This trip to Istanbul made a lot of memories for these two senior travelers!
Istanbul, Turkey – 9 must see sights in this beautiful city! Truly, this trip to Istanbul made a lot of memories for us! It was truly a challenge to narrow down our list of top favorite sights! Neither of us had visited Turkey but were thrilled in 2009 when we took the opportunity for a three week visit! As I’ve shared before, The Big Guy worked internationally for quite a few years enabling us to meet in various countries for his R&R time & for me to catch him up on what was happening on the home front.
Although, again, we heard naysayers commenting on why we would go to Turkey? In our three week stay in Heaven – -I mean Istanbul – we never once had that ‘what have we got ourselves into’ moment. There truly were so many sites to see but we have painstakingly narrowed our list down to what we consider our Must see Sights this amazing city. Let’s get going…
Our 9 Must See Sights in Istanbul!
1] The Stone Hotel
The Stone Hotel sits in the Binbirdirek District within walking distance to both the Blue Mosque as well as the Hagia Sophia Mosque & the Sulthanahmet shopping/neighborhood. It sits on a quiet little street & has the most amazing view from the small rooftop terrace. Truly a little piece of heaven at the end of a long day sight seeing! This was our home for three weeks.
From the upstairs room our view was amazing.
The tall minaret from the Mosque peeking out above houses outside our hotel window straight out to the water was just beautiful.
The unexpectedness of what was around the next corner was the best part of our walkabouts! Carts full of fruit & vegetables were on – it seemed – every other street.
Prior to our visit, I was not aware that prayer time in Istanbul was five times a day. Every day would start with the call to prayer over loud speakers all over the city – one which was located pretty much right outside our hotel window but we really did get use to it pretty quickly. It really was kind of cool. The call to prayers never phased the Big Guy, he was used to hearing it having been working in the Middle East. When in Rome, right?
One day we were out on a walkabout when we heard the call to prayer. As we turned the next corner on our walk the entire side street was covered with prayer rugs & what seemed like hundreds of people kneeling in prayer. Quite the sight…
Back to The Stone Hotel, below are a couple of photos from the hotel patio up the steps to the breakfast room. It was a cave & breath catching at first sight.
2] The Grand Bazaar
The Grand Market, one of the oldest markets of the city does not disappoint! It was breathtaking to the senses with all the colors & aromas. My eyes were so happy! Aisles of teas, spices, ceramics, rugs, art, etc.
3] Coffee, Chai & Chocolate
The Big Guy loved the Turkish coffee. I fell in love with the Turkish Chocolate so we made our way to a multi level glass mall & found a chocolate shop that combined the best of both worlds – coffee & chocolate. The coffee spoons were even made from chocolate! (Do I need to say more!!). I have searched for the name of the humongous glass multi-floored mall but at this point will have to update you all once I find it.
4] Bosphorus Strait
There are a couple ways to check out the Bosphorus Strait which separates Istanbul between Europe & Asia – connecting The Black Sea & Sea of Marmara. There is always a cruise for tourist or you could buy a transportation token & just ride on the same boat as the locals [which we chose]. Here are a couple pics of the views!
5] Blue & Sophia Mosques
The Blue Mosque with its cascading domes was erected in early 1600s. Although it is The Blue Mosque, the name comes from the blue tiles used in the interior of mosque. It is also the only mosque in Istanbul with six minarets!
The Hagia Sophia known in part for its red walls has the honor of being an UNESCO World Heritage Site with a rich history having been erected 532 A.D.
Both Mosques are sights to see with fascinating histories! They sit with the landscaped park separating them.
The boys under The Big Guy’s arms followed us a few steps & we noticed their intent interest in us. At one point, The Big Guy introduced himself to them which made their day. They rubbed their fingers on his arms, then looked to see if the brown came off on their fingers! Evidently, The Big Guy was their first person of color. Anyway, after a short happy chat with them they asked The Big Guy to take his pic with them. LOL.
6] Carpet Makers
We were invited into several sidewalk shops busy with making rugs. We were able to get up close to see the Turkish carpet makers busy at work! Beautiful handiwork & craftsmanship was undeniable.
7] Walls of Constantinople
The Walls of Constantinople were built in the 4th & 5th centuries to protect the city of Constantinople (now Istanbul) from opposing threats, Arabs, etc. by land & sea but the city ultimately fell to the Ottomans in late 1400s.
As a side note, we watched a movie on the History Channel a couple years back that focused on the time period of the Ottomans take over of Constantinople – check it out!
Despite years of erosion the walls remain a site to see. Walls & towers are seen easily from streets, boat or by guided tours.
8] The People
Full disclosure! Neither one of us could speak or understand any of the Turkish language. So what I’m about to say may surprise you. The people in Istanbul were extremely friendly and treated us like we belonged. I know what you are asking, How can I say people are friendly when we didn’t even speak the same language?
One thing that we did was to look at our map and write down the name of the street or location we were going. i.e. how would you say ‘ibni Kemal Caddesi’ properly in the Turkish language? The hotel staff tried unsuccessfully to help us pronounce it correctly & finally said to show it to the driver & they would know exactly where to go. We saw the street name on the public bus that we were taking & showed the street name to the bus driver who promptly stopped & let us know when we arrived at our stop. It worked for us!
Below is a photo of two forever friends we made on our second day of trip. Anna from Georgia & Faisal from Iraq. Such a friendly & sweet couple that we were able to really get to know over our three week trip! I have to mention that I was very impressed listening to our friends speak Russian, Iraqi & Turkish amongst the people. I was impressed.
9] Asia Side of Istanbul & Olive Groves
Once we made it across the Bosphorus Strait to the Asian side of Istanbul we enjoyed this horse & wagon ride! This side was very residential with beautiful homes sitting on the water. The groves we rode thru were beautiful with the water visual through the trees. Our new friends were able to enjoy this with us which really made it special for us. The driver was nice enough to put us on the wagon for a quick photo.
Wrapping Up….
Istanbul was amazing in every aspect that we could have dreamed of. It was truly tough picking out just a few photos for this post so I will have to put my thinking hat on to see what the best way would be to share more photos with you. Check out our Pinterest site for more photos as well!
Bottom line, it was a very easy country to navigate for any senior couple traveling. It met so many requirements for us – Safe & definitely budget friendly with beautiful sights to see & wonderful friendly people! It was everything that we/you could dream of in visiting a foreign country. Would we make another trip to Turkey? Absolutely! Only time will tell if that is in the cards or not.
Enjoy & start making those plans for your adventure abroad even if it is for a vacation only….do it!! Continue following us on “Travels with the Big Guys” to see where our next adventure will take you.
Have you been to beautiful Istanbul, Turkey? We would love to hear about your trip. Maybe you went to a different part of the country? Do you have any favorite sights? Share!! We would love to hear from you!
Peace, Love, Joy & Happy Travels!
