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Welcome to our hometown… Direct flights to Istanbul leave New York from JFK late in the afternoon and arrive in Istanbul mid-morning. Only Turkish Airlines (in partnership with AA) and Delta Airlines have direct flights. For flight arrangements, we recommend calling Alp Travel in Clifton New Jersey for reasonable fares – Call (800) 688-1649. You could give our names as we are potentially working on a group discount. You should expect a fare to be around $900. After you
land in Istanbul’s Ataturk
Airport, you can choose to take
a taxi to the city, or you can
get on a bus that goes to the
city. It leaves from right in
front of the exit from the
airport and is quite
comfortable. You want to go to
the last stop – Taksim Square.
Visa for U.S. citizens
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Accommodation in Istanbul
| To do in
Istanbul You don’t need to go to a consulate to get a visa for Turkey, but take out your some reading material as you exit the plane in Istanbul because there will be a line for you to get a visa (costs $100) before passport control. We have a choice of hotels for you. Please find a map of Istanbul below. This map shows the touristic spots, as well as the wedding venue.
We hope to keep you busy in Istanbul during your stay. Please let us know your hotel, and we will communicate with you. However, here are some things you can do on your own (the following is not from a website. You are going by Ceki’s suggestions here). 1) Visit historic places: Palaces rank the highest. Ask the taxi driver to take you to Topkapi Palace. It is not one building, it is a collection of palaces, churches, mosques and museums. Plan to spend four hours there and the surrounding areas. Then, walk in the streets that will take you to the Archeology Museum. It is a fun place. There, you will see the tomb of Alexander the Great and have a cup of coffee in the quiet garden among statues hundreds of years old. Plan to have lunch at the "Sultanahmet Koftecisi", everybody knows this place. It is a two storey crammed place that serves authentic Turkish food, specifically meat balls. Take the tram (or you can walk as well, for about 15min) to the Spice Bazaar (ask for "Misir Carshisi"). There you will find innumerable spices, teas and candies. It's worth it to go there just for the smell of it. If you still have time, ask somebody to guide you to the Covered Bazaar (Kapali Carsi) and be prepared to do some shopping. This is the equivalent of Soho in New York. You will see many tourists there, but it is not the most civilized district. So, do not trust strangers without questioning. Still, you will find that people are quite helpful to tourists in Turkey. You can plan to buy rugs, leather jackets, wallets/purses, Turkish/Oriental dresses, many other ornaments at the Covered Bazaar. All of these would definitely eat up your day, and would get you to your hotel exhausted. Another must see palace is the Dolmabahce Palace. If you stay at the Hilton, it will be quite near your hotel, about a 5-10 min taxi ride. You can plan to spend about 3 hours there with a guided tour. 2) The Bosphorus: Talk with your reception agent to tell you about the Bosphorus tour. You can actually buy a pass to the Bosphorus ferry which stops at say, eight ports on either side of the Bosphorus, and you can get on and off whenever you like for the day. Plan to eat lunch in one of the fish restaurants near one of the ports. For fish, you can order "Cipura" (pronounced Cheepoora) or "Palamut" (both a’s as in “cut”). These are the two most popular fish in Turkey. Have them grilled. If you fancy, you can visit the islands in the Marmara Sea. There is another ferry that will take you there. This will leave from Kabatas or Sirkeci ports, and will take about 1-1.5hrs. Ask your reception for details. This would take a day. Visit "Buyukada", the largest island, and take a carriage ride around the island. The ride is called "Buyuk Tur". 3) If you’d like to have some tasty Turkish tea by the sea, or some fish for lunch, go to Ortakoy, a small and very old district by the sea. The best time to visit would be Sunday, where there will be street vendors selling all kinds of artsy things. They are cheap too. 4) Taksim: Want to see some plays, ballets, go to concerts? First of all, a summer festival might be on, which we will notify you of in the packet you will receive when you get to your hotel. If there is anything at the Church in Topkapi Palace, or some other amphitheater, do not miss it. The Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center of Istanbul is in Taksim, the city's largest square. The building is called "Ataturk Cultural Center." In Taksim, you will find Beyoglu, a long street with no cars, but a tram. There you will find fashion shops (go to Vakko, Turkey's prime fashion house, and buy some scarves), cafes, churches, and Turkish music. 5) Nightlife: Istanbul is known for its very diverse night life. Definitely go to Laila, a very popular disco right on the water. There are about 5-6 restaurants there. Ask your reception agent to reserve a table for you as it will be very hard to get there after 11:00, and you'll end up paying a cover charge equal to the cost of the meal anyway. Go there in the one of the initial nights there, as I'm sure you'll want to go there again. As for others, you can go to Cubuklu, which is on the other side of Bosphorus. Bars in Taksim are also nice, and have a more Hippi or metallic crowd. 6) Restaurants: If you're looking for a good restaurant, the restaurants at Ciragan are first class. Get a table overlooking the Bosphorus. If you want to go to other places, ask for Beyti (it should be a good 40 min drive, but all taxi drivers know it) for kebabs, Haci Abdullah in Taksim for Ottoman food (olive oil marinated vegetables, very light), Vogue, an Italian Restaurant at the roof of BJK Plaza (near hotel), Mirror (at the roof of Is Towers), or Sunset in Ulus. These are fancy places, really very tasty food and quality service. If you want to go to a Meyhane, which is the absolute best place to eat and drink like a local, you can go "Cicek Pasaji", or "Cumhuriyet Meyhanesi", both in Beyoglu. Order Raki, which is Turkish Ouzo or Turkish red wine. 7) Shopping: First of all, remember to take your passport with you to take advantage of VAT-exempt shopping available at many shops. Ask the taxi driver to take you to Akmerkez, about 15-30 min from your hotel with little traffic. There you will find all the fancy Turkish brands. Definitely go to Vakko, if you have not already in Taksim. Try Yargici and Beymen. If you want to buy rugs, they should be in the ground floor of the shopping center. 8)
Visit
synagogues: The
Jewish Community in Turkey is
centuries old, and so we have
beautiful synagogues right in
the city. If you’d like to see
some, let us know-we’ll do our
best to arrange a visit.
Security is tight due to the
incidences in November 2003. Let us know if you have any questions, and enjoy your trip... You can call us at +1 (917) 301 9158 in New York, +90 (212) 233-9065 in Istanbul (yes, the same city code as New York) or e-mail us at ceki@alufmedina.com If you are planning to spend some time outside of Istanbul, let us know. We can help you with some ideas as well as agencies. If you need
to contact us in Istanbul, our
address is: |
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