maltamonument

Hi, this is my first time in Istanbul. I wanted to check whether my itinerary is doable or no. I will be visiting in late november for half day - 2 full days - half day.

Basically I will arrive at 3pm on a thursday. Then I should go to my hotel in sultanahmet area and I was thinking by a taxi to avoid any hassle as there is no direct train. That would be like 4pm till we get settled in. Later we will walk towards the Grand Bazaar (which is open till 7pm). The second day I will try to go to Hagia Sophia, Blue mosque, Cistern, Hippodrome, Topkapi, Spice Bazaar, cross over the galata bridge, walk Istikal street, see the Galata tower and finish in taksim square, then go back to the hotel. The third day, I really wish to see the aquarium and dolmabahce palace, as well as taking the ferry to the asian side and walk from harem station to uskudar, just to see the maiden tower from afar and to say I've been to asia basically and stroll along the waterfront. The last day I will be leaving at 3:30pm so I have to leave the hotel at around 12-1pm.

What do you think? Is it doable considering I will be visiting in november and attractions close earlier?

otherchelebi

First day

- Passport + baggage claim = 40-60 minutes

- taxi to Sultanahmet hotel= 35-45 minutes

- possibly time to peek at Hippodrome Blue Mosque and/or Basilica Cistern on your way to the Grand Bazaar.
This will all be in the dark or semi-darkness.

Second Day=

- Hagia Spphia usually takes 2 hours or so

- Topkapi Palace usually takes three hours plus.

- You will again be doing the Harem-Uskudar walk in the dark.
It may be better to take ferry to Uskudar and walk to Salacak on coast road and walk back. The Harem Salacak stretch will not provide you with better views and will extend your walk unnecessarily.


General =

If you leave out the aquarium, you can organize your stay with a little less stress and enjoy it more.

- Getting to Spice Bazaar about 15-20 minutes.

- Crossing Galata Bridge takes about ten minutes and getting to Galata tower again ren minutes steep uphill climb.

- You will be walking Istiklal anfd get to taksim in the dark again, which is fine for what the area has to offer, as everything will be open till very late.

Third Day =

- Dolmabahce Palace will take two hours + because of guided group tour requirement.

- Getting to and back from the aquarium will take 75-120 minutes. and then the time you spend there.

wtm003

Day 2 is pretty busy. We spent at least half of the day at the Topkapi Palace and then went to the Hagia Sophia. I'd do the Blue mosque, Basilica Cistern and Hippodrome on your last morning.

Edward2005

In 2000, my only visit to Istanbul, I took a private walking tour which focused on the city's Byzantine era, a personal interest of mine. If you like history this city has as much as any city in the world. Such a tour is a great way to spend the day.

greg

Otherchelebi's estimate of arrival timing is more realistic. There are several passport control queues, but all of them had snaking long lines.

A taxi is not totally free of hassles. While all the taxis I have taken in Istanbul this year had been honest, for each ride, 1) I knew how much it should cost 2) knew the realtime traffic conditions by looking on my phone with internet connection so that if the taxi took a detour, I could tell if that was a prudent move to avoid traffic or a way to increase the fare and 3) always asked for an estimate of the cost to make it harder to ask significantly higher fares later on. Depending on traffic condition and where you are staying, the driver might not always care to enter the congested part of Sultanahmet. You might have to walk the last few blocks. There are many one-way streets. Our hotel was on the other end of the one-way street going the wrong way. Rather than doing a major run around to get to the other side, he just drove the one-way street going the wrong way!

I would put the Blue Mosque and Cistern at the opening times perhaps on different days.

The Blue Mosque cannot be entered at will. There are strict visiting hours. On the arrival day, walk over to the Blue Mosque to find out the current visiting hours. People lined up before the visiting hours. If you don't have appropriate head or leg covers, they supply blue sheets as well as plastic bags to carry your shoes.

The Basilica Cistern can get very crowded. To see if you need to be there at the opening time, look at the ticket line as you pass in front it to see how bad the queue is during the day. There is an eerie background music to add to the mood, but you cannot hear them when it gets crowded especially the area around Medusa. It also drips a lot from the ceiling above.

The Topkapı Palace can also get crowded. A queue forms to enter the treasury. The other part can be visited at your pace. The Harem requires an additional entrance. If you are visiting many museums, get a Museum card.

Also, if you are using public transit a lot, get a reloadable Istanbulkart. Per ride is significantly cheaper and more convenient using this all purpose card usable on tram, buses, public ferry boats, subways, lightrail, funiculars, and Marmarai under the Bosphorus train.

Hagia Sophia is very popular, but it can accommodate a lot of visitors at the same time. The entry wait can be shortened by using a Museum card.

kja

"The second day I will try to go to Hagia Sophia, Blue mosque, Cistern, Hippodrome, Topkapi, Spice Bazaar, cross over the galata bridge, walk Istikal street, see the Galata tower and finish in taksim square, then go back to the hotel. "

That set of sites took me closer to two full days, and I travel hard!

You might want to admit to yourself that you simply cannot see all these things with the time you have, and then decide on your highest priorities, so that you can try to at least see them. And as others have noted, do plan your time with awareness of opening and closing hours.

screen_name_taken

I beg to differ
DH and I visited Istanbul as part of a cruise stop. We were in Istanbul all of 10 hrs at the most.
We went to Hagia Sofia (gorgeous) The Blue Mosque (breathtaking) and Topkapi, Grand Bazaar, as well as lunch in some forgettable restaurant.
I cant'say I saw everything there's is to see in Topkapi, but I know the grounds are beautiful, the collections displayed are amazing. And after a few stalls, the Bazaar became intolerable. so all in all ... I think you can safely pack those 4 in one day.

Lines can be quite long at Topkapi though, at least that's were we found them long.
I'd say the Hagia and Mosque will not take more than 1 hr each. Can you linger longer? of course! And don't you dare miss them.
Topkapi would take much longer if you want to see every last corner. Never mind the Bazaar. Have you ever been to a flea market? no need to spend more than an hour there ... just sayin'
I can't speak for any other site.

dfourh

I agree that the Grand Bazaar is basically intolerable. It is huge, but every 50 square meters is virtually identical to the last 50 square meters, and it is formulaic touristic uniformity up and down, as far as the eye can see. If locals actually shopped there, it might be interesting, but they would have to be daft to do so. (The Spice Bazaar subscribes to a similar formula - - piles of spices booth after booth - - does anybody actually buy them as they lose all their aroma sitting in open pyramid displays?).

I didn't think Hagia Sopia needed more than an hour (but I do walk quick and take things in quickly), but a real highlight was the Harem in Topkapi. Wowsville.

Here's pix of Hagia Sophia & Topkapi with Harem last July: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dougla...57655357082705

And of a ferry trip to Kadikoy then: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dougla...57653105390663

And other ranging highlights: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dougla...57655027580019

maltamonument

Thanks everyone for your kind and helpful replies. I guess you're right about the first day, by the time I'll arrive to the hotel, it will probably be too late to go anywhere. Second day I may pass on the spice bazaar and Galata area and I'll leave that for the third day. I may also pass on the Dolmabahce palace and leave it just in case I find some time left.

I really want to see the aquarium as I never been to one and its sort of different than the other attractions (the others are historical, this is more of fun activity so to speak).

I'm only hoping the lines will be much less since its the end of November (even though the opening hours are less as well).

So probably 1st day: stroll and maybe enter the Blue mosque & Hippodrome.

2nd: Hagia, Blue Mosque (if I don't do it on day 1), Topkapi, Grand Bazaar and Galata bridge.

3rd: take tram to tophane and wander in Istikal street and galata tower area. In the afternoon, I go back to Sirkeci and change lines and stop on Florya and go to the aquarium, then back to the hotel. The aquarium is open till 8pm anyway.

4th day: something small in the morning, maybe cistern.

otherchelebi

The aquarium is, as you also wrote, in Florya and only a ten minute simple taxi ride from the airport.

You may be able to arrange that visit on your last day before you fly back.

kja

Depending on your purposes, you might leave the Galata Bridge and area, plus Istikal (if you decide to visit it) for the END of a day -- perhaps just early enough to visit the Galata Tower if that's a priority. At least from my perspective, the reason to see the rest of these areas was primarily to just walk around and perhaps have dinner; as otherchelebi already noted, you can do that after other things close.

The Hippodrome, too, is really just an area around which to walk -- so something you can do after other things close.

Istanbul is fascinating -- enjoy!

maltamonument

thanks everyone! One last thing, to get to Florya from Sultanahmet, I need to take the Marmaray line from Sirkeci, yes? Because I'm finding on the web that the line isn't complete etc etc.

otherchelebi

the internet information is correct.

you would need to take a bus or taxi. Or you can take tram+metro to airport and get a free cab (not from the rank, because rank taxis will not want the short haul) from there.

Unless you do your traveling late morning and early afternoon, i.e. between 10:30 AM and 13:30 PM, it may take an hour or so each way.

Aquarium is pronounced almost the same way in Turkish: uckwahryoom.

julia_t

Try to get to the Topkapi Palace as soon as possible after it opens (before would be better to get your tickets) and head straight for the harem before it gets crowded.

Likewise Hagia Sofia, get there early another morning (maybe your final one), and enjoy it before it fills up with people.

It took me until my third day to get into the Blue Mosque because it was closed for worship every time I found myself close by with time to spare. I also recommend the Mosaic Museum, down behind the Blue Mosque in the Arasta(sp) Bazaar

I really enjoyed visiting the Dolmahbace Palace and found it fascinating - all that extravagant and lavish luxury! However you cannot just walk in, you have to join a tour, so check for times of the English tours.