hfly

He was NOT at all referring to applying at an Embassy or consulate he was referring to getting a VISA on ARRIVAL, rather than doing an e-visa. Yes, we are all aware that since October 29th of last year TIMATIC and all other sources have said that it is NOT possible to get a VoA, yet, there is a VoA counter that exists at the new airport, and is the PRECISELY for this sort of purpose, someone who arrives in Istanbul and due to a change of plans, weather, whatever, can but a VoA rather than an E-visa.

ISTFlyer

As your flight is after midnight, I would suggest the Holiday Inn Şişli and there would be almost no traffic if you leave after 22:30 and the H-2 bus from Mecidiyeköy ( 5-10 mins walk from the hotel ), would be empty and would go to the airport in 30-35mins.

Yong88988

Hey! Thank you so much for replying to my post.

I was thinking of walking around some of the best and most significant mosque in Istanbul. Something that's very special and unique to Istanbul and perhaps Turkey as a whole. So perhaps a walking tour. If I have the time, I'd like to visit the main market for some quick shopping. Bosphorus tour sounds cool but with my arrival at around 8.30am and the connecting flight at 5.55pm, I dontr think I can make it.

I'm also slightly worried about the bus system, if I depart from Istanbul city centre at say... 2pm will I make it to the airport before 4pm since I've a departing flight at 5.55pm.

Are you able to recommend an itinerary for me? Touristanbul is out for me as I'm flying SQ and connecting on with KLM.

If ever you do visit Singapore, drop me a PM. I will definitely want to give you some pointers and perhaps even be your tour guide.

ISTFlyer

If you would like to walk around, I would suggest you to take the İST-20 Havaist line to Sultanahmet and then visit the Blue Mosque, Haghia Sophia ( 30 mins to visit ), Topkapı Palace ( 1h-1h30mins to visit ) and then walk in the Old Town to the Grand Bazaar.

A Bosphorus tour would take no longer than 2 hours and there are Bosphorus tours departing almost every 30 mins, only the official Bosphorus tour ran by the municipality has one departure per day but private companies have more than 20 departures per day.

For your flight, it would be OK if you leave the city around 15:00 as the bus system is reliable and it would take you to the airport in 45mins. However, if you don't want to take risk take a bus around 14:30-14:45. You could take the same İST-20 Havaist bus from Sultanahmet to the airport which runs every 30 mins. ( Every :00 and :30 )

I don't have any travel plans to Singapore at the moment but if I have in the future, I'll send you a PM. Thanks for this kind offer
By the way, if I'm at Istanbul during your layover and if I'm available that day, I could also be your tour guide.

wantan

we have an itinerary eligible for TourIstanbul, will the visa be arranged for us or should we get visas before hand ? 8h45minutes transit time

also on the return leg, will only arrive at 1am in the morning ... 8h15m transit, will this qualify for hotel room ? Will be traveling Business class TK throughout so hopefully have access to the nap rooms in lounge at least.

CoweyB

nnanlno

Not sure where best to post this without starting a new thread. I've got questions for a layover, so I thought this thread would be relevant...

My schedule has changed and now I have a layover in Istanbul arriving on a November Sunday at 16:15 (from BKK on TK) and leaving next morning on 10:40am (all on reward J), some questions as follow:

1. It will be my first time in IST, so I'd like to hit up the tourists spots as much as possible. Any suggested itinerary? I understand the taxiing to gate would take a while and commute between airport to town would take over an hour, which means by the time I arrive town, the sun would pretty be set in November. Should I still first aim for a stroll along the outside of blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia? Then head over to Taskim? Or do Taskim on Sunday night, and Sultanhamet in early twilight (6am?)? Any other place recommended(other than Bosporus cruise)? I haven't decided if I would stay near Sultanhamet or over Taksim.

2. I understand the Grand Bazaar won't be opened on Sunday. Any other place I could shop for an not-made-in-china Turkish tea set?

3. I have a MasterCard that I can withdraw cash from. Are there any ATM (without outrageous fee surchages) that I can withdraw lira at the airport ?

4. Given my short stay, I'm considering taxiing to save some time how much would I be looking at if I get a taxi from the taxi rank at airport to Sultanhamet? And if I use BiTaksi at 5am/6am to get back to the airport, i assume it wouldn't be too difficult to find a car, right?

5. Is breakfast at the TK lounge noteworthy / worth going to airport earlier for? Or is it just boring sausage and egg and perhaps an omelette station? It appears the TK lounge gets rave reviews, but im under the impression the breakfast offerings would be much more underwhelming.

Anything else I should be aware of? (The entry visa matter had been taken care of)

Thanks in advance!!

shuly

1. Sunday evening, traffic should be (relatively) light. I don't think you'll have time to visit any of the main sites, and hanging around them in the evening will be, IME, frustrating. What I would do is book a hotel in Galata or Pera; walk up and down Istiklal, weather permitting; and then have dinner in one of the nicer restaurants, especially one with a view from Galata over Sultanahmet (I'm thinking Neolokal), or from Pera over the Golden Horn.
5. I would definitely do breakfast in the lounge, if only for the goezleme and the simit. You'll also find a wonderful spread of Turkish meze, including excellent cheese, olives, salads, etc.

If it were me, I'd stay at least a day or two in the city... It's wonderful.

Shuly

ISTFlyer

After arriving at Istanbul at 16:15, most tourist attractions ( museums, palaces, etc... ) would be closed at the time you arrive in the city.

1- Sultanahmet, Blue Mosque and Haghia Sophia is all at the same place so no need to split these destinations. IMO, Taksim is not worth visiting at Sunday night as a tourist. You would only find stores of (mostly) international brands at that time and not any tourist attractions such as the churches and historic buildings around as they would be closed at that time but you could walk to that area to see the Galata Tower.

2- By tea set, do you mean the glasses or the tea itself?

3- There are ATM's of all major Turkish banks in the airport, I always use a Turkish debit/credit card in Turkey so I'm not familiar to surcharges.

4- The ride from the airport to Sultanahmet would be around 40mins to 1 hour on a Sunday evening. For the return, 5 or 6 would be too early for a 10:40 flight unless you want to spend 3+ hours in the lounge. The ride to the airport would take 35-40mins in the morning as you would go in the opposite direction of traffic. Unless you don't want to be super early don't leave until 8:00 but if you want to visit a lounge a bit 7:00-7:30 would be OK. By the way, don't call a BiTaksi or iTaksi in front of the hotel as the hotel taxis may cause a problem. If you're going to call a taxi from the mobile app order it to a random street location ( ex: in front of the adjacent buildings to the hotel ). You could also ask for a taxi at your hotel ( not a private transfer ) if paying cash, not every taxi in Istanbul accepts credit carts.

5- As shuly mentioned, breakfast in the lounge is pretty good.

nnanlno

First off, thanks everyone for the response so far!

1. Ya, I figured most attractions would be closed but thought at least I could do a stroll in Sultanahmet and take a look of the landmarks on the outside. Will add Galata Tower to the list, and lesser focus on Taksim.

2. Sorry, should have been more clear. The actual glass. I figured Grand Bazaar would have been the place for this, since it won't be open I was wondering what's the next best location/cluster of "souvenir stores" for this (at this hour and day, I was guessing Istiklal...).

3. Are there more ATMs airside or landside?

4. Thanks for the tips about taxi app and not doing it in front of hotels.

Neoloka looks very interesting, thanks for the suggestion. Would have stayed at least a couple of days if i could! Istanbul seems like a very exciting place!

ISTFlyer

2- İstiklal Street does not have that much souvenir stores that you could find a tea set. İstikal Street is generally filled with clothing brands, cafés, and restaurants. One of the easiest to find and good quality tea set brand in Turkey is Paşabahçe and you could find their tea sets in most of the large supermarkets in Turkey. They also have their own stores in multiple places in Istanbul. I am not sure if they have a store in İstiklal Street but they have stores in most of the malls in Istanbul.

3- Most of the ATM's are landside at the departures level. There are some at the arrivals level as well.

hfly

I would not do neolokal, view might be nice, but food has gotten too..........whatever. I think someone visiting would rather eat "real things" rather than newly deconstucted artsy versions of "real things".

nnanlno

Perfect! Exactly what I was looking for! Thank you!!

vincewy

On top of what ISTFlyer just mentioned, the entire area around Taksim (Beyoglu) is notorious with tourist scams (although to certain extent Sultanahmet too but it's much worse here) at night, if you're first time visitor without some Turkish commands avoid Beyolu at all cost. For further details it would be appropriate to discuss in other forum, rather than TK.

Ironically, being a frequent traveler transiting and staying in Istanbul I avoid all tourist areas altogether these days and only stay at areas where people hardly speak any English. There are still many places for me to explore.

Just walk around Blue Mosque, enjoy some food, and get onto next flight.

WhiskeyCavalier

I have a 15 hour layover in IST on a Saturday next month.

I’ll arrive in the morning.

I have a few questions. I am star gold if it matters at all.

1) what time does the lounge open?

2) are there lockers in the lounge? Like you see with Lufthansa in Munich? Im wondering if I can stash my backpack and also change clothes and then head into the city. I’m thinking I would dump everything out of my backpack and put it in a plastic bag and then use my backpack as a daypack. I don’t want to carry 8 kg on my back. I’m coming from a different country and going to a different country. So I assume international uses the same lounge. I’d hate to not be able to get back to the lounge.

3) I read there is a courtesy tour which starts at 9 am and goes for like 6 hours, is it worth it?

4) I read there are sleeping rooms, is that only available for people staying overnight? Or could someone like me access it as well.

5) I don’t want to pull out too much cash, what’s a decent amount just to eat and see sights? I’m not gonna buy gifts.

6) How much time should I allocate to get back to the airport. My flight is around 2100. And worse case how much is a taxi from the center to the airport? Since I won’t have a SIM card, I won’t be able to use Uber (does it work ther) to order. Unless I can get some WiFi.

Sorry for so many questions. Just want to maximize the experience. First time there.

Thanks!!!!