Istanbul Annual Tulip Festival Starts
 

Thirty Million tulips are now planted in Istanbul in various stages of flowering.

The center of the festival is Emirgan park, about half way towards the Black Sea. But there are tulips everywhere.

I strongly recommend that you take the coastal road to the city from IST airport where the speed limit on Kennedy Street will let you enjoy the tulips to your heart's desire.

A visit to Emirgan Park can be combined with the best fusion menu in Turkey at Muze De Changa and a tour of Sabanci Museum which are next to the park.

wow. any pictures?

We traveled to Istanbul in the middle of April and one thing that stood out was all the tulips lining the way on the way from the airport to the old city.

Am drawing a blank at the name but the big park near the Haiga Sofia had beautiful tulips planted all around. It was a beautiful month to be there.

annhig, here are a few sites with photos :

http://howtoistanbul.com/en/istanbul...-festival/5911

I like this one :

http://www.supergezginler.com/wordpr...a-lale-zamani/

Here's some more info :

There are 2.8 million tulips of 192 different types at Emirgan Park.
The world's largest tulip carpet is at Sultanahmet with over 500,000 tulips.

There are also concerts at various parks.

emily71, you are absolutely right. Gulhane Park between Hagia Sophia/Topkapi Palace and the Bosphorus also has good tulip displays.

Here's an unrelated bit of information :

Sancaklar Mosque at Kucukcekmece (close to IST airport on reverse side of the city) has been winning some major international architectural design awards and is well worth visiting.

The main building is underground and only has a minarette like a concrete block showing above ground with also an area like a Roman theatre.

love the topiary piano and player, OC. We've been to Keuckenhof in holland a couple of times, but this looks even better.