Day 1. Istanbul city break

On By Little Miss TravellerIn Europe, Istanbul

In readiness for our morning flight from London Gatwick Airport we had stayed overnight at a Travelodge in Crawley. This proved convenient as buses depart from near the hotel (Bus 10) to the south terminal taking only 20 minutes with tickets from the driver costing just £2.50.

Turkish Airlines check-in desks, Gatwick Airport
No queues at the Turkish Airlines check-in desks

We arrived at the airport at 7.25 a.m. and were pleasantly surprised to find no queues whatsoever at the Turkish Airlines check-in desk. As our flight wasn’t scheduled to depart for a further three hours we were able to make use of our ‘My Gatwick‘ membership and popped into the Regus Express Business Lounge for a complimentary cup of coffee. If you plan to call in there, just download a voucher in advance and include your flight details. Complimentary access is available for up to one hour but as the lounge is before security we only stayed about 40 minutes.

Regus Express Business Lounge at Gatwick
The Regus Express Business Lounge at Gatwick

As it happened, it only took a few minutes to pass through the screening process so we picked up some newspapers and sat down awhile to catch up on the news before boarding our A321 airliner for the 3 hour 55 minute flight over to Istanbul. Our seats 10A and 10B towards the front of the economy cabin were in a good position and our flight left on tine with what appeared to be a full load.

Turkish Airlines Gate, Gatwick Airport
Arriving at the gate for our flight to Istanbul

One hour into the flight a cooked breakfast was served which was of a good standard and comprised of a warm roll, butter and jam, feta and tomato salad, tomato and mushroom omelette and apricot sponge cake, so we didn’t starve! No alcoholic drinks were available on our morning flight but I was more than happy with my orange juice and coffee. When the trays were being collected, a second beverage service took place so I enjoyed an additional cup of coffee to keep me wide awake whilst watching some films.

Breakfast on board Turkish Airlines
Breakfast on board our flight from London Gatwick to Istanbul

All seats are equipped with seat back screens and I enjoyed watching ‘The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society’ as I’d read the book some time ago. There was then just enough time for a second film so I selected ‘Stockholm’, a true story about the relationship between hostages and their captors in a Swedish bank. I timed the film to perfection as the credits had just started to roll as the wheels touched down on the runway of Istanbul’s new airport.

Baggage Hall, Istanbul International Airport
The spacious baggage hall at Istanbul International Airport

Prior to leaving the U.K. we had obtained our Turkish visas via an on-line application at a cost of US$20 each and we just needed to show these at Border Control along with our passports which only took a few minutes. It was my second time flying Turkish Airlines as I had travelled to South Korea with them the previous year but on that occasion I had transited through the old Ataturk Airport and not stopped over in the city centre.  The new Istanbul Airport is light, airy and spacious and a huge improvement on its predecessor. Our bags were already waiting on the luggage carousel and on entry into the Arrivals Hall we obtained some Turkish Lira from an ATM (7TL to £1 at the time of writing).

Istanbul Travel Card
Istanbul Travel Card which can be shared by people travelling together

In possession of some cash, we followed signs down to the bus station on the lower level and from a ticket booth near the entrance we purchased a Transport Travel Card (TL 6) and loaded this with TL 94 credit. Please note that payment for both the card and credit needs to be made in cash and that only one card is required for each group travelling together.

Havaist coach shuttle between Istanbul airport and city centre
The Havaist coach shuttle between the airport and city centre

We then boarded Coach 1Y run by bus company Havaist to Aksaray, tapping twice with our newly acquired card to pay the TL 18 fare each for the 47 km one hour journey. As you place your luggage in the hold the driver hands out a corresponding receipt so there is no danger of anyone taking your bags.

Aksary Square, Istanbul
Aksary Square, Istanbul

On leaving the bus we used Google maps to navigate to our hotel, approximately a 15 minute walk away.

Holiday Inn Istanbul Old City
The Holiday Inn Istanbul Old City

We had reserved a room at the Holiday Inn Istanbul Old City for the next five nights which was located on a quiet street with pedestrian access only during the day. Check-in was efficient and within a few minutes a helpful porter was transporting our luggage up to our spacious room on the third floor. The room had a contemporary feel with wooden floors and a recently installed stylish bathroom with a large walk in shower.

Room, Holiday Inn Istanbul Old City
Our room at the Holiday Inn Old City Istanbul

Just as we were unpacking, we heard a loud noise from out on the street and, dashing to the window to see what was happening, we noticed the minarets of a mosque across the road. The ‘call to prayer’ wailings continued for some time and we hoped that we wouldn’t be woken up at 6.00 a.m. in the morning with them too!

 

Authentic Turkish meal, Istanbul
An authentic Turkish meal on our first evening in Istanbul

With a four hour flight plus a two hour tine difference it was already 7.30 p.m. and we enjoyed a stroll through the narrow streets of the old town which was bustling with activity. Traffic seemed to be at a complete standstill and it was a chaotic scene. After walking around awhile to familiarise ourselves with the neighbourhood we ate dinner in an authentic Turkish restaurant. Our orders of lamb kofta and meatballs served on flat bread with yoghurt , salad and rice tasted delicious and we rounded off our first evening with sweet treats of baklava for dessert. Our mains were very reasonably priced at TL 35 (£5).

Holiday Inn Istanbul Old City
Returning to our hotel later in the evening

On our way back to the hotel we called in a small corner shop for a litre of milk which we popped in our in-room fridge for our cups of tea. Despite the two hour time change we were exhausted by 11.00 p.m. after such an early start to the day so we were soon tucked up in bed in readiness for a full day of sightseeing in Istanbul the next day.

If you have enjoyed reading this post, you may also be interested in the following:

The Grand Bazaar, Istanbul

Taksim and Karaköy, Istanbul

A winter break in Budapest

A short break in Wroclaw, Poland

Advertisement

35 thoughts on “Day 1. Istanbul city break”

  1. Pingback: Day 6. Istanbul – city centre to the airport – Love Travelling Blog

  2. Pingback: Day 1. Qatar Airways Stopover Programme – Love Travelling Blog

  3. Pingback: Day 2. Exploring Geneva – Love Travelling Blog

  4. Pingback: Day 2. A day in Milan – Love Travelling Blog

  7. It’s been many years since I was in Istanbul, so the news of the new airport took me by surprise. I do remember the old airport as stuffy and boring, so it’s a great improvement. I love Istanbul, can’t wait to read all about your adventure there. xx

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. A great post. We’re going there next March so very useful to read your blog. One question, if you put money on the Istanbul Kart and you have credit left at the end of your stay, can you get the money back off it?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. It says you can get z refund but when we tried to get our refund at the airport we were told it wasn’t possible. We only had about £1.50 left on it so it was OK but I’d advise keeping your balance as low as possible towards the end of your stay. You can easily top up small amounts at machines at tram stops whenever you need to. I’m sure you’ll have a great time and it’s good to learn that my series of posts has provided you with some inspiration.

      Like

      Reply

  11. Turkey in general and Istanbul in particular have been on my “to do” list for such a long time and reading this excellent and informative piece has pushed it right back up to the top of the pile again. I love your writing style and images and am going to gorge myself on your subsequent entries now.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  12. Hello Marion.

    All these seemed to be great. I have only been one hour in Istanbul when making a technical landing there. 🙂 Your photos are very inspiring and aroused the desire to go there. Thank you.

    Have a wonderful day!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. It was a really great trip Rebecca and although it’s a very crowded city, we felt very safe wherever we went. It also very cheap compared to most places which was helpful and our meals were delicious! Thanks for taking an interest in this post and I hope you enjoy the rest of this series. Marion

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Thanks Chris for your much appreciated thoughts on this, the first post in my series on Istanbul. We enjoyed our stay very much and felt perfectly safe at all times. Hopefully, you will get an opportunity to also visit before too long.

      Like

      Reply

  20. Sadly another place on my political no-go list. I’d love to go but it’s going to take a change of government before I’d even consider pumping my money into the place… I’ll enjoy it vicariously through your blog though.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.