Doing a solo trip to Istanbul in the spring.

How long are you there for?

If it’s your first time, I would recommend staying on the European side. Asian side is good, but there is more touristic stuff on the European side.

The Hagia Sophia, Topkapi palace, and Istanbul Archaeological museum are all within a combined five minute walk of each those.

For a city of its size and traffic congestion, this level of convenience is huge. I would definitely try to do these in a day as your travel time between the sites will literally be a couple of minutes.

It’s all basically in the Sultanahmet district, which is very appealing to tourists.

The other area I would recommend would be the area near Istiklal Street.

That is in the Besiktas neighborhood and will have lots of hotel chains you’re familiar with. It’s about 5 miles away from the first area, but that may take 40 minutes with traffic.

It probably has the best stretch of bars and nightlife in the city, when you factor in how close everything is.

The biggest tip I’d have is to limit your time in traffic within reason.

Someone who goes to three of the top 10 restaurants that are all within a mile of each other will be much happier than someone who spends hours in traffic to get to the 3 very best restaurants that are nowhere near each other.

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solo trip to Istanbul

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Enjoy you new hair transplant.

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Enjoy your new hair transplant.

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Made me laugh. I'd forgotten a common sight in Istanbul... hair implant patients seeing the sights. I first thought all those balding and bandaged guys were auto wreck victims who'd hit the windshield.

Basic good 1st-timer advice... stay in historic Sultanahmet district and see the sights tourists have come to see since 330AD (founding of Constantinople). Book a walking tour and maybe a boat tour at your hotel.

Before the massive Grand Bazaar or the Spice Bazaar start with the calmer Arasta Bazaar behind the Blue Mosque. Textiles are a good buy and easy to pack. Skip buying a rug no matter how unique and stunning it looks in the shop, unless you have knowledge about them. I bought two on trip #2.

Good suggestions can be found here LINK /

The city has a hustle and bustle culture along with an ancient tradition of hospitality. You will enjoy the people if you catch them at a relaxed moment.

If you plan to be dining alone, I'd suggest sticking mostly with hotel restaurants. Many other restaurants cater to large groups selecting many courses and drinks late into the evening.

In April & May public gardens are in maximum splendor. Turkey is where northern Europeans fell in love with tulips.

As to advice on toilets. Most places even your hotel lobby will have toilet attendants whose job includes paper dispensing, cleaning and crowd control at popular attractions. There may be a small sign showing the fee. Inquire at your hotel desk what is now customary around the city... everything is going up. You may read to tip "a few Turkish Lira". Today a Lira is about 3 cents US. Carry a few 10 Lira coins.

Final advice... hotels very close to mosques often have earplugs in the nightstand for tourists disinterested in the highly amplified 4:45am call to prayer. Bring your own just to be ready.

I'm there for a week right now. Do you think that's too long?

No, that’s a perfect time imo. If you aren’t working your arse off, you can do Hagoa Sophia, Topkapi, and the archaeological museum

Then you can do the Istiklal area at night, on a different night. You can go with colleagues if they are close to your age and like them. Should be a fun time.

Dolmabache Palace, the Grand Bazaar (not really of interest to me but I know it’s a big attraction), and the Anatolian side are all things you can do if yo have more time.

You can easily do 2 weeks in Istanbul or add a week and go to the Aegean or Mediterranean if you’d like, but 5-6 days is good too.

Get some hash...don't go to prison.

Stay in a place that overlooks the Bosphorus river. Go ti the bazaar and let the merchants oly you with tea and sell you something. They will not respect you unless you drive a hard bargain. Go to an authentic Turkish bath/massage.

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I second the the traffic thing

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the way people drive there is utterly ridiculous. not only that, I saw no less than 4-5 scuffles over driving in a 3 week period.