Travel Advice: Istanbul

[T-123456]

Ok thanks for your advice... I will rather go to Sapphire Istanbul or do other attractions as I realised Galata tower is not an ideal choice and I should agree with you both

Dont forget to mention your nationality(the Pakistani).

 

[ABCharlie]

I will try to go at both places if I found enough time

Galata Tower is more popular so what I have shortlisted so far as must are

Blue Mosque, Eyup Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Topkapi, Cistern, Bosphorous Bridge, Two bazaars (Spice and Grand and may be Egyptian Bazaar), some resting places of Sahabas, walk around the districts of Fatih and plenty of food as advised by Selim I

Possibly Galata Tower and the one you mentioned (Saphire of Istanbul) and plenty of advice to follow from this thread from every post... as I will have access to Internet to visit this thread anytime

I thought Spice bazaar and Egyptian bazaar were the same? At least that's what I believed when I was there lol.
I had 4 days for my stay in Istanbul. I got a hotel on the asian side for the first night just to experience it, and it was an interesting experience because no one spoke any English. And the rest were on European side where all the main attractions are. Topkapi took a whole day because there are lines to see pretty much all attractions inside and these lines are looooong, so be mindful of that. In the end I was wishing I had more days. I would have visited some of these tombs mentioned in this thread. But I did squeeze in a day in Konya on that trip so I did get a chance to say my salam to Rumi
Have fun on your trip! You cant go wrong with Turkey.

 

[Hakikat ve Hikmet]

And, don't forget about food!!! Try Iskender Kebap and everything else. And, drink lots of Ayran (yogurt drink)!!!!

 

[ABCharlie]

And, don't forget about food!!! Try Iskender Kebap and everything else. And, drink lots of Ayran (yogurt drink)!!!!

And adana kebab. I also grew quite partial to apple tea there.

 

[Hyde]

I thought Spice bazaar and Egyptian bazaar were the same? At least that's what I believed when I was there lol.
I had 4 days for my stay in Istanbul. I got a hotel on the asian side for the first night just to experience it, and it was an interesting experience because no one spoke any English. And the rest were on European side where all the main attractions are. Topkapi took a whole day because there are lines to see pretty much all attractions inside and these lines are looooong, so be mindful of that. In the end I was wishing I had more days. I would have visited some of these tombs mentioned in this thread. But I did squeeze in a day in Konya on that trip so I did get a chance to say my salam to Rumi
Have fun on your trip! You cant go wrong with Turkey.

Looks like indeed Spice n Egyptian Bazaars are one...

I wish I could go to the resting place of Maulana Rumi but it is too far from Istanbul and I have no intentions to drive in this tour so may be next time

And, don't forget about food!!! Try Iskender Kebap and everything else. And, drink lots of Ayran (yogurt drink)!!!!

I once ate Donner from one of the Turkish road/corner shop in Berlin... That was the best donner I have eaten in life I guess. It had a long queue and I read the reviews about it on TripAdvisor so wanted to try for once and it indeed was amazing

Will try to eat above mentioned food in the tour as me and my wife have had almost every Turkish food from Turkish restaurants in London and we both love it

And adana kebab. I also grew quite partial to apple tea there.

Insha'Allah will try to eat it from there

 

[Selim I]

Thank you all for your help. You have given me gem of information and I will make sure to utilise this info as much as possible.


Thank you so much for both posts.. the first post of yours was very detailed and useful for my itenary.

Can you please provide locations of all these sahabas where they are buried... I would try to visit as many as possible Insha'Allah

Technically I got 5 days to spend in Istanbul but 3 days will be spared exclusively for roaming around and probably half days for rest of the 2 days

Ebu Eyyûb el-Ensari:
Adress: Eyüp Merkez Mahallesi, 34050 Eyüp/İstanbul, Turkey

Ebû’d Derda
Adress: Tuna Mahallesi, 74100 Bartın Merkez/Bartın Province, Turkey

Ka’b Bin Malik
Adress: İstiklal Mahallesi, 34440 Beyoğlu/İstanbul, Turkey

Here's a few I could find in google

 

[Hyde]

Ebu Eyyûb el-Ensari:
Adress: Eyüp Merkez Mahallesi, 34050 Eyüp/İstanbul, Turkey

Ebû’d Derda
Adress: Tuna Mahallesi, 74100 Bartın Merkez/Bartın Province, Turkey

Ka’b Bin Malik
Adress: İstiklal Mahallesi, 34440 Beyoğlu/İstanbul, Turkey

Here's a few I could find in google

Thank you so much... I will try my best to visit all 3 places Insha'Allah

 

[Hyde]

Right so I am in Turkey since yesterday. The city feels like improved version of Lahore and Karachi in my opinion with lots of skyscrappers and so much going on around you. We haven't seen any attraction so far but the hotel is so good

First thing to do is Blue Mosque, Aya Sofia, Topkapi Palace; Cistern Basillica and hopefully try to cover it within a day

For tomorrow I will follow Selim I's advice and read the posts of this thread again to follow as much as possible

Thank you

 

[Hyde]

Hello

So I will be coming back tomorrow Insha'Allah... and seen most of the above mentioned places if not all

Today we are hoping to visit Princess Islands and may be Tomb of Hazrat Yusha A.S

I am pleasantly surprised about many shopkeepers know about 'Jeevay Jeevay Pakistan'

We found a really good guide since last 2 days who has been taking us around. He went to say 50 shops with us and 50% of them said Jeevay Jeevay Pakistan when he introduced us as Pakistanis.

I was also very happy to receive special treatment at security checks which I believe were mostly interested in catching Iraqis and Syrians. I went to the Metro station for example and there was a security check point and the Turkish guide said to the police officer that these people are from Pakistan and the police man replied... no need for security check... Welcome... Please go...

I do see heavy security nowadays at almost every place... but thankfully nothing much to worry about

Thank you Turkey for abundance of love for Pakistanis. I have visited so many coutries but never seen such people who really adore Pakistanis so much and give them so much respect