Friday, 5 May 2023

Istanbul, Turkey 2023

Silhouette of Istanbul from the Bosphorus

Ever since I watched the series Rise of Empires:Ottoman on Netflix amazed at how Mehmed II, popularly known as Mehmed the Conqueror, captured erstwhile Constantinople from Constantinople XI in 1453 portraying the sheer intelligence & thorough dedication of Mehmed II, I became fascinated by the whole idea of Turkey and included it in my bucket list since 2020. As is the golden rule for any international or domestic travel, it is advised to buy flight tickets minimum 3 months before the final travel date so I started planning from end of February (I was still late). I wanted to avoid the rush & crowd of tourists during summer time, which starts from end of May in Turkey and all the prices - hot air balloon rides, AirBnB, hotels become double or triple of what the prices actually are in winter season. But I also had to keep in mind to avoid the holy festival of Ramadan which ended on 21st April 2023, so I bought the tickets planning to reach Istanbul on 22nd April, i.e. the day of Eid.

Bosphorus Strait & Ayasofya Camii
in the background

Visa procedure for Indians:

Indian citizens can avail e-Visa from https://www.evisa.gov.tr/tr/ or paper Visa from https://www.vfsglobal.com/turkey/india/Tourist.html for Turkey as Turkey does not come under European Union hence even if one has Schengen visa, one still has to get Turkish Visa. The following documents are required to obtain a Turkish visa if one doesn't have US, UK, Ireland resident permit/visa or Schengen visa-

  • Onwards & return confirmed flight tickets
  • Confirmed hotel bookings
  • Leave approval application from your organization where you are currently working
  • 3 months bank statement
  • Address proof (both permanent & present)
  • 3 months payslips from current organization
  • Office address document
The above documents are mandatory to apply for paper visa. More details can be found at https://www.vfsglobal.com/turkey/india/Tourist.html depending on the jurisdiction from where one is applying - whether from Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Goa, Odisha etc.

The visa cost approx. ₹ 18400 if one doesn't have US, UK, Ireland resident permit/visa or Schengen visa but the cost of e-Visa automatically comes down to $44.5 if one has the above visas. But it is mandatory to carry the US/UK/Ireland residence permits and/or Schengen visa during travel as they check it at immigration in Turkey.

I booked flight tickets from Skyscanner to get the best deals (N.B - not promoting Skyscanner but writing this after personal experience). It cost around ₹ 62100 on Turkish Airlines for the flight to Istanbul, which left Bangalore at 22:45 hours IST with a 6 hour layover at Mumbai Int'l airport, the flight from Mumbai was at 06:35 hours IST which arrived at İstanbul Havalimanı at 10:50 hours Istanbul time. This flight was of the shortest duration. The flight from Bangalore to Mumbai was Indigo (unfortunately) while that from Mumbai to Istanbul was Turkish Airlines (fortunately).

After reaching Istanbul & clearing the immigration (the immigration officer didn't even see my e-Visa, she just asked for my B1/B2 US visa & allowed me to enter Turkey, although the officer/s may want to see your e-Visa when you are flying out of the country), one can go to the main Istanbul city via-

  • Airport bus viz HAVIST buses depending on where one's accommodation is located
  • Taxi (Taksi in Turkish) but it took 40 Euros or approx 800 TL for us (our AirBnB was located right beside Sirkeci Tren Garı)
Ideally it takes approx. 1.5-2 hours to reach to Istanbul historical city centre or Sultanahmet area (where Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Museum Palace, Sultanahmet Mosque/Blue Mosque are located) but it took us around 5.5 hours to reach as we were stuck in traffic for approx. 3-3.5 hours within Istanbul city centre, the reasons being-
  • we arrived on the day of Eid
  • the streets (rather lanes) of historical city centre of Istanbul as so narrow that 2 medium sized cars cannot go side by side. All are single lanes.
I was surprised to see that language is a BIIIG barrier in the whole of Turkey although it is a global tourist destination. Everytime we had to made hand signs or use Google Translator to explain anything to MOST of the local Turkish people.
Galata Tower from Bosphorus



The best time to visit Istanbul is from March to end of May when the weather is cool & pleasant, not too humid & not hot at all. It is advised to carry sufficient winter wears as the cold breeze from the Bosphorus can make one catch a bad cold & cough & it is always slightly windy throughout the day. The accommodations are also relatively affordable during this time. From June to August, it is the summer in Turkey and the cost of the accommodations shoot up in the air manifold.

First look of Istanbul


We were dead tired when we arrived at our AirBnB.

Our AirBnB
I'm not sharing the AirBnB details (where we stayed during the 1st leg of our Turkey trip) as the room was cramped, cluttered & not spacious for 4 people, on top of that the bathroom is super tiny. It can accommodate maximum 3 people. Our AirBnB was located on Taya Hatun Sk, 34110 Fatih/İstanbul, very near to Sirkeci Tren Garı & Gülhane tram station. Gülhane Parkı, Topkapi Museum Palace, Istanbul Archaeological Museum all are hardly 5-10 mins on foot from the AirBnB while Hagia Sophia, Yerebatan Sarnıcı (Basilica Cistern), Sultanahmet Mosque, Sultanahmet Square, Obelisk of Theodosius, Serpent Column, Örme Dikilitaş, Alman Çeşmesi (German Fountain) are 15-20 mins away. All the main attractions can pretty much be reached walking (comfortable in cooler weather conditions).

Turkey is a very pet-friendly country

Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar Edebiyat Müze Kütüphanesi

Alamdar Cd.
The preferred mode of transport (for budget travelers like me & also faster as trams do not stop at signals 😂) is by tram
in any weather condition/s which costs 4.39 TL/person irrespective of the destination, but mind you - the ticket price tends to become flat 8.40 TL/person after sunset. The lanes/bylanes/streets/roads become choked with cars in this uber-busy locale as all the main attractions are situated here. Istanbul has an applaudable public transport system & services worth capitalizing which saves your time, and your money as well 😋😋
Orchids in full bloom at Blue Mosque


One has to buy Istanbulkart because there is no option of buying separate tickets (unlike in Thailand where one can by separate tickets instead of pre-loading a bulk amount of money in the card) which is a very uncomfortable option for tourists & travelers, though the card can be topped up by cash and can be used for buses, trains, trams, metros. There are a number of options for Istanbul Kart-

  • 1-3-5-7-15 days Istanbulkart
  • Unlimited Istanbulkart
You can get more detailed information on Istanbul Public Transportation Card.
Istanbul Tram
We started our local sightseeing on Eid after getting fresh, when the Istanbul roads & streets were flooded with some of the most ritzy Turkish people of all age groups 😄 We just roamed around the Golden Horn area near the Bosphorus, withdrew some cash in Turkish Lira for our journey ahead. We carried approx. 200 Euros for 2 people from India and decided to withdraw Turkish Lira after arriving in Turkey.
Cobbled lanes of Istanbul

Turkish Lamps




Currency:

US dollars, Euro & Turkish Lira are the 3 main currencies that are used & accepted in Turkey BUT - only cash Turkish Lira is accepted for local taxi rides, recharging metro/tram/train cards & in some hotels/restaurants/roadside eateries/food joints selling boiled corn, bagels, clams etc. USD & Euro are majorly & preferably accepted by the local tour operators for booking the Bosphorus Cruise, Ephesus Tours (in Selçuk), Hot Air Balloon Rides (both in Pamukkale & Cappadocia). So it is recommended to carry a combination of USD or Euro and Turkish Lira in cash because it is difficult to withdraw USD or Euro from the local banks which may or may not charge a conversion+convenience fee, all depending on your bank. The below ATM's of Turkish Banks are tried & tested personally which don't and/or impose very nominal conversion rates for Indian ATM cards-
  • Ziraat Bankası
  • Halkbank
  • ING
The conversion rate for ICICI bank debit cards was approx. 1TL = INR 4.44 while for HDFC debit card was 1TL = INR 4.24 (was giving almost the exact conversion rate for that particular day).
It is encouraged to take a local sim, the best network provided in Turkey is Turkcell which is available in almost most of the regions in Turkey. The plan we took cost 650 TL and gave 40 GB internet and unlimited calls to local Turkish mobile numbers.
German Fountain





P. S. - Turkish people, be it in cafes, restaurants, buses, souvenir shops, even taxis, expect tips everywhere even if the service was deplorable. It goes without saying that tipping is an inherent part of European culture but you can refrain from tipping if you are not satisfied with their services. At some places, we even noticed that they took offense at not being provided any tip but we didn't care. The recommended amount of tipping is 10% of the total bill, DO NOT pay more than that.

Serpent Column





We had a heartfelt Turkish supper at Gulhane Sark Sofrasi which cost us 1625 TL including tips for 4 people, starting from Turkish vegetable mezze and ending with Turkish tea & home-made Baklava offered by one of the kind hearted restaurant person.
Turkish Mezze
 
Baklava & Turkish Tea
We gobbled up all the dishes like hangry tourists and were so full that we realized we cannot do some local sightseeing with our stuffed up paunches 😅, deciding to retire for the day as we had quite a hectic journey from India to Istanbul. But before that, we booked a 2 hour Bosphorus Cruise on Day 2 from Sea & Land Travel Agency on spot for 5 Euros per person, the cruise included unlimited coffee, tea and English guide throughout the tour as the cruise crosses important attractions along the Bosphorus Strait.

How to reach the historical city centre of Istanbul:

From Taksim Square - 
  • take the metro from Metro Taksim İstasyonu to Beyoğlu, take the funicular from Beyoğlu to Karaköy OR take the funicular from Finüküler Taksim İstasyonu to Kabataş, from Karaköy/Kabataş take T1 tram to
    • Sultanahmet station for the main attractions - Hagia Sophia, Sultanahmet Camii, Basilica Cistern, Cistern of Theodosius, Obelisk of Theodosius, Serpent Column, German Fountain, Sultanahmet Meydanı, Hacı Beşir Ağa Çeşmesi/Haji Agha Bashir Fountain, Milyon Taşı/The Stone of Million (used in Byzantine period to measure distances)
    • Gülhane station for Topkapi Palace & Museum, Gülhane Parkı, Istanbul Archaeological Museum, Bizans surları/Byzantine Walls.
  • by taxi/taksi (which will cost more)
We wanted to start our sightseeing from Yerebatan Sarnıcı/Basilica Cistern but seeing the loooooong queue outside, we decided to start from Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque/Aya Sofya Camii (in Turkish) at around 10.30 am. The easiest and fastest way to reach Hagia Sophia is by T1 tram and get down at Sultanahmet tram station. If coming by train, one needs to take the train to Marmaray (Atakoy - Pendik) line. The nearest train station is the Marmaray Sirkeci İstasyonu station, which is 15 minutes away by foot or can take T1 tram from Sirkeci tram station and get down at Sultanahmet tram station. The entry is free for all travelers & tourists but as Hagia Sophia is no longer a museum but was converted to a mosque in 2020, the museum and larger portions of the mosque is not accessible to the tourists anymore.
The interior dome of Ayasofya

Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque
The mosque is also closed during prayer hours. Hagia Sophia is an erstwhile Orthodox Church/Cathedral which lived through a few conversions from church to cathedral during the crusade ages, to mosque during Ottoman conquest by Mehmet the Conqueror in 1453, to museum in 1935 on establishment of the secular Republic of Turkey to mosque again in 2020. As it is a religious place of worship, men & women are instructed to wear appropriate clothing before entering the mosque. Women are advised to cover their heads with a scarf or abaya or jacket hoodie & cover their hands & legs.
First look Hagia Sophia

It's advisable for women
to cover their heads

Awestruck





Ayasofya Camii is the epitome of Byzantine architecture where one can still see the iconography like the mosaic depictions of Jesus, Mary, Christian saints & angels were removed or plastered over during Ottoman conquest in 1453.











It took us about 1.5-2 hours to properly see, visualize & be awed at the interior architectural marvel of Ayasofya. I was disappointed when I realised that the 1st floor of Ayasofya was open to the public till 2020 before it got converted to a mosque.






BEWARE: Animal lovers, especially dog & cat lovers - be prepared to get diabetic because you will be overloaded with the cuteness & friendliness of the furry friends there.

Special furry friend I met at
Sultanahmet Square

 

Inside Blue Mosque/Sultanahmet Camii

















Blue Mosque/Sultanahmet Camii

Our next place of interest was Sultanahmet Camii or more famously known as the Blue Mosque which is a few hundred meters from Ayasofya and the entrance is free for all visitors. This is an active mosque which remains open during the following hours:-

  • 8:30 to 12:15 hours (Saturday to Thursday)
  • 14:00 to 16:45 hours (Saturday to Thursday)
  • 17:45 to 18:30 hours (Saturday to Thursday)
  • opens from 14:30 hours ONLY on Fridays.

Interior of Sultanahmet Camii



Blue Mosque/Sultanahmet Camii


The mosque remains closed to the visitors other than the hours mentioned above for congregational prayers. We arrived here at around 1.30 pm, so we had to wait in the queue until the afternoon prayers were completed. The Blue Mosque is the only one with 6 minarets in Istanbul and is one of the most impressive architectural monuments in the world. It was declared in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1985. It took us around 1 hours to completely tour the interior of Sultanahmet Camii as most of the sections were not open to the visitors.


St. Euphemia's Martyrion at Sultanahmet Sq.


Örme Dikilitaş, Serpent Column (Yılanlı Sütun), Obelisk of Theodosius (Theodosius Dikilitaşı), German Fountain (Alman Çeşmesi), Sultanahmet Park (Sultan Ahmet Parkı) - all are located within Sultanahmet Square (Sultanahmet Meydanı) which is a few hundred meters from both Hagia Sophia & Sultanahmet Mosque. These are all free attractions (no entrance fee) and all can be covered on foot, so are Sphendone Remains (Hipodrom Kalıntıları) and Rüstem Paşa Çeşmesi.

Within Topkapi Palace grounds

Entrance to Topkapi Palace & Museum
At around 3.30 pm we made our way towards Topkapi Palace museum where the entrance fee was 650 TL/person (includes the Harem, Topkapi palace, Hagia Irene & audio guide) for foreigners. If one has Istanbul Muzekart, the entry fee reduces but doesn't become absolutely free. The easiest & fastest way to reach Topkapi Palace museum is also by T1 tram and get down at Gülhane istasyonu or Sultanahmet, both of which are approx. 10 mins away from the palace by foot. If coming by train, one needs to take the train to Marmaray (Atakoy - Pendik) line. The nearest train station is the Marmaray Sirkeci İstasyonu station, which is 15 minutes away by foot or can take T1 tram from Sirkeci tram station and get down at any one of the aforementioned tram stations. Opening hours of Topkapi Palace:-

  • 9:00 to 18:00 hours
  • Closed on Tuesdays 
Topkapi Palace grounds

Topkapi Palace served as the main residence & administrative headquarters of the Ottoman sultans until Abdulmecid I. The opulent pavilions & sprawling Harem gives the visitors a fascinating glimpse into the lives of the Ottoman sultans and their affluence. It was built by Mehmet the Conqueror where he lived till his last breath.

Inside Topkapi Palace grounds


It is advised to visit Topkapi Palace with ample amount of time in hand as it is one of the biggest museums in Istanbul, recommended to visit on a weekday as it tends to becomes over crowded on weekends and there are even long queues of approx. 30-40 minutes wait time. We could cover more or less all the parts of the museum except the palace kitchens from 15:45 to 17:40 hours. The security guards start chasing the visitors as the closing time approaches 😁

We were asked to reach the meeting point for the cruise sharp at 17:30 hours but alas, we got late & had to literally run through the pebbled streets of Istanbul to reach Hazerfen Ahmet Çelebi İskelesi ferry. The cruise started sharp at 6 pm, starting from Hazerfen Ahmet Çelebi İskelesi took us all to the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Köprüsü (Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge), cruising along the European side of Istanbul while going towards Black Sea and along the Asian side of Istanbul while returning back to the ferry. The breeze from the Bosphorus was hitting like a thousand needles no matter how much I was insulated by my warm clothes, shawl, scarf. My hands were frozen. All the tourists were super excited to sit in the open deck of the cruise so that the photographs are pristine, but as soon as the cruise started and we crossed the Bosphorus towards the Galata Tower, most of them scurried inside 😄😄. I was among the few bravehearts to stay on the open deck, dedicating myself to click at least a few pictures but couldn't stay outside for long. 😣😣
Bosphorus Cruise



It was really a memorable experience. One also has the option to enjoy Bosphorus Cruise dinner which are more expensive. On our way back to our AirBnB, we enjoyed some local pomegranate tea to warm ourselves after nearly getting frozen alive and balik ekmek (fish sandwich). The streets of Istanbul were quite isolated and empty at around 9.15 pm, we also had to leave for Istanbul Havalimani at 3:30 hours the next morning for our flight at 06:45 hours to Nevsehir (Cappadocia), so without further ado we all retired for the day.

Cobbled lanes of Istanbul

Failing miserably at posing



Vibrant little cafes

N.B. -

  • Drinking water is NOT freely available in Turkey - be it in restaurants or cafes. Water has to be bought.
  • It is recommended to buy drinking water bottles of 2L or 5L from supermarkets/grocery superstore as there is no concept of MRP in Turkey and the local shops ALWAYS charge more than the designated price of the bottle varying from 10-15 TL for 1L whereas the cost in supermarkets is 8TL for 1L water bottle.
  • Passengers are NOT allowed to carry any kind or quantity of liquids in hand luggage, even if it is a 50ml or 100ml water bottle when flying domestically from Istanbul Havalimani (the security personnel threw away my 100 ml water bottle)
  • One can cover the attractions in Sultanahmet Square & Bosphorus Cruise in one day comfortably by 18:00 hours. Basilica Cistern can also be done on the same day IF & ONLY IF one can stand at the queue for Basilica Cistern from 8.30 am because the cistern opens sharp at 9.00 am. One can buy onlines tickets beforehand to skip the queue but it'll cost around 27-30 Euros while the queued ticket costs 300 TL or ~14-15 Euro per person - you see almost half than that of online ticket.
  • After seeing the attractions above, one can experience the Bosphorus Cruise by 20:00 hours and call it a day by keeping Galata Kulesi/Galata Tower in the end which closes at 23:00 hours (opens at 08:30 hours). The ticket counter closes at 22:00 hours. Entry fee is 350 TL/person.

We returned to Istanbul after 8 days peppy trip from European Turkey to Asian Turkey comprising of Cappadocia - the moon land, Pamukkale, Fethiye - a small Mediterranean town with the mesmerizing Ölüdeniz beach, and Izmir - a glittering hilly city by the Aegean Sea.

Our return flight arrived at Sabiha Gökçen International Airport and the most economic route to reach Istanbul old city centre is-

I recommend Sah Apart Hotel for our last 3 days stay in Istanbul. The owner Necati is a genuinely helpful person, so was his son. Unfortunately, most of the hotels/accommodations in old city of Istanbul don't have elevator/lift in the buildings. It becomes quite difficult to carry the luggage from the ground floor to the higher floors, although the buildings are usually 3 or 4 storeyed. Sah Apart Hotel is located in the north-west direction of Sultanahmet Camii which is ONLY 3 minutes by foot from our AirBnB. Necati also has a shop selling impressive & intricately designed vintage Turkish carpets, kilims, antiques & textiles. When we arrived the hotel, I observed Necati's son weaving or repairing a Turkish carpet 😀. He helped us in carrying our heavy luggage to the 2nd floor to our room. Necati's place is quite spacious, the room is sunny, well insulated with room heater, comfortable beds, well set up kitchen.

Ceiling of Grand Bazaar

Without much ado & time to waste, we headed straight towards the Grand Bazaar or Kapalı Çarşı - a 15th century historic sprawing mesh of indoor market street shops hawking jewelries, precious stones, crystals, leather products, souvenirs, Turkish delights, furnitures, carpets, clothes, silk apparels, gifts and so much more. It is also considered as one of the 1st shopping malls of the world and is located within the "walled city" of Constantinople. The Grand Bazaar Istanbul prices are relatively good value, but it is imperative for one to bargain, NEVER EVER accept the first price, ALWAYS start at 50% off and then work with the seller for the final price. I'm sure you won't be disappointed 😊 I bought a pure leather jacket which the seller quoted 3500 TL as the starting price. How many of you can guess at which I finally bought it? 😉😉



How to reach the Grand Bazaar:

To be shamefully honest, we didn't get enough time to explore the totality of the Grand Bazaar which also came as a blessing else the total cost of the whole trip would have crossed ₹2.5-3 lakhs or $ 3050-3680 or € 2800-3350 per person.. 😔😕 The Grand Bazaar opens at 08:30 hours and closes by 19:00 hours (FULLY closed on Sundays), so it is totally up to you how much time you want to spend here 😛

Kunefe

We decided to have "sweet" dinner that day and made our way to Hafiz Mustafa 1864 - the oldest & most famous confectionary offering a wide range of Turkish delights. Hadji İsmail Hakkı Bey, the founder, was a candy maker and his son Hafiz Mustafa was the first to have found and manufactured the salty pastry called pogaca, who was also instrumental in promoting Turkish products to the world and prove high brand recognition.

Borek


We immersed ourselves in the world of kunafe, borek, rice pudding,various types of baklava. I am sure to acquire diabetes after that particular dinner 😅😅 This particular Hafiz Mustafa 1864 outlet is the oldest & remains open 24x7.


Arches of the cistern
We made it to the Yerebatan Sarnıcı/Basilica Cistern queue sharp at 8.30 am the next day and was fortunate enough to get a short queue.

1st look of the Basilica Cistern
It'll take approx 1-1.25 hours to properly see and be amazed at the architecture of Basilica Cistern - the one where the movie Inferno was shot, with Tom Hanks & Felicity Jones, towards the end of the movie. Water still drips from the roof of the cistern, so don't be surprised if you face water droplets falling on you.

One must also NOT miss the heads of Medusa being used at the bottom of the pillar and a particular tear drop column.




Medusa's head

Visiting hours & ticket price of Yerebatan Sarnıcı-

  • 09:00 to 19:00 hours everyday
  • 300 TL or ~14-15 Euro per person if waiting in the queue. One can buy online tickets beforehand to skip the queue but it'll cost around 27-30 Euros  - you see almost double than that of offline ticket.

If one is further interested in knowing the history of Constantinople, the Byzantine Empire, you are encouraged to visit Şerefiye Sarnıcı/Cistern of Theodosius which is relatively newer (1600 yr old cistern) than Basilica Cistern. There are 2 light & sound shows in Şerefiye Sarnıcı -

  • A civilization of water - Istanbul (show of 15 minutes)
  • Journey from Past to Present - Şerefiye Sarnıcı
The 1st session of the day starts from 09:00 hours, the ticket price for both these shows in 350 TL per person, if one chooses to only see the 2nd show, the ticket price is 250 TL per person. The audio is available in both Turkish & English languages and occurs in an interval of 1 hour. I personally enjoyed Basilica Cistern more than Şerefiye Sarnıcı because the former is huger & more vast & extensive & older. (please don't refrain yourselves from enjoying Şerefiye Sarnıcı though 😎)

There are quite a number of cisterns in the old historical city of Istanbul, few of them are listed below-

I enjoyed walking through the cobbled narrow lanes of Istanbul, soaking in the sun as it was chilly that day and made our way to Küçük Ayasofya Camii/Little Hagia Sophia - a 6th century former Greek Orthodox/Byzantine church with Ottoman style interior converted to a mosque during the Ottoman reign. 

Little Hagia Sophia

This monument is a few years older than (almost contemporaries) & certainly not a model for Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque/Aya Sofya Camii (although the present Hagia Sophia is the 3rd building built on the same site). 

We hopped into the T1 tram from Sultanahmet & boarded off at Kabataş and walked for approx. 15 mins towards Dolmabahçe Sarayı. The ticket price for foreigners is 450 TL/person including Selamlık + Harem + Painting Museum Ticket & the ticket is valid for 1 week. Isn't it exciting??!! (more details available at Dolmabahçe Sarayı).

Dolmabahçe Sarayı

It is located on the European bank of Bosphorus & is the largest palace in Turkey where the founding father of the nation Mustafa Kemal Atatürk spent the last days of his life where he breathed his last. Dolmabahçe Sarayı was built on the orders of Abdulmejid I in mid 19th century before which the Sultan lived in Topkapi Palace with his family.

Bosphorus view from Dolmabahçe Sarayı


Opening & closing hours of Dolmabahçe Sarayı-

  • 09:00 to 18:00 hours
  • Ticket office closes at 17:30 hours
Taking photographs inside the palace is STRICTLY prohibited, although I noticed some foreigners clicking photos stealthily when the security guards were not watching (I thought only Indians did such kind of prohibited acts but Turkey surprised me).

We missed Istanbul Archaeological Museum on our 1st leg of Istanbul trip, we made sure we don't miss it before finally returning to India. After being mind-blown by Basilica Cistern, we made our way to Istanbul Archaeological Museum/İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri.

Istanbul Archaeological Museum
Inside Istanbul Archaeological Museum


Opening hours: 09:00 to 20:00 hours

Ticket price: 200 TL per person without audio guide, 275 TL/person including audio guide.

I advice my readers to spend as much time as one can in this treasury of historical artifacts, database as this museum is one of a kind having objects from the Stone Age to the Byzantine & Ottoman times. Few pictures are on their way as soon as I transfer the photos from my mobile to my laptop 😣 (separate post and pictures from inside the museum will be posted soon).
Statue of Tyche


We had to cut short the museum tour as we made our way back to our AirBnB. The owner was kind & considerate enough to understand the reason for getting late and allowed us late check out at 13:45 hours (checking out time is 11:00 hours for EVERY hotel/AirBnB/hostel/accommodation in Turkey). The owner Necati even allowed us to store our luggage at the reception while we went for souvenir shopping.

We left our hotel at around 15:00 hours and took the tram T1 from Sultanahmet tram station to Yusufpaşa İstasyonu (cost only 4.39 TL per person), walked 5 minutes to Aksaray bus stop. boarded HAVIST airport bus which left from Aksaray bus stop at around 15:25 hours & cost ~ 68 TL/person ONLY for transport to İstanbul Havalimanı. Our return flight was at 19:50 hours yet we reached the airport at around 16:45 hours.

To summarise-

N. B. - please pay attention to the opening & closing hours of all the attractions & you can plan your tour accordingly (we planned Grand Bazaar in the evening after we arrived at Istanbul in the afternoon; Şerefiye Sarnıcı. Little Hagia Sophia & Dolmabahçe Sarayı on one day, Basilica Cistern & Istanbul Archaeological Museum another day which was cut short as we had our departure flight that day)

The immigration officer asked to check my e-Visa (didn't understand why checking the e-Visa when I'm flying out of the country), otherwise the security check in was pretty smooth & hassle free.

Unfortunately, Indigo airlines poured water over my whole alluring experience of Turkey with their-

  • aircraft
  • facilities available on board
  • services on board
Never mind, watch out this space for detailed itineraries for Cappadocia, Pamukkale, Fethiye & Izmir. Till then, ciao 👋👋

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Location: İstanbul, Türkiye

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