Istanbul Flights

Turkey Holidays to Istanbul

Istanbul Holidays
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Hotels in Istanbul – From contemporary to traditional

Hotels in Istanbul come in all flavours. Istanbul, a bit like that dinky little singer Prince, was formally called something else. At one point it was called Byzantium. Later, Constantinople. And there’ve been others in between. Why? Because over the ages Turkey has been home to a succession of major civilisations some of whom have come to blows. A bit like Berwick on Tweed; part of Scotland then nicked by England only to be taken back by Scotland again and so on. But Istanbul is much more exotic than Berwick and a lot warmer. Smart hotels in Istanbul include contemporary boutique hotel The Bentley Hotel Istanbul, on Harbiye and Nisantasi within easy pottering distance of swathes of restaurants, bars, night clubs and shops.

Istanbul Hotels – Take a walking tour of the city

Stay in Istanbul hotels and explore this contradictory city, some ancient beyond imagination, some brand new. Istanbul Walks is a really cool local tour operator who arranges daily tours of the city on foot. Soak yourself in Istanbul’s atmosphere and take in the city’s heritage and culture with a professional licensed tour guide and get a flavour of the real Turkey. We couldn’t mention hotels in Istanbul without talking about the Taksim Gonen Hotel, a first class place on Taksim Square, close to all the major attractions including art galleries, the opera house and numerous theatres, cafes and bars.

Hotels in Istanbul – A city that spans two continents

Cosmopolitan Istanbul is a proper multi-cultural metropolis connecting continents and religions as well as a host of peoples from all over the world. Partly because, uniquely in the world, it is a city that has a foot in two continents. Hotels in Istanbul give you the chance to get a real feel for this fascinating city as well as being a great hopping-off point for the rest of Turkey. The Pera Tulip is a new hotel, opened recently in the centre of Pera-Beyoglu. It offers comfortable, spotless and well equipped rooms, a perfect base for your city adventures.

Is Istanbul beckoning? If you’re inspired, you can book your Istanbul hotel here and now!

Or take a tour round our hotel pages for Hotels in Bodrum, Hotels in Dalaman , Hotels in Marmaris and Hotels in Turkey



Here are just some of the hotels and resorts we sell in Istanbul

Istanbul Holidays - Great Turkish Culture                                               

With the International Airport Istanbul will likely be the start of your Turkey holidays, but be sure to stick around for a little while as Istanbul is a fascinating city. Istanbul is often described as the crossroads of Europe and Asia.  Its not the capital, but its the largest city in Turkey with more than 13 million inhabitants. It's west lies in Eastern Europe, whilst its west lies in Western Asia. The two parts are divided by the Bosphorus River, which makes it the only city in the world reaching across two continents.  Due to its prime geographical position, the city has always been important for trade and vital to Turkey's economy. Istanbul is very popular with tourists, and has a huge metropolitan mix of cultures and religions.

Cheap Holidays to Istanbul - Many Attractions

The Blue Mosque, with its magnificent domes and minarets is one of the most distinguishable features of Istanbul. Its interior is decorated with thousands of blue and white tiles covered in traditional Ottoman flower patterns (the Ottomans: a Turkish dynasty that ruled the Ottoman Empire until just World War I).  Other attractions include classical columns, fine Byzantine structures, the ancient city walls and spectacular Orthodox churches. Its natural harbour (known as the golden horn), is an important landmark too.

Istantbul Holidays - A Thriving Economy

The Turkish economy has been booming in recent years, with most of the benefits falling to Istanbul.  This is making the city increasingly cosmopolitan, with new art galleries, trendy nightclubs and designer stores opening all the time.  It has strong links with the EU, but it's non euro currency status has attracted many tourists and increased Turkey's exports. Istanbul holidays can offer something for everyone.

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.

Or take a tour round our flights pages for Flights to Bodrum, Flights to Dalaman , Flights to Marmaris and Flights to Turkey

Topkapi Palace Attractions – Istanbul Holidays

The Topkapi Sarayi, built by Mehmet the Conqueror as a Sultan's Palace is a collection of buildings arranged around several courtyards. Situated on one of the seven hills of Istanbul with uninterrupxed views over the Bosphorus, it was the seat of the Ottoman Empire for almost four hundred years.

It was a ‘royal residence’, and, among other things, housed a harem (yes, harem, like in the Carry On films). The harem remains one of the most popular parts of it even today, mysteriously, and it’s not even ‘in use’ anymore (perhaps people don’t realise). The harem was once home to around 300 women, who were all the sultan’s wives or concubines. Incidentally, a concubine is someone who lives with an important man, but isn’t his wife. No, not his mum either. You’d best ask a few questions yourself when you’re there if you want to know more. You can see apartments, halls and terraces of the harem, and the lavish royal bedchamber and Imperial Hall. The palace and its rooms are decorated expensively; what with all the fountains, or ‘water features’ as we call them these days. Then there’s the splendid Treasury, which houses one of the world’s greatest collections of treasure. Don’t steal anything, even if you do intend to bring it back for the British Museum, we aren’t allowed to do that anymore.

Turkish and Islamic Art Museum – Istanbul Attractions

The Turkish and Islamic Art Museum contains among the finest collection of Islamic artefacts in the world. The ex-palace that now houses the museum was the finest private residence ever built in the Ottoman Empire. The museum is renowned for its antique carpets, but contains many more fine examples of illuminated Korans, Ottoman calligraphy, carved and inlaid wood, glass, porcelain, stone and more.

The Covered Bazaar (Kapali Çarsi) – Attractions in Istanbul

This, the oldest and biggest enclosed bazaar in the world, also known as the Covered Bazaar, is one of the most evocative of attractions in Istanbul. It’s a seemingly never ending maze of twisting streets lined with over 4,000 shops, teahouses, Turkish baths, mosques, storehouses, fountains, and more. Known as ‘Kapali Carsisi’ in Turkish, the Grand Bazaar is indeed the grand daddy of all covered market places, its origins going back to 1461.

Now comprised of more than four thousand shops stretching over sixty plus streets, it’s the largest covered market in the world. Want a belly-dancing outfit? This is the place! Don’t forget to haggle (‘Ere’ Bert, this bloke won’t haggle’), but don’t believe for a moment that the Grand Bazaar is just a façade put on for tourists; it’s where the locals shop too. You don’t have to buy anything at all, just exploring the alleyways, absorbing the atmosphere that’s changed little for almost 600 years, which means no Starbucks. However, one opened nearby in Istanbul in 2003, so it’s only a matter of time. Get there fast!

The Galata Tower – Istanbul Attractions

There was an early recorded attempx at flight here - In 1638 Hezarfen Ahmed Celebi strapped on some wings he’d made and ‘flew’ from the top of the tower to the Asian side of the Boshphorus. Now, we weren’t there and can’t vouch for him, but he did receive a huge amount of gold in way of reward. You can still go up the tower today, if you’re MAD. Do NOT do go up the tower under any circumstances as it’s very high and you’re certain to fall off. If anyone mentions the 1638 flight to you when you’re in Turkey, feel free to tell them about Eilmer, the monk of Malmesbury, which is in the UK of course. Eilmer ‘flew’ off the top of Malmesbury Abbey in about 1125, a good 500 years prior to Hezarfen’s attempx. Eilmer didn’t so much fly, more just plummet. You don’t have to say that bit though. He did survive incidentally, and made notes on the performance of his wings, which makes him the world’s first test pilot.
Atatürk Airport is about 18 miles to Istanbul city centre. The flight from the UK is in the region of four hours.

What are you missing right now in Istanbul ? Here’s a 4 day weather forecast for Istanbul

12 Month Weather Forecast

 
Low Temp
High Temp
January
3°C
8°C
February
3°C
8°C
March
4°C
11°C
April
7°C
15°C
May
12°C
21°C
June
17°C
25°C
July
21°C
28°C
August
21°C
28°C
September
16°C
23°C
October
13°C
19°C
November
8°C
14°C
December
5°C
9°C

Visiting Istanbul soon and want to know how to get out and about?

Street maps of Istanbul are provided here by our partner Google. You can use the interactive maps to view a map of tourist attractions in Istanbul, city and road information and for general directions. We believe Google provide the best tourist maps of Istanbul so have integrated them into our comprehensive travel guide

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