting your report.

Ellen

Thanks for the report. Bookmarking for your guide.

sounds as though u had a great time.
Your schedule sounds similiar to the one
we're planning at the end of March---1 week
with 1 day spent in Epheseus. We had not
heard of the free shuttle provided by airlines.
We planned on renting a car. Would u advise
the shuttle over a rented car. How much was
your guide? Thanks for your advice.

Thanks for the report. I'm gathering info for a possible trip.

Mo,
the free shuttle was good, and also if needed the tour guide would pick you up from izmir. also, there seemed to be a lot of roughly 120 Euros for two people for the whole day, plus entrance fees to the 3 attractions (roughly 75-80 TYL) plus lunch (at restaurant 65 TYL including wine)

www.ephesuskusadasi.com

Fatma was wonderful. look at her website.

Mrsdarwin,
thanks for the reply. We attempted to make resersvations with
Atlas a couple weeks ago but for some reason (at this moment I'm totally spacing and I forget) reservation wouldn't go through. I believe it was when we attempted to pay. Did you have any trouble getting tix from them. Thanks for your help.

i used my Credit Card and did it through their English website. i had no problems with getting my tix with atlas jet. good luck getting them.
also, you can email fatma, she can get them for you minimal charge i believe

Thanks again mrs Darwin. Will try once again
tonight. Still up in the air between free
shuttle or renting a car

Thanks for the report Mrs Darwin! Wife and I are planning our 50th bday trip for next spring and now are looking at a week in Istanbul (independent) and a week in Cairo/Egypt (guided).

By any chance did you stay at the Ida hotel instead of the Ada? The Ada seems to be a good deal more expensive than what you have whereas the Ida matches nicely.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...-Istanbul.html

no, we stayed at the Ada Istanbul. it was in a great location.