Istanbul with toddler
 

My husband has a conference coming up in Istanbul in April, and we are debating whether I and our 20 month old daughter should come with him. I have always wanted to visit Istanbul and our daughter is quite a good traveller.

The only other post I could find about travelling in Istanbul with a toddler had pretty uniformly negative responses--does anyone think it could be doable, and fun?

If we did go, any suggestions for hotels that would be walkable to attractions and kid friendly, as well as being pleasant to spend time in? I imagine my daughter and I will spend time walking to various sites and then recuperating and napping in the hotel quite a bit while my husband is conferencing...

Tripadvisor raves about Sirkeci Konak. Any thoughts? It's pricier than I'd like, but if it's that nice, and the staff is that helpful, it would be worth it.

thanks for any advice.

stephanie

Hi Stepanie

I would choose a hotel in Sultanahmet. Most of the attractions are there. I visited Istanbul and though I did not have a toddler with me I don't see why it would be any less child friendly than other cities. I felt perfectly safe there and the people were very hospitable. The real issue is what is your room budget? I'll take a wild guess and suggest Seven Hills Hotel - http://www.hotelsevenhills.com. Great location and fabulous roof terrace.

That looks lovely. I was also looking at the Empress Zoe. Any idea how they would compare?

Empress Zoe is a great little hotel, but it is in Sultanahmet. Your husband will most likely be spending his time in Beyoglu on the other side of the water. I'd check that before making any plans.

We agreed that it would be best to get a hotel that was near enough to main attractions that I could spend the days walkign around with my daughter, and that he could take taxis or public transport to the business district, so I the Sultanahmet area would work.