🗺 Tourism Information
There is certainly an astounding range of nightlife in the city, from cutting edge techno to belly-dancing. The best place to start is BeyoÄŸlu, which is home to plenty of wine bars, jazz joints, and hip rooftop bars. In contrast, the tourist area of Sultanahmet has few venues worth mentioning.
Start your evening off at one of the many meyhanes, which is a type of Turkish tavern famous for raki and mezze platters. Some of the best nightclubs are in Ortaköy, overlooking the Bosphorus. The most popular is Sortie, famous for supermodels, millionaires, and the effortlessly cool. For jazz music, head to enduring classic, Nardis Jazz Club.
Clubs and bars stay open very late and drinks are affordable in comparison to European cities.
❗Attention: Be careful of visiting adult entertainment clubs as these are notorious for ripping off tourists. Always establish prices before ordering anything.
Note that Istanbul at night can be dangerous with many pickpockets on the street, particularly near tourists area. An increase of petty-crime in the city, means that you need to be always vigilant and not trust people too much at the beginning and watch your valuables!
Shopping in Istanbul is a mixture of old, new, antique, exotic, and bizarre. Souvenirs, spices, leather goods, carpets, kilims, and earthenware are all popular buys with tourists, but the experience is more about wandering through the winding streets and markets, taking everything in, and hunting for bargains.
The most notable market is the Grand Bazaar, which boasts over 4,000 shops and, just in case that's not enough, the entire market is surrounded by a maze of streets lined with even more shops! Just about everything and anything can be found at the Grand Bazaar and haggling is an essential skill. If you're looking to for more market experiences, check out the Egyptian market and the flea market in Beyazit Square are also worth a visit.
Outside the Grand Bazaar, to the east, Nuruosmaniye Caddesi is the place to buy jewellery, and fine art boutiques can be found nestled down the side streets. Additionally, a shopping trip in Istanbul is not complete without buying a box of Turkish delights, which can be found all over the city in souks (markets) and specialist shops.
Istanbul is one the cheapest cities for Hotels and hostels as it offers very reasonable prices for all budgets. It's not hard to find good value for money Hotels located in the city centre at short walking distance to the major attractions. Staying nearby the Istanbul Grand Bazaar is a very central location and Hotels are very reasonable and offer even breakfast and free WIFI from under €20 per night. Other Hotels around the popular tourist areas and Taksim Square are about €25-30.
Additionally many hotel's offer tour services and give good information in English in what to see and do. Also it's advised to stay close to tram or metro stop if you're travelling around. Private accommodation is not as popular as other countries but with time sites like Airbnb or Holidayaway are becoming more popular in Turkey.
Istanbul offers a lot of culture to explore, either by foot seeing majestic buildings, visiting in depth into museums and galleries, or by joining several tours which can take a whole day. The city centre is worth exploring without tours, taking your time to indulge for Turkish coffee or snacks and relax as you see life passing by in one of Europe's most diverse cities. Visiting Istanbul for a first time is best away from a weekend for less queues and people at popular tourist attractions. A stay of up to 5 nights would be suggested to take in all Istanbul has to offer in a relaxed manner.