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.

Is a day trip to Ephesus enough? Or did you feel rushed? I am thinking Turkey for next fall and looking at places and times. From what I have read it seems an overnight would be better for Ephesus.

Ephesus (Selcuk) is a small town with just the ruins. Not enough to justify a stay if youre stretched for time

Good thing is Selcuk is well connected by train rather than having to rely on the ubiquitous buses

Would anyone know the current, typical taxi fare from the IST airport to the Taksim Square area?

And, at the airport do you simply go out front and queue up in a taxi line, or is there some sort of official desk you go to first?

Any advice would be appreciated.

I found this webpage: https://taksiyle.com/en/istanbul
It gave me: Estimated fare 55.35 TRY (about $16USD or 13.5 euros)
Travel time 45 minutes

Any additional, personal information (e.g., taxi stand or counter, etc.) would be appreciated.

I'm a little out of date, but $20 is what I recall at the official taxi stand. You can also take the train into town, works pretty well, and I think you can even Uber from the airport now.

The train's a bit slow, with quite a few stops, and you have to transfer once you're in the city to another line. Further, you have to buy a transit card from a very unhelpful machine first. Good luck figuring the thing out.

If you don't want to splurge on a taxi, then to Taksim I'd certainly suggest the HAVAS airport bus over the train.

Going on a visa run this summer on a Sunday with 23 year old son for 12-15 hours in IST. Arriving about noon, departing that night 1am. Sunday may not be ideal but it has to be that day.

Can you all offer suggestions for the best way to do Istanbul in a day? Any private car companies with guides? I was thinking of having a car for the day to take us around efficiently. Hit the main sites, bazaar, good dinner, etc. Neither of us has ever been there, so no clue what would be the best plan.

Flying economy but have PriorityPass and I see there’s an IGA lounge in international terminal open 24 hours. Does it make sense to have a nice dinner out then return to airport 10ish?

Definitely don't bother with a car, it would be way more hassle than it's worth. Public transport is good and easy plus with limited time you won't need to travel distances where a car would be useful. 12-15 hours is perfect time to be able to explore the main sights and try out the local food (FYI the IGA lounge is fine but not a destination to turn up early for in my experience).

I'd take a taxi to Sultanahmet (or could do the Havaist bus to Aksaray and change onto the tram from there) and spend the afternoon at Tokapi Palace and Haiga Sofya Mosque. Take the tram a few stops to Beyazit and explore the Grand Bazaar as you make your way down the hill towards Eminonu to enjoy views of the city across the water. Stop for a fish sandwich, tea etc near Galata Bridge if you want, and call into the Spice Bazaar.

Walk over Galata Bridge and take the furnicular up the hill to Begolu, passing by the Galata Tower and enjoy the atmosphere. Now in Begolu, in the evening you can find one of the many meyhanes to have an evening meal of mezze and raki. After a leisurely meal continue walking up Istiklal Street towards Taksim Square, enjoying the hustle and bustle. From Taksim Square find the Havaist airport coach stop and transfer back to the airport in the evening.

As a local my suggestion would be to just take public transportation or take a yellow taxi from the taxi stands and do not rely on any private transfer or car companies which are usually tourist scams. Most of the touristic sites are close to each other so you could walk in between.

Public transportation to the airport also runs 24 hours a day, and unless you have *G status with any airline, it does make sense to go to the iGA Lounge before the flight but it is usually overcrowded.

Thanks. I was trying to minimize the amount of decisions and maneuvers we’d have to make because want to maximize the 12 hours we have and don’t mind paying for a car service. I typically spend quite a bit of time mapping out public transport routes and figuring out how to buy tickets etc and frankly don’t want to do that for such a short trip. According to a few quick google searches, 8 hours of car service is $100-150. That seems cheap to me, tbh. Why do you think they are scams? Do they not show up?

Istanbul is not New York, Los Angeles or London in terms of pricing, it's a much cheaper city. Most of the time, the private transfer companies would show up but would ask for multiple times more than a taxi. A taxi to the historical peninsula wouldn't be more than $30 one-way and most of the areas over there are pedestrian only zone.

If the service you find is for a chauffeured car with no additional service, then it's totally a tourist markup.

Got it. So I’m paying extra strictly for convenience of not having to find a taxi and pay each time I move around. If moving around a lot then I’d prefer the chauffeured car for not much more. But sounds like once in historic area I wouldn’t be moving around by car. And then we’re talking $60 RT from airport to historic area. And that’s it?

I'm with you on being willing to pay more for convenience if it is so cheap by my standards. One thought, which I have done in other cities, is to hire a tour guide to pick you up and take you around -- even if that is by transit. I had a great guide meet my mom at Frankfurt airport, take her to several museums and a walking tour of the Christmas markets, for example, before dropping her off. There are a ton on Viator, Tours By Locals, Istanbul Layover Tours, tripadvisor, etc. as Istanbul is a city with long layovers. It could be really efficient to get picked up, taken to the main tourist spots, then dropped for dinner or whatever and taxi/public transit back to the airport from town for your flight. Someone will plan the best tourist route for you so you don't need to plan it.

Oh this is an excellent idea! I will investigate the ones you mention. My goal is to make this as easy as possible and still get a lot out of the day so this could work perfectly.