Lonely Planet Pocket Istanbul
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About this ebook
Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher
Lonely Planet Pocket Istanbul is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Soak up the atmosphere of the Grand Bazaar; see stunning mosaic portraits in Aya Sofya; or take a ferry down Bosphorus strait -all with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of the best of Istanbul and begin your journey now!
Inside Lonely Planet Pocket Istanbul:
- Full-colour maps and images throughout
- Highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests
- Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots
- Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices
- Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss
- Free, convenient pull-out Istanbul map (included in print version), plus colour neighbourhood maps
- User-friendly layout with helpful icons, and organised by neighbourhood to help you pick the best spots to spend your time
- Covers Beyoglu, the Bazaar District, Topkapi Palace, Eminonu, Ortakoy, Sultanahmet and more
The Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet Pocket Istanbul, a colorful, easy-to-use, and handy guide that literally fits in your pocket, provides on-the-go assistance for those seeking only the can't-miss experiences to maximize a quick trip experience.
- Looking for a comprehensive guide that recommends both popular and offbeat experiences, and extensively covers all of Istanbul's neighbourhoods? Check out Lonely Planet Istanbul guide.
About Lonely Planet: Since 1973, Lonely Planet has become the world's leading travel media company with guidebooks to every destination, an award-winning website, mobile and digital travel products, and a dedicated traveller community. Lonely Planet covers must-see spots but also enables curious travellers to get off beaten paths to understand more of the culture of the places in which they find themselves. The world awaits!
Lonely Planet guides have won the TripAdvisor Traveler's Choice Award in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016.
'Lonely Planet. It's on everyone's bookshelves, it's in every traveller's hands. It's on mobile phones. It's on the Internet. It's everywhere, and it's telling entire generations of people how to travel the world.' - Fairfax Media
'Lonely Planet guides are, quite simply, like no other.' - New York Times
Virginia Maxwell
Aunque afincada en Australia, Virginia Maxwell pasa el menos medio año actualizando para Lonely Planet destinos de Europa y Oriente Próximo. Si bien el Mediterráneo es la zona que más le interesa, ha cubierto España, Italia, Turquía, Siria, el Líbano, Israel, Egipto y Marruecos para las guías Lonely Planet. Virginia ha escrito también para las guías Lonely Planet de Finlandia, Armenia, Irán y Australia. En Instagram y Twitter se la puede seguir en @maxwellvirginia.
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Reviews for Lonely Planet Pocket Istanbul
2 ratings1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is a terrific little guidebook to carry around the great big city. It has good descriptions of the major tourist sights, including neighborhood maps which are very helpful. Istanbul is a huge city, but most tourists are particularly interested in very particular areas, and this book shows them. There is also a foldout all Istanbul map, restaurant listings, transportation info, etc. etc.
Book preview
Lonely Planet Pocket Istanbul - Virginia Maxwell
Contents
QuickStart Guide
Welcome to Istanbul
Top Sights
Local Life
Day Planner
Need to Know
Istanbul Neighbourhoods
Explore
Aya Sofya & Sultanahmet
Topkapi Palace & Eminonu
Grand Bazaar & the Bazaar District
Kariye Museum (Chora Church)
Istiklal Caddesi & Beyoglu
Dolmabahce Palace & Ortakoy
Top Sights: The Bosphorus
Best
The Best of Istanbul
Sultanahmet
Ottoman Heartland
Galata Galivant
Food
Drinking
Architecture
Hamams
Cay Bahcesis
Museums & Galleries
Views
Shopping
Nightlife
For Kids
For Free
Culinary Courses & Tours
Survival Guide
Survival Guide
Before You Go
Arriving in Istanbul
Getting Around
Essential Information
Language
Behind the Scenes
Our Writer
Welcome to İstanbul
In İstanbul, extraordinary experiences are found around every corner. Here, dervishes whirl, müezzins call from minarets and people move between continents multiple times a day. Home to millennia-old monuments and cutting-edge art galleries (sometimes in the same block), it’s a destination where eating, drinking and dancing are local priorities, and where everyone is welcome to join the party.
Sema (whirling-dervish ceremony) | RESUL MUSLU/SHUTTERSTOCK ©
1
İstanbul
Top Sights
Aya Sofya
History resonates when you visit this majestic basilica. Built in the 6th century AD, its remarkable features include a massive dome and a stunning collection of Byzantine mosaics. Click here
SINERJI/SHUTTERSTOCK ©
İstanbul Top Sights
Topkapı Palace
The sultans lived in this pavilion-style palace with their families, concubines and servants during the glory days of the Ottoman Empire. Reminders of their privileged lifestyles are everywhere to be seen. Click here
ZZVET/SHUTTERSTOCK ©
İstanbul Top Sights
The Bosphorus
A ferry trip down the mighty Bosphorus Strait showcases a passing parade of mosques, palaces and mansions on both the Asian and European shores.
SEQOYA/SHUTTERSTOCK ©
İstanbul Top Sights
Grand Bazaar
Sometimes described as the world's oldest and most evocative shopping mall, this colourful and chaotic covered market is the heart of İstanbul's Old City and one of its most atmospheric attractions. Click here
FARRIS NOORZALI/SHUTTERSTOCK ©
İstanbul Top Sights
Kariye Museum (Chora Church)
Great things can come in small packages. This diminutive Byzantine church is made extraordinary by virtue of its interior, which is adorned with exquisite mosaics and frescoes. Click here
INTS VIKMANIS/SHUTTERSTOCK ©
İstanbul Top Sights
Süleymaniye Mosque
Truly deserving the tag 'living history', this imperial mosque atop the city's fourth hill is one of the few that has retained, restored and creatively reused its original outbuildings. Click here
AIVITA ARIKA/SHUTTERSTOCK ©
İstanbul Top Sights
İstanbul Archaeology Museums
An eclectic and exhilarating collection of antiquities, classical sculpture, Ottoman tilework and Byzantine artefects is showcased at this museum complex next to Topkapı Palace. Click here
SAIKO3P/SHUTTERSTOCK ©
İstanbul Top Sights
İstiklal Caddesi
A promenade down this pedestrianised 19th-century boulevard is the quintessential İstanbul experience, offering a colourful snapshot of local life. Click here
EFESENKO/SHUTTERSTOCK ©
İstanbul Top Sights
Pera Museum
Staging temporary exhibitions of international art alongside its magnificent permanent collection of Orientalist works, this classy museum is a must-see for all art lovers. Click here
ARIF HUDAVERDI YAMAN/ANADOLU AGENCY/GETTY IMAGES ©
İstanbul Top Sights
Basilica Cistern
Both architectural tour de force and virtuosic engineering feat, this evocatively lit underground cistern is one of İstanbul's most mysterious and magnificent Byzantine monuments. Click here
EFESENKO/SHUTTERSTOCK ©
İstanbul Top Sights
Dolmabahçe Palace
This palace on the Bosphorus shore – built as the Ottoman Empire's power waned but making no concessions to this fact – offers an intriguing look at the artificial lives and ostentatious taste of the rulers. Click here
OZGUR GUVENC/SHUTTERSTOCK ©
İstanbul Top Sights
Blue Mosque
Beloved of tourists and locals alike, the most photogenic of İstanbul's imperial mosques is also one of the busiest places of worship in the city. Click here
JESSE DUROCHER/GETTY IMAGES ©
l
İstanbul
Local Life
Insider tips to help you find the real İstanbul
İstanbul’s 14 million residents enjoy an exhilarating lifestyle that is crammed with culture, enriched by history and underpinned by family and faith. Head to their neighbourhoods, mosques, shops and cafes to see what makes life here so special.
Between the Bazaars
A Local shopping
A Historic buildings
The winding streets linking the historic Grand and Spice Bazaars are crammed with İstanbullus every day of the week except Sunday. Locals have purchased provisions, outfitted themselves and stocked up on household goods of every possible description here for centuries, and most show no sign of moving their custom to the soulless shopping malls found in the suburbs. Celebrate this fact by punctuating your visit to İstanbul with some exploration of the bazaars.
Other great places to experience the city like a local:
Küçük Ayasofya
Hocapaşa Sokak
Women's Bazaar
Eminönü fish sandwich stands
Mimar Sinan Teras Cafe
Manda Batmaz
Cihangir & Çukurcuma
A Ottoman houses
A Cafe culture
Though only a short distance away from action-packed İstiklal Caddesi, these two residential districts are relatively quiet and resolutely local. The steep and winding streets are lined with pretty timber houses and elegant apartment blocks dating from the 19th century, interspersed with bohemian cafes, neighbourhood bakkals (grocery shops) and junk stores in which the occasional antique treasure can be unearthed.
Antique store in Çukurcuma | RADIOKAFKA/SHUTTERSTOCK ©
Weekend Wander in Ortaköy
A Snack and market stalls
A Bosphorus views
A former fishing village, Ortaköy makes the most of its magnificent Bosphorus location. Centred on a waterside square full of eateries and cafes, the suburb is home to one of the city’s prettiest mosques and plays host to crowds of locals on weekends, who flock here to promenade, take ferry cruises, snack on local fast foods, browse the stalls of the Sunday handicrafts market and drink in the bars and cafes.
Waterfront and mosque at Ortaköy | JULIAN LOVE/GETTY IMAGES ©
R
İstanbul
Day Planner
Short on time?
MWe’ve arranged İstanbul’s must-sees into these day-by-day itineraries to make sure you see the very best of the city in the time you have available.
Day One
MHead to Aya Sofya Meydanı and work out which of the museums and mosques in the immediate area will be on your visiting list. Don't miss Aya Sofya, the Blue Mosque and the Basilica Cistern. After your visits, wander through the Hippodrome, where chariot races were held in ancient times.
RSpend the afternoon admiring the huge collection of classical, Byzantine and Ottoman artefacts in the İstanbul Archaeology Museums, or the exquisite carpets and calligraphy in the Museum of Turkish & Islamic Arts.
NAfter dinner, claim a table at Derviş Aile Çay Bahçesi or Cafe Meşale, where you can enjoy tea and a nargile (water pipe). Alternatively, head to the A'YA Rooftop Lounge at the ritzy Four Seasons Hotel at Sultanahmet to admire its panoramic view. In winter a treatment at one of the Old City's Ottoman-era hamams is a relaxing and warm alternative.
Day Two
MIt's time to investigate the lifestyles of the sultans at Topkapı Palace. You'll need a half-day to explore the palace Harem, marvel at the precious objects in the Treasury, admire the recently renovated palace kitchens and wander through the pavilion-filled grounds.
RCross the Galata Bridge to explore the streets, cafes and boutiques of Galata, Tophane, Karaköy and Çukurcuma and consider a visit to the cutting-edge ARTER and İstanbul Modern galleries, the eclectic Pera Museum or the nostalgic Museum of Innocence.
NThe night is still young! Hit the bars and clubs in Asmalımescit, on İstiklal Caddesi or in Cihangir. Those who are still hungry should instead head to Karaköy for a late-night baklava fix at Karaköy Güllüoğlu.
Day Three
MGet ready to explore the city's famous Bazaar District. After visiting the magnificent Süleymaniye Mosque, make your way to the Grand Bazaar to explore its labyrinthine lanes and hidden caravanserais, picking up a few souvenirs along the way.
RAfter enjoying lunch at one of the bazaar district's many cheap eateries, follow the steady stream of local shoppers making their way down the hill to the streets around the Spice Bazaar. While there, seek out the exquisite, tile-adorned Rüstem Paşa Mosque and Hünkâr Kasrı. As the sun starts to set, head towards Galata Tower and the eating and entertainment district of Beyoğlu.
NAfter dinner, listen to some live jazz at Nardis Jazz Club or Salon. Alternatively, take a taxi to Babylon Bomonti, the city's best-known live-music venue.
Day Four
MBoard the Long Bosphorus Tour (Uzun Boğaz Turu) with İstanbul Şehir Hatları for a one-way trip up the Bosphorus and then make your way back to town by bus, visiting museums and monuments along the way. Alternatively, take the Dentur Avraysa hop-on, hop-off tour from Beşiktaş and visit the Sakıp Sabancı Museum in Emirgan and the Ottoman-era Küçüksu Kasrı and Beylerbeyi Palace.
RIf you decided to take a 90-minute cruise on a Bosphorus excursion boat rather than the full-day or hop-on, hop-off trip, you can devote the afternoon to visiting the Kariye Museum (Chora Church) or Dolmabahçe Palace.
NBid farewell to the city over a post-dinner drink at one of Beyoğlu's rooftop bars or make your way to Akarsu Yokuşu in Cihangir to wind down in one of its bohemian cafes.
Need to Know
Currency
Türk Lirası (Turkish lira; ₺)
Language
Turkish
Visas
Not required for some (predominantly European) nationalities; most other nationalities can obtain a 90-day visa electronically at www.evisa.gov.tr.
Money
ATMs are widespread. Credit cards accepted at most shops, hotels and upmarket restaurants.
Mobile Phone
Most European and Australasian phones work here; some North American phones don't. Check with