I just finished my first trip to IST and I would have been happy skipping Sultanahmet altogether and just hanging out around Taksim square. Sultanahmet felt a lot like Fisherman's wharf in San Francisco. The only locals I saw appeared to be rug touts and other tourist gougers. Also, I noticed that there didn't appear to be any Turkish women to be found anywhere in Sultanahmet. This is not true of other areas in the city. The area around Taksim square felt a lot like a working city, with numerous bars and restaurants. I absolutely loved it.

Finally, I thought the Grand Bazaar was a total waste. I can imagine that, at one time, it was a great place to buy lots of different, locally made items. However, when I was there, it seemed to be hundreds of stalls selling the exact same item over and over again. It was as if all of the stalls bought their goods from some huge factory overseas, and the only thing distinguishing one stall from another was the bargaining skills of the proprietor. There were a few interesting looking items, but I couldn't help but feel like I had already seen them at Urban Outfitters.