We visited Istanbul in December 2022. We were there for 5 full days, not including the travel days to get in and out of Istanbul.

We did not have a pre-planned agenda when we landed at Istanbul. We walked a lot and extensively used public transportation (recommended). Get Istanbul Kart at the airport if you want to use public transportation, and Google Maps works really well for getting directions. Public transportation includes bus, tram, train, and ferry. You can also use yellow taxis via Uber app. Yellow taxis will seat a max of 4 passengers. Black taxis are also available but unless booked thru the hotel in advance (expensive!), they are quite unreliable and very demanding on setting their own schedules and the locations they will serve. Black taxis are large vans that will seat 8 passengers.

Cash is required in most places, and preferred everywhere. Even if you rack up a large bill at a fancy restaurant, cash is still preferred. Make sure your ATM/debit card is in working order before you land in Istanbul. ATM machines are everywhere. Cats are also everywhere to make the place endearing.

We stayed at Hilton Istanbul Bakirkoy. The bus BN1 has a stop right in front and takes you to the city center in 30 mins. Hilton Istanbul Bakirkoy Location

We recharged the Istanbul Kart at the train station next to Hilton. Train Station Location

We walked extensively in several far-from-tourist spots. This is where we found some of the best food in the local restaurants. These are places where no one speaks or understands a single word of English. Google translate is your friend in these situations.

Food in Istanbul is meat, meat, and meat (beef, lamb, and liver). Add a little chicken and fish for some variety. Even salt and seasoning is skipped at times to highlight the quality of meat. Mezze are vegetarian side dishes to be used as condiments. Seriously meat focussed restaurants will discourage you from getting mezze and wasting your time. Mercimek corbasi is the red lentil soup (masoor daal). The touristy spots call it the "soup of the day".

Notes on food

Pide: Pizza with crust, seriously focused on meat.

Lahmacun: Thin crust pizza, seriously focused on meat.

Kebabs: Serious focus on high quality meats grilled on coal with almost no seasoning. Shwarma is the meat sliced from the Doner kebab, a large vertical meat cylinder. Ekmek is bread, either a baguette or a naan. The bread is bland and only there to serve as a vehicle for meat delivery, not much compared to a French baguette or Indian tandoori naan. Ekmek kebab is a sandwich or a roll, seriously focused on meat. There is no sauce to be added, some grilled tomatoes and large green peppers may be added reluctantly.

Sofrasi: Means dining table in Turkish, many restaurants will take that name. Some of the sofrasi will let you grill your meats on the center of the dinner table like the Korean bbqs. But they got a large red hot coal grill embedded in the table, not just a simple electric or gas fired hot plate!

Ayran: Salty lassi to go with kebabs available as either house made or branded (in yogurt style cups or milk style bottles).

Chi Kebab: Raw meat rolls, sushi of meat! Just like the fish in sushi has to be very high quality to be palatable and safe, the meat has to be very high quality.

Kunefe: Mitthi sewiyan with glamor. You have to try the version that is arranged in a spiral. Most tourist places will sell the version that is just one large blob with too much cheese in the middle.

Katmer: Mittha parantha stuffed with paneer.

Firin Sutlac: Kheer with serious amount of malai and a crème brûlée top.

Tahini halwa: Sesame seeds and sugar. Til gajjak, but softer. You won't find this in restaurants, but in grocery stores. You will get selmonila (suji) halwa in restaurants.

Raki: Strong alcohol smells and taste like anise (saunf). Clear liquid, but turns cloudy like Limca as soon as you add water.

Çay: Pronounced Chai, is not really Chai but black tea. Chai and baklava are like coffee and donuts, available anytime anywhere.

Notes and locations for the famous places we visited

Hagia Sophia: Magnificent and solemn. Must go inside. Hours long lines during the day to get in, but you are able to just walk in late at night (~9 PM). Hagia Sophia Location

Spice Bazaar: Spice Bazaar Location

Grand Bazaar: Grand Bazaar Location

Galata Tower: If possible walk from the Istanbul city center to the tower by crossing the Galata bridge. Must climb to the top for awesome views. Galata Tower Location

Sehir Hatlari Tours Booth: This is the official ferry of Istanbul run by the government. You don't want to get on a private boat unless you really know the reliability and safety track record of the tour operator. Tour Bosphorus all the way to the Black Sea, takes a total of 6 hours for the round trip. This includes a 2 hour break for lunch at the fishing village and a hike to the Yoros Castle in the fishing village for a view of the Black Sea. Sehir Hatlari Tours Booth Location

Yoros Castle: Yoros Castle Location

Topkapi Palace Museum: Not comparable to Versailles or the Vienna palace in opulence, but worth a visit if you have time. Topkapi Palace Museum Location

Hocapaşa Whirling Dervishes: Very famous, we did not like it. Hocapaşa Whirling Dervishes Location

Basilica Cistern: Quite famous, we skipped it, not enough time. Basilica Cistern Location

Princes' islands: Very quiet, as only electric vehicles are allowed. Seems like a cool place to make a day trip, we skipped it, not enough time.

These are touristy places worth a visit, each with a very different vibe and have lot of great restaurants. Search Google for local restaurants once you are there. In these places people will speak and understand enough English for you to get by:

İstiklal: No vehicles are allowed, only foot traffic. The historical tram runs here. Buy your turkish delight here unless you want the experience of getting swindled in the spice market. İstiklal Location

Ortakoy: Think Carmel on Highway 1, California, on a smaller scale. Ortakoy Location

Sirkeci: Think Times Square on a smaller scale. Sirkeci Location