Which side to stay in Istanbul
 

I'm struggling to decide which side of the Golden Horn to stay in Istanbul. We are 4 adults with a 4 year old child. My and my wife in early thirties and my parents just turned 60. We will be in Istanbul mid-May for 5 nights. We like atmospheric places with history but also like the more authentic, vibrant parts of the places we visit.

I'm getting various apartments / family suites in similar price ranges in both Old Sultanahmet 5-10 mins walking from the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque as well as in Galata/Beyoglu (one apartment is directly on Istikal). While I understand we will have to visit both parts of the city several times during the day, I'm finding it hard to determine which side we would more enjoy staying at.

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Hard to answer. I loved staying in Beyoglu for our 6 day stay and plan on doing it again. However, there are advantages to staying on the other side if most of your time is going to be spent at the major tourist sights. There were days when I definitely found the trekking over to Sultanahmet tiring.

Oh, forgot to add...not sure how spry your parents are (they sound relatively young), but with a four year old there would be a huge advantage to being able to duck back to your apartment quickly.

FWIW, I found İstiklâl Caddesi WAY too loud and WAY to crowded for my tastes. I don't generally dislike the hubbub of a city center, but by the time I finished walking this street, I was stressed out and had a headache. As I recall, that was a Friday evening.

But others have had very different experiences...

I was very glad that I stayed in Sultanahmet.

Istanbul is fascinating - you'll have some wonderful experiences wherever you stay.

Thanks Peg and kja. Another perspective I got from a different forum is that Sultanahmet is fairly dull after evening and it may make sense to be in Beyoglu so we visit Sultanahmet in the day time and are out and about our hotel in the evening in lively parts of town. Would love to get more thoughts...

Shoonye, I think it depends on your energy level. It takes about 20 min to 1/2 hour to get to Sultanahmet from Beyoglu. There are also some steep areas. I, personally, loved being in Beyoglu, but it was just my husband and me. Istiklal is insanely crowded from the afternoon into the evening. The sides streets--which are fascinating--less so.

> Another perspective I got from a different forum is that Sultanahmet is fairly dull after evening and it may make sense to be in Beyoglu so we visit Sultanahmet in the day time and are out and about our hotel in the evening in lively parts of town. Would love to get more thoughts...

I lot of people on this board feel the same way -- you can search the board to find their comments.