I Love Istanbul and Here are Five Reasons Why

Boasting more than 12 million official residents, the city is like no other in Turkey. Being the only city in the world that spans two different continents, it is huge. I love Istanbul and can easily admit to a major addiction for this characteristic destination.

You cannot help but be engulfed in the cultural history and significance. So many tourists visit and enjoy adventures through the city, some even make it ‘home’, buying a property in Istanbul or simply spending months seeing all the sights in this city, there really is so much to do.

I have decided to choose my favourite things about Istanbul, maybe some you will have heard of, maybe some you would have not. As well as being my little guide to getting the best out of this awesome city, they are also the reasons why I can say with pride, “I love Istanbul”

My Favourite Restaurant

You will soon realise that locals love their food! With a plethora of choices from the old favourites such as Burger King and McDonalds, to local humble eateries serving traditional Turkish food at cheap prices, food in Istanbul is amazing.

When choosing a restaurant, most tourists look to restaurants around the Sultan Ahmet district and other touristic areas – however, as with most tourist areas, these can be pricier than traditional local restaurants.

I would recommend checking out Feriye Restaurant that has a fabulous location, overlooking the Bosphorus in Ortakoy. Sitting in a picturesque 19^th century building, the menu offers traditional Ottoman dishes with a modern twist; Feriye Restaurant is also famous for its amazing seafood dishes.

My Favourite Museum

Istanbul is a city with so much history, previously ruled by Romans and Ottomans alike. With that said, museums are rich in artefacts and have massive cultural significance.

Being such a colourful and cultural city, I would have go with the Istanbul Modern Museum and Art Gallery as the number one museum to see. Located in a converted warehouse, the museum has fantastic views over the Bosphorus and represents the modern side of Istanbul, located amongst all that history.

The contemporary art gallery plays host to local as well as international artists and many tourists can be seen wondering around this gallery in awe at some of the work on show. read more

Source : http://turkishtravelblog.com/i-love-istanbul/

Turkey: Changes to tourist visas for British nationals

Since 2010, Turkish visit visas issued at arrival ports state that they are valid for multiple stays up to a maximum of 90 days in a 180 day period. Up to 31 January, this rule has not been enforced by the Turkish immigration authorities, who were operating a flexible interpretation of the requirement.

However, from 1 February, the new visa rules will be fully enforced, and you will only be able to stay in Turkey for a total of 90 days in every 180. If you plan to remain in Turkey for a period of more than 90 days after 1 February, you should either enquire about longer stay visas from your nearest Turkish Embassy before departure, or if in Turkey, you should enquire at your local Foreigners Police Department (Yabancilar Sube) before 90 days expires. If you stay in Turkey for long periods of time, it may be worth considering obtaining a residence permit.

Be careful not to overstay the 90 day period. Overstaying is taken very seriously by the Turkish Authorities. Those who overstay the 90 day limit could be fined, detained, deported and banned from re-entering Turkey.

Turkey broadens its appeal to the other British Tourists

For many years Turkey and its holiday locations of Bodrum, Fethiye, Antalya and Istanbul to a degree have attracted tourists from the UK on its value for money, or cheap and cheerful to be more accurate.  While this image has brought the volume of tourists to Turkey, it has to be said it has not brought the most profitable side of tourism.

Things are changing though as more affluent visitors from the UK are starting to wake up to it’s more luxurious offerings and Turkey is starting to prise some of the visitors from the usual haunts of the rich or at least moderately rich and famous. Recent reports from the Turkeys 5 star and quality Boutique Hotels are finding an increase in numbers from the UK, while still not at the level of the Russians, Scandinavians, Germans and Middle Eastern which are the main stay of visitors, it is a trend that is to be encouraged to further with companies such as Luxury Holidays in Turkey providing and alternative for the more discerning visitor.

 Ali Kizildag General Manager of The Calista Luxury Resort  “ says last year we saw a small increase in the number of British visitors although the main of visitors are from the Scandinavia, Russia and the Middle East. Ali Kizildag goes on to say “without exception everyone who came from the UK we asked about for their views on Turkey before they arrived, and they all said how pleasantly surprised they were to find the high standard of Hotels, Restaurants and facilities available.

While Istanbul appears to have the most number of UK visitors at the higher end of the Tourism spectrum other locations are still widely ignored, apart from a small number in places such as Belek and parts of Bodrum .  A 500 bedroom Hotel in Belek which did not wish to be named had strong views and said we see some of the British that come to Turkey and quite honestly we would not want them in our Hotel our clientele expects to be able to enjoy a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere without the overly drunk and boisterous British. We see and hear of places like Kusadasi ,Gumbet-Bodrum and Altinkum which he described as not Turkey but British. Going on to say who decent would want to be surrounded by all the drunkenness aggression, decent people just want a nice relaxed holiday and atmosphere.

Until now the main problem for the UK, in respect of Turkey, is the image that has developed over time and the lack of options actually available when looking at the more luxurious end of the tourism market. The cheap price tag label with the majority of UK visitors will no doubt remain whilst it appears the majority of UK tour operators stick with price conscious Brits and it has to be said Turkeys own UK promotional activity which has definitely been aimed at this end of the market. Maybe this is not a reflection on Turkey but a reflection of how the UK is perceived?

Istanbul Number One for overseas property investors, second year running.

Pricewaterhouse Coopers say while London’s real estate market struggles and investors look away there are new hotspots attracting the attention of property investors.

Istanbul leads the way with, Munich and Warsaw been the new hotspots for investors and developers turning away from the rest of Europe’s stagnation and rising out of control unsustainable debts.

While London which has always attracted the overseas investors as a must for inclusion in any property portfolio, it is falling out of favor and has slipped down the rankings and is now placed 10^th out of places to invest reports PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Urban Land Institute. The concern is that London is now regarded as too expensive when you look at the economic forecast and what is actually happening. The financial crisis continues throughout Europe with uncertainty of when it will stabilize or totally capitulate then add to this the uncertainty of the Euro as a currency you can understand the change in attitudes.


The change of locations is happening now as investors cannot see a realistic end to the problems and with no upturn insight and no indications of a future one happening soon, investors have turned their backs on London and looked for new options.


A big part of the problem does stem from the unwillingness of banks to fund real estate investment, though it has to be said that the problem cannot be put entirely on to the Banks themselves, but imposed governmental regulatory changes are really forcing the Banks to be more cautious in their approach to lending. This does though create excellent investment opportunities for those who have the capital to invest in growing property markets.


Istanbul is still the number one and is predicted to continue for the year ahead as Turkeys overall growth continues to prosper. For a steady approach Munich with it its low unemployment and Germanys’ relative stability came second, third place is Warsaw, with its emergence as Eastern Europe's financial hub, having an impact with the need for more office space in the city.


Istanbul still shows no sign of slowing and if anything with the continued press and media predictions more investors are starting to look here to not miss out and it seems that anything will sell in Istanbul. The problem many investors have who is not familiar with Istanbul is the reality that there are some locations and developments where high investment returns are very achievable. The flip side is there are also many more that are just there for the ill informed investor, these are usually in poor locations and need the marketing campaigns by overseas property sales companies to actually sell them by offering the tactic of rent guarantees to fool the investor, in reality these are development with increased prices to cover the guarantees you have to ask the question after the two or even five years where will the rental income come from then.


It should still not put off the investor looking for a piece of the action in Istanbul but choose your development carefully to really reap the rewards.

Turkish Airlines Best European Airline 2011 to provide passengers with high-speed Internet

It was announced today that Turkish Airlines European Airline of the year 2011 has started to provide Wi-Fi broadband Internet access for its trans-Atlantic passenger flights from today.

This is in addition to the existing PLANET in-flight live television service which is already in use on its trans-Atlantic flights.

For those travellers will have super fast connection to the internet through their smart phones, tablets, Laptops and other WLAN-enabled devices.

Initially there will be an introductory period after which passengers will then be able to access the on-board Wi-Fi services via with an access code, available for credit card purchase.

Turkish Airlines means business having won the award and rightly so, this comes on the back of been the first Airline to offer live TV on tans-Atlantic flights, and its sponsorship with Barcelona and Manchester United football clubs.

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Deyrulzafaran Manastırı

Hold on tight Europe, Turkey is coming to rescue you

At a conference in Munich today Egemen Bagis Turkeys EU Minister and Chief Negotiator whilst giving a speech to those at the conference on “Turkey in the 21st century” Bagis said “ we are more determined than ever to become a member of the EU” and stated that his new slogan is ”˜hold on tight Europe, Turkey is coming to rescue you’.”

In Turkey there are in excess of 30,000 foreign companies and that Turkey as a nation is growing even though all around are in crisis. Turkey’s economic growth rate is 8% whilst the average for the rest of the European countries was at 1.5%.

For those who do not see Turkey having a realistic chance to join the EU should think again, as one of the most progressive countries globally Turkey is striving to satisfy all the chapters required to meet the criteria. The next big question is why would Turkey want to join the EU? It seems to be not just weathering the economic storm but prospering from it under the leadership and guidance of Prime Minister .Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The many who have visited Turkey on a regular basis will have seen the changes and prosperity happening, and it is thought there is much more to come as Turkey presses on as a country with belief in its strengths, which it has many, agriculture, construction, manufacturing and of course tourism. How many EU member countries can speak about these sectors in this way? We should be looking at how we can get Turkey to join the EU soon just in case Turkey decides otherwise. International news agency 2012