Flights to Istanbul – NOT the capital of Turkey!
Choose flights to Istanbul and you’ll land at Istanbul Ataturk International Airport, seventeen miles west of the city centre. You’d be forgiven for assuming that Istanbul, formerly Constantinople, was the capital of Turkey. But no… Ankara is. Istanbul was once the capital, but not any more. Flights to Istanbul drop you into a busy, thriving, bustling city of ten million people. As a child I was enthralled by being able to stand with one foot in England and one in Scotland, straddling the border at Berwick on Tweed. Mind you, life was grim in the ‘70s and we only had a black and white telly. You can treat yourself to much the same thrill (!) here because Istanbul sits on the border between Europe and Asia, the two halves divided by the Bosphorus.
Istanbul Flights – Quiet residential Asian Istanbul
So do the two halves of Istanbul have different personalities? You bet they do – flights to Istanbul give you two holidays in one. Istanbul’s southern Asian half is chilled, quiet and mainly residential. An interesting place to wander at your leisure to get the feel of the place, although there aren’t any real tourist hot spots there. If you want to travel further afield into Turkey, Istanbul’s main train station is in the Asian half. Airport transfers are easy peasy. There’s an excellent, efficient light rail metro that connects the airport with Esenler Terminal. By road, you can catch a special Havas airport bus which’ll zoom you into Taksim Square in about half an hour. Or pick up a dolmus – a shared taxi – outside the terminal building.
Flights to Istanbul – Smart, cosmopolitan Beyoglou
Istanbul’s European half, the Beyoglou area, sits on the northern banks of the Bosphorus, newer and smarter. Take flights to Istanbul, head for Beyoglou and you’ll find yourself in the midst of mega-expensive bling-filled hotels, tourist stuff, museums and almost all of the city’s major attractions. Ataturk Airport delivers everything you’d expect from a major international hub; banks and cashpoint machines, bureaux de change, food and drink 24/7 and the airport’s wonderful Bazaar packed with local goods.
Exciting, exotic, cosmopolitan. Book your flights to Istanbul here.
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