Istanbul is exceptionally charming in spring, when it’s possible to enjoy the colorful tulips all around the city. And we didn’t even know it was in that season! When we got to Sultanahmet Square, we got surprised and shocked by so much beauty and stunning colors. It’s a large city visited by thousands of tourists all year long. Let’s tell our experience here!

Sultanahmet Square

That square is the heart of Istanbul, where a lot of touristic attractions are located close to each other and can be easily and quickly accessed, such as the blue mosque, very beautiful place where Muslims say their prayers and let a lot of tourists get into it for free to visit, but you have to take off your shoes and women must wear veils and proper clothes, according to what their religion demand.

And right ahead there is the Basilica of the Hagia Sophia, which is a museum nowadays, and its entrance fee is 11 euros (50 Reais), there is also an obelisk located in the pedestrian zone, brought from the temple of Karnak in Luxor in 390 A.D., by the roman emperor Theodosius I (built by Thutmose III, in 1500 BC) and is available in the square.

There is also a fountain surrounded by tulips, and flowered trees, ideal place to taste corn stew, or toasted nuts found in the tents around the square.

Over there, we walked through the border of the sea, right next to Avrasya tunnel, where we could see lots of dolphins and the great canal of Bosporus, amazing place to have some tea, and there is that to be sold there.

Tip: Don’t help trying the corn, stew or baked, there are thousands of tents selling it for 4 Turkish pounds, that’s delicious!

Grand Bazar

It’s also called sheltered bazar, probably the biggest and oldest in the world, open since 1461, and its entrance is located right near Sultanahmet Square, we walked through a lot of streets inside it and tried a lot of sweets offered to us, in the infinite stores of Turkish delight, we absolutely had to buy it, once they are too good, but they aren’t cheap and the average price per kilo is 190 Turkish pounds (120 Reais), and you can take a piece of each flavor, as we did. Tip: Before buying, try everything you can, once it’s for free, LOL.

We also saw a lot of stores which sell golden and silver items, such as necklaces, bracelets, watches, all kinds of prices, with so many details in the items produced by them.

If you are hungry, you don’t even need to seek a lot, once there are lots of restaurants and coffee shops, great to try a typical Turkish Kebab for 10 Turkish pounds (6 Reais), or other delicious typical dishes.

Yildiz Park

It’s part of an imperial garden, guys! So, picture the beauty and spectacle of the flowers, trees and lawns in that place, and we saw tulips of colors we had never seen before, there are always gardeners taking care and organizing the plants all the time. The place is great to have a picnic, even more because there is no entrance fee. There is a structure of tables, benches, restrooms and playground.

In the path to that park, we went past a multi-sport stadium, a castle and we got to the point that divides Istanbul, there’s Europe in one side and Asia in the other one, that’s very cool. A ferry crossing is also located there, binding one point to another one in the city, we can do a route for 10 Turkish pounds (6 Reais), and it lasts 20 minutes. Surrounding the place, there are pubs, snack bars and restaurants.

Where to stay

We chose to stay in Airbnb, and we found a great location, 200 meters far from Sultanahmet Square, right in downtown, next to a mall, restaurants, touristic attractions and we had total attention from our host.

Here is our Airbnb link, where you can have a discount too!

https://abnb.me/e/goNilApbcU

Means of Transportation

The city has public transportation, such as subways, trains, buses, and trams. There are also lots of taxis in the streets. They are all effective and safe.

As we went visiting Göreme by bus, a very cheaper way used by a lot of tourists, and we also save a daily wage at a hotel because the range may be done at night, the ticket is 120 Pounds (75 Reais), and the bus station is 8 kilometers far from the downtown and you can go there by subway.

Now talking about the new airport inaugurated recently, where we arrived to and left Istanbul, still can’t be accessed by train and you can get there in more than hour by special buses, which have several lines and work for 24 hours.

Whomever arrives by a flight just has to walk forward the exit and go down by elevator which accesses the bus and buy the card Istanbul, to the wished destination, in our case it was Sultanahmet Square, bus number 20, fee 16 pounds (10 Reais) each ticket, plus the price of the rechargeable card 4 pounds (2.50 Reais), which provide access to the bus, subway, tram, restaurants, coffee shops, public restrooms, etc.

Safety of the city

We thought it’s very safe during the time we stayed there. We saw some cops in the streets, and guards in all of the touristic attractions. We walked a lot through all over the city during the daytime and it was very peaceful, the people are super friendly and helpful.

Travel Insurance

For you to travel in peace, it’s important to have a travel insurance which keeps you safe and has a comprehensive coverage. We always ensure with April Brasil Seguro Viagem, which covers all around the world, it has an app that is easy to access, for you not to keep all that paperwork when you need to use it, the best part, you can access it from everywhere in the world with service in Portuguese.

So, don’t waste time and hire something safe, and we have a discount coupon, we’ll leave the link below too! Run and use it.

DISCOUNT COUPON: COUTRIPS10%

https://www.aprilbrasil.com.br/coutrips

Internet for your trip

To keep your connection during all the trip, you need a great SIM card, with a worldwide coverage, internet 3G and 4G. For that, we used Easysim4u, the best internet SIM card in the world for your trip. And see that we have been through some countries and we always had the coverage of the plans of Easysim4u. Don’t waste time, run and hire your SIM card for your next trip.

Here’s the link for you to access and ensure your connection to the internet in the world.

https://www.easysim4u.com/?sourceCode=coutrips

Kind of currency

The local currency of Turkey is Turkish Pound, and the exchange in dollar for April/2019 is $1.00 to 6 pounds. We recommend to exchange the currency in a safe place such as an airport or at Exchange, a bank in the city. It’s always good to have the local currency.

Expenses in Istanbul and Cappadocia

Our expenses in currency (REAIS) in Turkey during 7 days for the couple were the following:

Feeding: R$251.00 (market, snacks)

Tours: R$45.00 (rock house and museum)

Transportation: R$528.00 (flight, bus, subway, rented car)

Lodging: R$485.00 (Airbnb)

That city is in our top 10 list of the places we enjoyed the most to visit. Beautiful and nice place, walking around the streets was amazing, we explored the touristic attractions, we felt the busy local daily routine.

Not to mention that the famous sweet Turkish Delight is finger licking good, what a delicious little thing! If you can, program your trip to go during spring, and, yes, it will be perfect, the beautiful tulips around the parks are charming.

We’ll absolutely go back to that city, to enjoy more.