Poll - is a guide needed for Istanbul

[harrowgirl]

Our ship will be in port from Sat, Nov 04

Istanbul, Turkey Docked Arrive 1:00 PM Sun, Nov 05

Istanbul, Turkey Docked Depart 2:00 PM

Guides seem to be about $120 - $150 US per person for the 2 days total. (well - 2 1/2 days).

 

I'm just wondering if it is easy to get around Istanbul, or if we would be better off with a guide.

 

There are 4 of us travelling - so it works out to a lot of money to have the guide.

[RHefley228]

I'm just wondering if it is easy to get around Istanbul, or if we would be better off with a guide.

 

Guides can be very useful, especially if you are in a very unfamiliar place for a short period of time. IHowever, if you carefully study a guidebook before you go, and make an itinerary of what you really want to see, it's pretty easy to do Istanbul on your own once you've mastered the day/night taxi rate scam--you need to memorize two more Turkish words in addition to "excuse me," "please," "toilet," and "thank you," the ones that will take you safely through the entire world. When I first went to Istanbul in 1972, taxis were required to have meters but it was not required that they work, so you had to bargain--before you got in the cab--over every trip, and tourists carried little hotel-issued cheat sheets that told what the fares between various points should be. Now the meters work, but there's this new wrinkle.) If you don't do your homework before you arrive, you will miss many amazing things. If you intend to make any purchases in the bazaars, you should also read up on bargaining techniques and maintain a healthy sense of humor. A shopkeepers faux-outrage at your offer is a favorite ploy; pretending to speak English poorly or not at all is another. It really depends on how adventurous you are. I do think that the price you're mentioning for a guide is really, really high and that you can do better. Take a look at Virtualtourist.com for some advice about the city. Having said all this, I do think it's a wonderful place and that you will enjoy it--but it ain't Kansas, Dorothy. (And no, I'm not going to tell you what the two taxi-rate Turkish words are.)

[mems]

Hello,

After being in many European countries....in my humble opinion........ Istanbul is one place I would not do on my own. It is a very complex city. You will get the best of Istanbul with a guide or tour.

mems

[Bruin Steve]

We just got home about a week and a half ago from an Istanbul to Venice cruise...

We spent 2 nights in Istanbul at the Conrad before and additional "overnight" on the ship...Since we arrived in the morning of our first day, we actually had almost four full days in Istanbul...

 

We went back and forth for a long time as to whether to hire guides or to go "on our own"...

 

Eventually, we decided to go with the guide...mostly because Istanbul was completely new and foreign to us.

 

We ended up using Ekol Travel for both Istanbul and Kusadasi, paying 170 (total for two) for a full day tour (on our second day--first full day) to the Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia, Hipposdrome, Blue Mosque and Grand Bazaar...All of these sights are fairly close together, but our hotel was pretty much across town, so the tour idea had the extra advantage of picking us up from and delivering us back to the hotel (where the cruise ship docked was also a fair ride--traffic in Istanbul was absolutely horrible--from the major sites)...

 

There was some additional advantage to doing this with a guide as we learned a lot and got quite a bit of insight from our guide....plus it added some structure to the day......

 

That night, we booked a second package through the guide agency, to the Orient House for the dinner and show--and it turned out to be one of the hioghlights of our stay their--very entertaining...We paid $70 a person through the agency--which included pick-up from the hotel...but you may want to look into whether you can book it direct with Orient House for less--if you are interested , of course...

 

On the Day on the ship, we booked a "Half Day Bosphorus Cruise and excursion to the Spice Bazaar", again through the guide agency, for $39 pp including pick-up from the ship (Oceania was charging $59 pp for the same thing)...You also might be able to just buy this directly from the kiosk at Sultanamet Square, right between the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque...

 

Another option would be the "hop-on-hop-off tour bus--yes, they have one...and you can even get a package with a Bosphorus cruise--again, the kiosk at Sultanamet...right in front of the Hagia Sophia...

 

Of course, as noted, there is plenty to see within walking distance right around Sultanamet...

 

You might want to question various tour guides about pricing...some may be willing to charge by the tour rather than by the person for your group of four...

 

Good luck...

[wwinfl91]

I would agree with the consensus so far and suggest that Istanbul is a city where a guide is a very good decision. We used the following company in 2003 and they did a great job on a 1 day tour.

 

http://www.turfantastik.com/

 

Have a great next cruise.

[X-ring]

I'm just wondering if it is easy to get around Istanbul, or if we would be better off with a guide.

 

If the attractions of interest to you are close together and your objectives for each are best described as "been there done that", you can probably do it on your own.

 

On the other hand if you're enjoyment includes understanding the historical/cultural/religious context of what you're seeing and can't devote the time do this research yourself, a guide is very worthwhile.