Istanbul HOHO Bus

[jff50]

We are in Istanbul for 3 days before boarding our ship (and 1 additional day before we sail). Staying in the Sultanahmet section. Planned on doing Istanbul on our own/walking. Just noticed that they have a HOHO bus in Istanbul. In the past, we have found a HOHO bus to be a good way to get an overview of the city--and it will give us a chance to see sections of Istanbul that we probably would not get/go to otherwise.

 

Has anyone had any experience with the HOHO bus for Istanbul. Either this one

http://www.isango.com/turkey-tours/istanbul-tours/istanbul-hop-on-hop-off-tour_5363

or any others?

 

Thanks.

 

Jody

[CintiPam]

We are in Istanbul for 3 days before boarding our ship (and 1 additional day before we sail). Staying in the Sultanahmet section. Planned on doing Istanbul on our own/walking. Just noticed that they have a HOHO bus in Istanbul. In the past, we have found a HOHO bus to be a good way to get an overview of the city--and it will give us a chance to see sections of Istanbul that we probably would not get/go to otherwise.

 

Has anyone had any experience with the HOHO bus for Istanbul. Either this one

http://www.isango.com/turkey-tours/istanbul-tours/istanbul-hop-on-hop-off-tour_5363

or any others?

 

Thanks.

 

Jody

 

IMO, the traffic is so horrendous in Istanbul that HOHO bus would be a waste of time. The tram does a great job going between the cruise port area and the Sultanahmet area. Once in the Sultanahmet area, all the major sights are within a 10-15 minute walk of each other, and it is much better to go by foot than bus here. For example, Topkapi Palace, Archaelogical Museum, Hagia Sofia, Basilica Cistern, Hippodrome, Blue Mosque and Mosaic Museum are all right next to each other, with a lovely park between the Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque. The other wonderful site, the Chora Church (great mosaics) reveals nothing from the street.

 

A cruise up the Bosphorus is also a nice way to see sights from the water (either the six-hour cruise or the 90-minute Turyol boat cruise), but I would never sightsee by bus in Istanbul.

[cruisemom42]

I completely agree with CintiPam, having experienced the traffic in Istanbul. I would not recommend the HOHO there. Walk the Sultanahmet area (very compact) for the historic sites, and take the tram to any locations too far to reach on foot.

[Hlitner]

I would ask a question of the OP. Where do you want to go on the HoHO bus? IMHO many folks pay a lot of money for these tours without having a clue as to why they are taking the HoHo. In Istanbul, most of the places that are popular with tourists (Topkapi, Blue Mosque, Hage Sofia, Covered (Grand) Bazaar, Spice Bazaar, etc are all within a relatively compact area that is best explored on foot. Some might want to use a taxi at one point, but for those that like to walk it is the best way to see Istanbul.

 

Hank

[Noorderdam]

This is what I wrote few years ago on tripadvisor:

 

 

We took this daily panoramic tour. Not worth the money at all !!

Only one hop-off place. On webwite it says $15, but it costs $25. Most of languages in earphones does not work right, as it switch between German-Dutch and French-English.

 

The Bus drives very slowly for half hour to Taksim-square, stays there for half hour, then other half hour back to start, near Sultanahmet-square.

Better (and cheaper) take tram, metro, funicular, taxi.

This HOHO-Istanbul was, next to visitng yerebatan-cistre(also not worth money $8), our worst Istanbul experience.

 

 

Otto.

[jff50]

This is what I wrote few years ago on tripadvisor:

 

 

We took this daily panoramic tour. Not worth the money at all !!

Only one hop-off place. On webwite it says $15, but it costs $25. Most of languages in earphones does not work right, as it switch between German-Dutch and French-English.

 

The Bus drives very slowly for half hour to Taksim-square, stays there for half hour, then other half hour back to start, near Sultanahmet-square.

Better (and cheaper) take tram, metro, funicular, taxi.

This HOHO-Istanbul was, next to visitng yerebatan-cistre(also not worth money $8), our worst Istanbul experience.

 

 

Otto.

Sounds like a different HOHO bus. The one I included a link for mentions about 40 stops to get on/off at. I was interested in it because (in the past) I have liked the HOHO bus to get an overview, and at least get a peek at areas that I would not otherwise get to. This HOHO bus seems to cover old and new Istanbul pretty comprehensively. Not sure we'd get to see much of new Istanbul otherwise.

[samavarcruiser]

IMO, the traffic is so horrendous in Istanbul that HOHO bus would be a waste of time. The tram does a great job going between the cruise port area and the Sultanahmet area. Once in the Sultanahmet area, all the major sights are within a 10-15 minute walk of each other, and it is much better to go by foot than bus here. For example, Topkapi Palace, Archaelogical Museum, Hagia Sofia, Basilica Cistern, Hippodrome, Blue Mosque and Mosaic Museum are all right next to each other, with a lovely park between the Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque. The other wonderful site, the Chora Church (great mosaics) reveals nothing from the street.

 

A cruise up the Bosphorus is also a nice way to see sights from the water (either the six-hour cruise or the 90-minute Turyol boat cruise), but I would never sightsee by bus in Istanbul.

 

I agree

[Wendy The Wanderer]

The HoHo bus we did in Istanbul had about a dozen or so stops. It went out to the old Roman walls in the west, up to Taksim Square, past the Grand Bazaar, etc.

 

It was fine, and we had a good time and saw things we otherwise would not have (we were there for 6 days). We got off at the Chora Museum (fabulous medieval mosaics), and the University (my husband's an academic, so wanted to see it.) We also got off at the top of Istiklal Cadese (sp), walked *down* this steep, interesting street, then picked up the bus at the bottom to continue on our way. Very foot-saving.

 

We really enjoyed it. Problem was, the traffic was terrible (just before a huge NATO conference.) Riding the bus was fine, and very informative. But waiting at the stop to get the *next* bus wasn't so great--with the traffic, the schedule got out of whack and that was kind of a pain.

 

But all in all, very pleasant.

[RJHNorthyorks]

WE were in Istanbul in August, The tram system is excellent once you work it out. Agree that traffic is awful. On last day we took a leisurely walk from Sulanamet district back to ship which only took us about 30/40 mins.

[tom_uk]

We were in Istanbul ust over a week ago, and i agree that the tram is the way to go; very cheap, very easy, very quick. We were there during the IMF conference, and excursion passengers had a *very* time with traffic congestion.

 

We also walked back to the ship across Galata bridge on our second day; very easy, about 30 minutes, from Hagia Sophia.