From taking a food tour of the city, to visiting the mosques and the market, find out the best places to travel to in my Istanbul travel blogs and travel guides.
Happy exploring!
If you’re planning a holiday to Turkey, I’d recommend starting in Istanbul, then travelling to Cappadocia for a few days, and finishing with a little bit of beach time in somewhere like Alanya or Antalya.
Some pre-trip research on Istanbul in Turkey, brought up some very colourful photos on Instagram. They were of the so-called ‘Rainbow Steps’ linking the arty districts of Findikli and Cihangir.
They reminded me of the Lapa Steps in Rio… another magical set of stairs that brought tourists to an otherwise overlooked area.
So, what’s the story? Are they highlighting LGBT issues? Something political? Or are they just a bit of fun?
In 2013, retired forestry engineer Huseyin Cetinel spent four days and around £500 transforming the huge staircase, from concrete grey, to beautiful rainbow colours. It was a kind of guerrilla street art project. No one expected it, but everyone fell in love with it.
With only a few days in Istanbul, the dilemma is whether to stay in the old town close to landmarks such as The Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and the Grand Bazaar, or stay in the modern town, in the heart of the shopping, dining and nightlife district. I opted for the latter, and enjoyed 4 nights at the Point Hotel Taksim
It prides itself on being an affordable 4 star hotel, within walking distance of Taksim Square – one of the best areas to stay in Istanbul. The name? Well it’s a triangular building, with the entrance being at a point. It boasts a 9th floor restaurant (where breakfast is served) with panoramic views of the city. There is a spa, gym and swimming pool in the basement, and a Japanese sushi restaurant and bar on the ground floor. It provided the perfect base for a city break.
While there, I stayed in three different rooms, on different floors (I’ll get into why in a moment!) They were all clean, modern, with nice touches such as the gift of an evil eye bead (evil eye is a symbol of protection in Turkey), a pillow menu, a book with 101 Ways To Sleep Happily, a CD of lullabies to encourage better rest, and an arrival gift of a fruit bowl and a bottle of Turkish red wine.