Just came back from a 10 day trip to Istanbul and Athens.

Comments.

Istanbul: stayed at the Hilton Double Tree in the old town. Service was great. Check in was good, staff very friendly and rooms good enough for the price I was paying. However, air conditioning was almost non existent and spent 4 nights struggling to sleep as it was quite warm in the rooms.

Buffett breakfast was 'okey' though nothing to shout about.

All the major sites were a 25-30 minute walk from the hotel or a short 10 minute tram ride from the hotel as there is a tram stop directly in front of the hotel.

The grand bazaar is 1 stop away on the tram service whilst the spice market was 5-6 stops away along side the ferries leaving on the Bosphorus cruises.

We took a couple of tours from the dedicated tour desk at the hotel (half day Spice Market/bosphorus cruise on our day of arrival, half day Blue Mosque tour on the second day, a full day gallipolli day trip the next and then spent the last day monkeying about on our own by going back to the lovely spice market and then the grand bazaar on our own using the tram service.)

Points to note: the traffic in and out of Istanbul is HORRENDOUS especially if you need to join one of the highways heading out of the city. The good thing about the old town is there is a coastal highway that links up with the airport so you avoid the traffic jams on the highways.

We were stuck and did not move for a solid hour on our way back at night from the gallipolli opposite Mall of Istanbul and it took 2 hour 15 minutes to get into the city. It was just awful after a solid 10 hour-14 hour day on the mini bus including tours in gallipolli.

My suggestion, do a 2D1N tour of gallipolli and troy before you head back to Istanbul OR don't come back the same way you came but carry on down south to Izmir instead and fly back!

The long drive and jams just takes a lot out of you.

We flew out to Athens for a short 3D2N trip and then back to Istanbul before our connecting flight on Malaysia Airlines to Kuala Lumpur. We opted to stay at the Holiday Inn Airport Hotel, opposite Mall of Istanbul.

It was very convenient as they have a shuttle bus every couple of hours to the mall or you can take a 10 lira-15 lira taxi ride there (10 minutes).

They also had an airport shuttle service every hour though the pick up from the airport was unrealiable. We waited for 45 minutes upon arrival outside the airport arrival hall for the shuttle bus but it never appeared so took a taxi instead.

They also have a 1-2 time a day shuttle service to Taksim square though you MUST clarify with the driver WHERE the pick up point is as more than likely the drivers do not speak english and generally park on the main road near a bus stop, 200-300m down the road waiting for passengers and NOT at the drop off point which is 1 street over from the main taksim street.

Rooms were good for a holiday inn though BECAREFUL in the bathroom as the tiles are extremely slippery when you step out of the shower and the floor is wet. Almost went flying as a result of a wet tiled floor!

Buffet breakfast was "ok" at the holiday inn,

Ordered room service on two occassions as we had enough of turkish food and needed some asian food for once..and they had noodles available though limited to noodles with veggies, with beef or with chicken only.

No fried rice or anything.

There is a chinese/japanese restaurant at Mall of Itsanbul on the 5th or 6th floor at a corner away from the main food court area and the staff and manager were outstanding. Food was decent as the cooks were chinese. Prices reasonable.

Think it was called "SO-SUSHI"

Turks were very friendly and extremely helpful throughout our stay. The tour guides we got via Hilton Double Tree were also very very good and highly recommended for the day tours. The prices paid were worth it.

Athens

The only grouse I had was on our way out of Athens on Aageean airlines. Excellent airline, and cabin crew (1 hour 20 minutes to Athens/1 hour back from Athens to Istanbul). The check in staff at the Aagean counter was a total cow. We didn't need visa's as Malaysians to enter Turkey or even Europe but wanted to know where our visa's were and then made me look for the turkish immigration stamps myself to prove I had come from Istanbul when we had already flown on the same airline and reservation number out of Istanbul with the same names and passport numbers.

I would have given the airline a 4 out of 5 but for this one person who I thought was just causing problems on purpose. I give the airline a 3 out of 5.

Athens is so run down and depressing unlike when I visited 10 years ago. Graffiti everywhere, dirty streets...it's just such a pity to see such a historic city in this state. So many abandoned buildings/shops and graffiti on historical walls and sites...

We stayed at the excellend Electra Palace Hotel in Plaka for 2 nights..excellent hotel and staff/service. Two thumbs up for this stay. We took the metro in to the city from the airport (1 hour) and walked from Sygmata square to the hotel (15 minutes/20 minutes with small pull bags).

It cost 8 euro per person.

Took a taxi to the airport from the hotel (45 minutes) for 55 euro (12am-5am). It costs 40 euro for the rest of the day after 5am.