Suggestions for an afternoon in Istanbul
 

I will be in Istanbul for a few days next month but I am arriving the day before my travel companion. I want to wait to see the main sights with her so I am wondering what I should plan to do for the day I am on my own. Would it make sense for me to just plan to walk around the old city and over the Galata bridge just to get oriented and then go into the sites the next day with my friend? It will be a Sunday and I will just have arrived that morning. I am staying in Sultanahmet. I am a middle aged woman, well - traveled, but have never been to Turkey before. I would also appreciate a suggestion as to options for dinner on my own in the Sultanahmet area - nothing fancy.

You can visit other main sites, whatever they are, that you are not planning to visit with your companion.

It is quite a walk to the Galata Bridge from Sultanahmet and even more chore climbing back up the hill to Sultanahmet. If you are planning to ride public transit more than 3 times, get hold of the Istanbulkart common public transit loadable card for cheaper per ride cost and not having to bother with coming up with payment per ride. The tram would be the essential way to get in/out of Sultanahmet to practically anywhere in Istanbul. If you want to walk, walk downhill from the Sultanahmet and take the tram back up.

I found eating options around Sultanahmet to be touristy. I headed down the hill to Sirkeci area, Pocapasha street after passing numerous restaurants coming down the hill with waiters trying to snag tourists into restaurants where only the diners seemed to be tourists.

I was going to suggest this but I see they don't have classes on Sunday. If you want to do it with your companion, I highly recommend it:

http://cookingalaturka.com/Default.aspx

And you eat the product of your class for dinner. It's a really great way to talk to locals (the teacher and her chef assistant) and get to understand Turkish flavor profiles.

Thank you both very much for the advice on walking around and eating options and the cooking class sounds fun and would have been great if I could have done it on Sunday. I have another half day in Istanbul alone at the end of our trip so I may think about it for then if the time works out.

Unless you and your traveling companion have a week or more in Istanbul, I would think there would be plenty of "main sites" for you to see on your own. If you do have more time than that, they you might want to consult a guidebook or two (always a worthy investment, IME, but you can also go to a library) to see what captures your interest. Istanbul is a fascinating city with soooo much to see!

I enjoyed a meal at Pasazada in Sultanahmet -- touristy, but tasty.
http://www.pasazade.com/location

We took a local bus up the western side of the Bosphorus to not far from the Black Sea (sorry I don't remember the name of this area but it did have a lot of outdoor food vendors, e.g., grills, etc.) then took a ferry back down to Istanbul.

Hi

A couple of suggestions. Take a leisurely evening ferry ride to Ortakoy. Check out the mosque then dine on Kumpir stuffed potatoes. Here's some info - http://istanbuleats.com/2009/12/ista...4-maya-kumpir/. Really pretty spot and a good way to check out the way locals live. Alternatively you may want to do some shopping on your own at the Grand Bazaar. I assume it's open on a Sunday (the nearby Spice Bazaar isn't).

worldinabag, good suggestion but not for Sunday.

The Grand Bazaar is closed on Sunday and there are no ferries to Ortakoy on Sunday either.

The only ferry leaves Eminonu at 6:20 PM stops at Besiktas and then continues on to stop again way too far along the Bosphorus.

It is possible to get the schedules at www.sehirhatlari.com the Sunday schedule is at the bottom in red.

However, there are any number of frequent ferries to Uskudar and Kadikoy on the Asian side.

Uskudar is lower income more conservative more local, has terrific views of Leanders tower and the historic peninsula for photography with a 10-15 minute walk aling the sea, as well as some interesting Ottoman architecture. Kanaat Restaurant is the best hot plate restaurant in Istanbul with a huge selection of Turkish home cooking type food.

Kadikoy has a good pedestrians only shopping area with the famous Ciya Sofrasi the Southeastern Syrian Christian Cuisine restaurant as well as decent fish restaurants, kebap houses and candy and pastry shops, art supplies, used book stores, etc.

One can take regular fery from Eminonu to Kadikoy, or to Uskudar
walk, eat, shop;
take smaller ferry to Kabatas (acroos to Europe);
take funicular up to Taksim square,
walk along Istiklal Street to the end, possibly to Galata tower also,
walk down to Karakoy, (Galata Bridge)
walk to Gulluoglu to buy some of Istanbul's best baklava,
then take tram back to Sultanahmet.

Here's an interesting article and video for you :

http://www.nytimes.com/video/travel/....html?emc=eta1

One more option to consider is - Take a Bosphorus Boat Ride / Tour. It will allow you to see a large number of interesting parts of Istanbul from a great vantage point - from the ferry. There are long and short options for the tours. You an check out a brief guide I have put together - available here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the...28734237?mt=11

If you decide to take a ride on the Bosphorus, just use the local ferries -- they are more convenient and much less expensive than tour boats.

If you do the ferry tour I'd do the 6 hour one, you can eat at a touristy fish shop at the final shop, see a ruined castle and hike up to the castle with some of the friendliest canines I've seen.

Also be sure to get the yogurt and powdered sugar they offer on the ferry. It sounds weird but it was delicious with the sweet sugar mixing with the sour yogurt.

Thank you all for these suggestions.
Do you think someone new to Istanbul could manage to figure out all the transportation necessary to do the itinerary Otherchelebi proposed? It sounds appealing to me because I would get some feel for the city but I am concerned about getting lost or having trouble figuring out which is the right ferry or right stop. I may take a Bosphorus cruise instead but I think my friend will want to do it too so it would mean doing it twice.

Istanbul is easy to navigate, particularly if you have a good guide book.

The sites around the old city are close together and pretty well marked. Look for multiple tour buses and you'll know you are there.:)

Only time we had problems with directions is going by Metro to Chora Church. We followed Rick Steves instruction but got turned around at the Metro nearby. Luckily, there is always some young person around who speaks some English-though Chora Church is known by another name in Turkey.

They have a newish(but crowded) tram system that can take you to most tourist sites. You will be fine.

bookmarking. Thanks.