We are headed to ISt for a special occasion stay and I was wondering if it's easy to get a taxi from the airport to the hotel or if I should hire the car service that the hotel provides(at a very high price $100 for the ow)? We will be very tired from the flts from L.A. to ISt and don't want to have to worry about getting in the wrong cab or bartering(like Egypt). Any advice would be welcome! Also, would be interested in any restaurant recommendations. Thanks.

No problems with taxis. They are metered and its only very occasional that you will find crooked ones. The problem is of course the millions of TL that adds up on the meter.

As for restaurants, try kumkapa for the fish and seafood restaurants and the other famous kebapca restaurants around the city. Also try to find Sunset as its on a hill overlooking the Bhosphorus...and has great continental food. Also try sunday brunch at the Ciragan Palace Kempinski Hotel, great stuff. And jazz at night by the water at the same place.

If your hotel is in Taksim, you can take the Havas (pronounced Havash) from the airport to Taksim. It stops right next to the hotels. It is direct from the airport terminals to Taksim, maybe one stop or so on the way. Costs 8.5TL, which is way less than a taxi.

Something is not right with this picture. $100 for a car from the airport to Istanbul is outrageous. When I stayed in Istanbul a few years ago, the hotel, which was well under $100 per night, included free pick-up at the airport in a car.

Absolutely true. Not only is it affordable from the airport to your hotel, your around town trips can be "E" ticket fun for an "A" ticket price. Hold on tight though, if they ever get some room to maneuver.

TPML

$100 is daylight robbery, as noted there should be no bargaining involved, and they use meters. After the airport taxi stand reorganized 3 years ago, there is even a complaint number, etc. Assuming that your hotel is in either Sultanahmet, Taksim, Ortakoy, and that you arrive bet 6AM and midnight the fare should be somewhere between 20-25 million TL depending on traffic, route, etc (appx $14-$17) - after midnight there is a 50% surcharge. The bus is really not necessary as with more than one person there is no cost savings whatsoever, and it is less convenient on all accounts.

I would not go to Sunset as I was food poisoned there once and know two other people that were food poisoned there on other occasions. Kumkapi, is a tourist cliche where tourists are routinely ripped off and I would not suggest it. Kebap restaurants are good and I would suggest Tike or Kosebasi.

Hmm...I use to rotate Istanbul and New York when I worked for a Turkish ibank and we use to go to Sunset alot...no food poisoning as I know of...but anyway, I don't dispute that foreigners (or regulars for that matter) get ill in Turkey sometimes.

The kumkapi is a fun place to take newbies to Ist. It is a ripoff but its something they should see (just like the Bazaar). And we're not talking about alot of money here.

Anyway, try the Ciraggan Palace thing as its completely safe. And for more safer but good food, there's always the multitude to restaurants at the Swissotel, etc.

But if you are brave, there are lots of great food to be had on the streets...in Bebek for one...