Traveling to Turkey

Most interesting facts of Turkey Before you read this,you need to prepare yourselves for the facts that the house of Santa Claus is not in North Pole or Amazon female warriors did not live in Amazon rainforests in South America. Republic of Turkey is full of history and there are many facts that will surprise you when you start to read the article below. So here are some of them possibly you never knew. - The Color "Turquoise" comes from the clean color of the see on the Aegean coasts in Turkey. - The millenium stone at Sultanahmet Square in Istanbul was the zero meridian point of the world once upon a time. - The Famous Trojan wars took place in Western Turkey Truva town. - The First church built by men (St.Pete's Church) is in Antioch (Antakya) Turkey. - The oldest known human settlement in Turkey is Catalhoyuk (7th millenium B.C.) - Ephesus and Halicarnasus - two of the most famous places of the ancient world - ...

According to Forbes.com Istanbul is  number 7 of the World's top 10 cities for street food.But who cares!Every mother thinks her own gosling is a swan.I love Ottoman-Turkish Cuisine with it's richness and it's number 1 for me.You will find the most popular street food of Istanbul on this article. Since the tastes differ, you will only find the top 10 street food in Istanbul to eat on the go. If you would like to see the rest of the popular street food of Istanbul, go to best street food of Istanbul page. So here is number 1 on our list; 1. Doner Kebap World wide famous doner kebab is usually Chicken,lamb or beef grilled on a skewer (mostly vertically) and served in bread, pita bread or tortilla (so called lavash in Turkey). As the German-Turks say "doner macht schoener" which means  "Doner makes you nice(r)" :) 2. Simit bread Who could resist the smell of fresh baked simit bread with some toasted sesame seeds on it? This 100 grams of ro...

Every single body complains about how tired they are after visiting historical sights of Istanbul in the Histoical Peninsula.Old city of Istanbul based on seven hills and yes it's full of ups and downs on high heel enemy cobblestoned streets. What do you want to do after a tiring day? Go back to your room,take shower and lay down?You will wake up with ache on your feet in the next morning.You sir, need a treatment! That's why the hamams for. 60 Traditional Turkish baths out of 200 are still standing proudly in the city of Istanbul and waiting for people to go there and clean themselves.And maybe arrange Tellak (massuer) or Natir (masseuse) to help you clean and strech :) What is the best time to go to a hamam? Well, it depends on a person but there is a common believing in public that you should go either way on a rainy day or in the evening when it's little bit cooler outside. What are the best hamams in Istanbul? If you spend your holiday in old city area ...

If you are planning to use very convenient public transportation of  Istanbul and do not now where to buy an Istanbulkart (public transportation card),read the topic below for the best help on the web. Where to buy Istanbul card at the Atatürk Airport? If you will use the metro in order to reach Oldcity area (or any other destinantion by metro),after the luggage claim you need to go out of the security door and turn right,go until the end of the hall and use the lift.Press the button for  lowest floor and that's it. What you need to do is to walk hallway until you reach to the end. At the airport you will see many signs showing how to go to metro station. That's the terminal station where you will find Istanbul Kart. Where to buy Istanbul card at the Sabiha Gokcen Airport? You can easily find Istanbulkart  at the white kiosk across the street from the exit of the arrivals terminal. Look for a small bistro & little cafe.It's next to it. Other m...

by Emre Ozkiper One of the most frequently asked questions is "which currency shall i use in Istanbul?" or "do i need to exchange Euros/Dollars with Turkish Liras?". The answer is YES,you need to exchange your currency with Turkish Lira. Local currency of Turkey Turkey is not a member of the European Union and  the local currency is Turkish Lira.After 2005,Turkish government decided to drop 6 zeroes from Turkish Lira-TL and named it Yeni Türk Lirası-YTL (New Turkish Lira) in order to improve Turkish economy and reestablish it. Starting from 1st of January 2009, Central Bank of Republic of Turkey started to monetize Turkish Lira again instead of New Turkish Lira and gave public 2 years of time to change the notes they have in their savings.So why am i writing these? As in every country,tourists are the main targets to scam in everyway.If you want to prevent "out of circluation money scam" try to make your exchange in central exchange offices ...

by Emre Ozkiper It's always the best to know the approximate taxi fares before you visit a country. As I've already explained in " How not to fall for Istanbul taxi scam and how to get out of it if you fall!" article,there are some taxi drivers who are after your money and who wants to make it fast. It's almost impossible to tell exact taxi costs because of the traffic problem in Istanbul but you can still have an opinion about the distances and how much it can cost.This website calculates the taxi fee automatically for you. Just in case, here is the taxi tariff for Istanbul : The basic fee is ŧ5.00, the kilometer price is ŧ3.10. For standing and waiting time, ŧ18.00 is charged per hour. -Flat rate is 5 TL.That means when taxi drivers turns on the taxi-meter,it will directly start with that rate. -Taxi fee will increase 3.10 TL at each kilometer. -If taxi waits or stand, or If  the speed is between 0 and 10 kms per hour the price is 18 Liras per...

by Emre Ozkiper " Best way to get out of a taxi scam is never to fall for it. "  If you visit Turkey you will immediately realize that hospitality plays a starring role.You need to know that Turkish hospitality is a way of life here,not a job to do.A lot of respect to elderly people,showing much of love to the children,opening their homes to visitors no matter what time of the day or night,offering food and expecting nothing in return,offering tea and Turkish coffee (more than you need :)are some of the friendly behaviours that you will experience during a usual day in this great country.But beside all these lovely people who passionately love to serve others,there are also some others (not human) who are after your money. This is a guide about how not to fall for a scam and how to go out of a scam if you already fell for it. Scam Name ; Taxi Scam   Istanbul Taxi Trick 1: There are officially 18.000 taxis on the streets of Istanbul and being  tax...