Experience Istanbul with Local ☀️ City, Nature, Culture

On Sunday, we will meet in Istanbul. Go to the apartment and relax a bit. Since everybody's departure time will change, we can spend the day with talking and get to know each other better and then have a walking tour and explore the neighbourhood. Also, we can go grocery shopping for the later days.

On the first day, we will start our tour with the famous historical square of Istanbul, which is Sultanahmet Square. Monuments from many civilizations that lived in Istanbul, such as the Ottoman and Byzantine, can be visited here. We will visit the famous Topkapı Palace Museum and Hagia Sophia. And after that, we can eat the famous dish of Sultanahmet which is meatballs. (In restaurants they also serve other things for vegans too so do not worry :D)

After Sultanahmet Square, we will go to Kapalı Çarşı ( Grand Bazaar) which is the biggest and oldest bazaar. It has almost 4000 shops and is the perfect place to buy some souvenirs, gifts to remember your trip when you go back.

Beyoğlu is one of the most beautiful parts of Istanbul. And Istiklal Caddesi is the iconic street with the famous tram. After a long trekking tour, we can come home to relax and walk to Istiklal street because it is super close to our Airbnb. We can enjoy walking this beautiful street with lots of beautiful architecture in the early evening and visit Galata Tower at the end.

After Dolmabahçe Palace we will go to discover the neighbourhood. Beşiktaş has a lovely bazaar. We can try "midye dolma" (which is a super delicious Turkish street food 😋). And has a lovely Boshoprus view on the pier.

We will start the day early today, and make a day trip to the biggest island of the Prince Islands. First, we will explore the island (Aya Yorgi Church and etc.). And then we will go to a beach on the island and will spend a chill beach day.

On this walking tour, which includes Balat and Fener districts, we will have many stops, including the Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, the Red School, an old Jewish neighborhood with colorful houses.

Maiden's Tower, is another famous historical place. We will put a sweet end to our tour by visiting the Maiden's Tower with its fairy-tale story and naive appearance. (This could be changed since Maiden's Tower is in recovery now, but even if we can' go up we will still be going to see it close).

Having a nice ferry ride to Anatolia would be perfect for our last day. We will pass by Maiden Tower and also see the historical Haydarpaşa Railway Station. Kadıköy is a new cool place to hang out with its beautiful bazaar and nice bars.

We will check out from our apartment and end our trip. Depending on your departure time, we can have breakfast together and share our lovely trip pictures. I will guide you on how to go to the airport and which transportation you have to use. I am sure that you are going to love Turkey, and we will see each other next time on another trip :).