Travel Review Online

Editor’s Note: We’re celebrating a different kind of turkey today, in honor of the American holiday. This post was originally published last year. Happy Thanksgiving.

Istanbul at sunset

I have a crystal-clear memory of my surpassingly first morning in Istanbul. It was 1996. I was on assignment for Lonely Planet and Fodor’s to update their respective guidebooks to Turkey. My flight arrived late, 10pm or something.

I jumped into a taxi and headed straight to the small hotel I had booked in Istanbul’s Sultanahmet district.

The last thing I remember before collapsing into bed is opening the window of my 4th-floor room. Ahhh, the fresh evening air of Istanbul. So refreshing.

My next memory? It’s a small quantity hard to explain. Try this. Grab a bullhorn and turn the volume to ‘greatest’. Then interrogate a loved to place that bullhorn –> <– this far from your head. Now, have your friend turn it on and scream ALLAHHHHHHHHHHHHH at the top of their lungs. The whole thing will sound a little like this (click the “hear alarm” link; this is among the best travel shwag I have ever purchased).

San Francisco? Nope. Istanbul.

The problem? My bedroom window was literally, and I mean literally, 10 feet away from the loudspeaker atop the neighborhood mosque. It was my first early part in a Muslim country, and by god why didn’t anybody tell me about the ear-bursting call to prayer at 5:40am???

It nearly killed me. The sound was deafening. I bolted half-dressed out of bed into the hallway of the hotel, jumping up and down like a MAD MAN.

Lucky concerning me, nobody witnessed my half-naked pogo dance. And as the call to prayer faded, I realized my error and slipped back into my room. Lesson learned.

Since then I’ve visited Istanbul 7 or 8 times. I dream of going back again. I’ve also considered living there, except that my tongue and brain are incapable of pronouncing the Turkish language. (Go on, I dare you to pronounce “Afedersiniz! Hala faturamı bekliyorum,” or “Türkiye çok güzel bir ülkedir.”) So while I continue daydreaming about my next visit, let me share a few reasons to cancel your next holiday and instead catch the first flight to Istanbul.

Scott’s 5 Reasons to Love Istanbul

1. For western travelers, Istanbul is truly exotic. The dictionary defines exotic as “intriguingly unusual or different; excitingly strange” and that’s a great way to think about Istanbul. The sights, the sounds, the food, the music, the culture — it’s all excitingly strange, intriguingly unusual.
2. Istanbul is a good introduction to traveling in a Muslim country. I’ve been asked dozens of times, “Is it safe to travel in Muslim countries?” Yes, it is safe. Terrorism, anti-Westernism and anti-Americanism certainly exist in Turkey. But they exist in Canada, too. Istanbul– and Turkey in general — is incredibly safe and, for first-time visitors to the Muslim world, the perfect introduction.
3. Istanbul is the most beautiful city on the planet. I’m prepared to duke it out with any naysayers. San Francisco and Sydney? Sure they’re nice places, but Istanbul does the whole ‘waterfront coastal’ thing even better. Paris and Rome? OK, yeah, they’re pretty. But Istanbul’s skyline is equally stunning. Prague? You’re getting closer. But Istanbul, too, has a centuries-old historical pedigree (Istanbul was capital of the Roman, Ottoman and Byzantine empires) and has the architecture to prove it.
4. If you held a contest to find the “World’s Nicest People” the Turks would come in second place, just after the Vietnamese. The Turks are incredibly hospitable, gracious, serious, sincere, you name it. I’ve traveled through 50+ countries in my life, and I’ve found few people as warm and friendly as the Turks.
5. Turkey! Istanbul is only the tip of the iceberg — Turkey itself has some amazing places to visit, from Cappadocia to the Aegean to the Black Sea.

OK. Enough of the hard-sell job. It’sitting obvious I love Istanbul. It’s obvious it’s a great place to visit. What’s not obvious is why you haven’t booked a ticket yet???

Resources for Travelers to Istanbul

• Cool hotel: The Empress Zoe in Sultanahmet. A small boutique hotel with a great rooftop deck overlooking the Golden Horn.



Scott at Erenler Nargile Salonu

• Eat here: any of the restaurants in and around Cicek Pasaji in Beyoglu, just off Istiklal Caddesi. This is a small L-shaped galleria with a long line of rowdy taverna-style restaurants. Eat fish, drink raki, repeat.
• Do this: Take a half-day Bosphorus Cruise and visit the Egyptian bazaar.
• Smoke this: apple- and honey-infused tobacco in a Turkish nargile (water pipe). The nargile is one of Turkey’s great gifts to the world. And my favorite place to enjoy one in Istanbul is the Erenler Nargile Salonu, just off Yeniceriler Cadessi, in a madressi tucked off the main street behind a cemetery.
• More info: You can download or listen to a Podcast I made a few years ago about Turkey (including some great sound clips of a call to prayer) or check out some of my favorite Turkish websites: Turkish Daily News, the English-language weekly newspaper; and Istanbul Portal, which does a nice job on history and culture. Also check out my Top 5 things to do in Istanbul.

-Scott McNeely

Planning a trip? Browse Viator’s tours and things to do in Istanbul and tours in Turkey.

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