Athens or Istanbul in Nov'15 Solo female traveller
 

I want to travel to a place close to Dubai by flight in November 2105. I cannot decide between Istanbul or Athens. I am an East Indian female and this would be my 1st time traveling alone. World savvy travelers, please help me. I really want to experience the thrill of traveling alone without having to worry about my safety all the time.
My travel time is the 2nd week of November. So 6 days 7 nights. Arriving from Dubai. i need helping deciding which of the 2 is a safer place and any itinerary suggestions for solo travel.

Thanks a lot!
-Banjaran

Istanbul is a much, much more interesting destination than Athens. I really can 't comment on differences in personal safety between the two places.

I haven't visited Athens yet, but I'm another solo female traveler who enjoyed my time in Istanbul immensely. And 6 days is, IMO, perfect there.

I'm not sure that my trip report would prove very helpful, but if you want to look, you can find it by clicking on my screen name.

Some of us find solo traveling addictive! Here's another thread that you might find useful:
http://www.fodors.com/community/trav...collection.cfm

Enjoy!

Agree Istanbul for an adventure. Athens is looking a bit sad these days and would not be as safe I think....

I will not comment on which city is more adventurous or more interesting, but I can definitely say that Athens is a 100% safe city and that a solo female traveler will have no problems at all.
Of course the use of common sense is recommended in any big city, regardless on which part of the world.

To say ANY city is 100% safe is just silly clausar.

Well I think Istanbul has much more to see and while I would not say that it is not safe, you may be approached (believe me everyone is approached) by rug sellers or for other sale pitches. If out at night, you might be invited to smoke a hookah with some local men. Just be ready to walk purposely and don't feel the need to be any more polite that a firm no.

If local men routinely approach women on the streets and invite them to smoke drugs with them, it doesn't sound that safe to me. And if there is constant harrassment from street vendors, that is very unpleasant, and can be somewhat unsafe on occasions. In act, I was physically grabbed and worse in a similar situation in Cairo, thank goodness I was with someone else. And I was in a very mainstream place minding my own business and have plenty of common sense.

I was solo in Athens and I think it may be safer for a young single woman who has never traveled anywhere alone, and lives in a different type of culture. But they do have that recent economic turmoil. I was never harrassed there by men in any way.

OTOH, here's an article about how Arabs from different countries like Istanbul, maybe it can give some idea of what it's like there for some tourists, even if the OP isn't Muslim
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/al-...&NewsCatID=349

I was in Istanbul 3 years ago.
In Athens 6 years ago.

I'm a male and I wasn't solo. I never felt any concern for safety in either city.

As for being approached by rug sellers (or even drug sellers) I am not sure it applies to Istanbul, but rather to Marocco. We have been left alone all the time and I found the Turks to be EXTREMELY nice and non obtrusive.

I personally preferred Athens (the city in itself is lovely and we did some daytrips to Corinthe, Delphy etc). But only because I love so much antic ruins.

Tommo
Maybe it is not silly if you read the context.. which is use common sense.......
I would really be curious to know, what makes you believe that it is not safe.. or not as safe as IST....

smoking a hooka in Istanbul does NOT mean you are using drugs, well not illegal drugs - tobacco and maybe some apple peel? But probably NOT a good idea for a single woman.

and pariswat - if you weren't approached by a friendly local that wanted to take you to his uncles rug store in Istanbul, I can hardly believe you were really there.

Well, Sue

It seems you must look much more than me like a target for these uncles.

What you described happened to me everytime I was visiting bazaars in North Africa, but never in Istanbul.

Once a Turk came towards us - just in front of a rug shop, asking us if he could take a pic of our daughter. He did so, and I prepared myself for the inevitable invitation, and he said thanks and left.

Nobody bothered us anywhere in Istanbul, for the whole stay (one week).

Rug salesmen didn't bother me in Istanbul, either. I'm sure that's at least in part a function of my attitude -- I suspect I don't project the image of someone who might be tempted into a purchase, and I also always learn how to say "no, thank you," so if anyone did approach, I would have simply said that quite firmly and moved on without taking note of the occasion. The spice sellers were, IME, MUCH more aggressive, but when I walked through the spice market, I was planning to make some purchases.

Maybe clausar should have said 99.9% safe. Would that make you happy, Tommmo? ;-) Athens is certainly safer than the home cities of most people who post on Fodor's.

"safety is in the eyes of the beholder"

also check "Keynes on Probability, Uncertainty and Tragic Choices"

with discussions aptly based on classical Greek tragedy.

On that subject, Bertrand Russel is more comprehensible when he says:

" It is generally recognized that the inferences of ........ common sense differ from those of deductive logic … in … that, when the premises are true and the reasoning correct, the conclusion is only probable. … doubt that is justified is of three sorts:
… there may be relevant facts of which we are ignorant
… the laws that we have to assume in order to predict the future may be untrue
… we know a law to the effect that something happens usually … though not always … ."

Hence, "safety" may be incomprehensible, immeasurable or even a delusion. :)

" I can definitely say that Athens is a 100% safe city" - clausar

You make the statement, you wear the result.

Tommmo,

Let me rephrase..
Athens is a very safe city.. does that sound better ?
Please share with us why you think it is not......

A personal example. Not one but two pickpocket attempts on one metro trip Piraeus to Athens. I have my wallet on a chain to my belt fortunately. Both times it was removed from my pocket and hanging down.
Let's not have arguments about if robbery is a safety issue - it definitely is. Or that this can happen in other cities.. I've been a dozen times in both cities .Athens has warnings in the stations and many other places (including on other forums as well as here ) Never heard about it happening in Istanbul
Lots of places you don't go after dark in Athens e.g.Omonia .You can walk anywhere in Istanbul at night safely.
. As the father of a traveling girl I tell it as I see it.

I have walked around Omonoia all hours of day and night and nothing ever happpened to me. It is all the hype about the area been dangerous with the fact that it is run down that make people feel uncomfortable rather than real danger. It is a bit like when I always go and stay in Victoria in London area and people advice me against it but again nothing even happened to me even when walking alone back to hotel very long after pubs have closed. This doesn't mean I walk by every little dark lane on those areas of course, I simply walk on larger well-lit streets and if I see something disturbing I simply mind my buisiness and they mind theirs.

Pickpocket is definately a problem in Athens nowdays but I don't think it is a really make it or break it factor, simply take as many precautions as possible and keep your wits about you.

But anyway, I do not think someone has to worry about her safety all the time on either city and I do not think one should decide where to go only based on this. How comfortable one feels somewhere is result of many factors, not only safety anyway.