Istanbul Guidebook
Guidebook corrections:
Please note: The following corrections were submitted by readers and have not yet been confirmed by Rick. Check updates from Rick for the latest.
The Amiral Palace Hotel in Sultanahmet does not honor a 10% discount with the guidebook, but does offer 5% discount for payment in cash. Guests who have arranged airport pickup may want to reconfirm it before they arrive, as the staff is a little forgetful.
Heidi in Doha, Qatar 01/29/2012
Price of the tour of Domabahca Palace is now 30TL (Selamlik section) and 20TL (Harem Section) Combined ticket is 50TL.
George Braun in Manassas, VA USA 11/29/2011
May not be a "correction" but the Treaty of Kadesh has been moved to the main building of the Arch Museum. It may or may not be permanent but have a look in the Assos Hall before going to the Museum of the Ancient Orient.
Dave in Aurora, ON Canada 10/17/2011
No
Harold Chasen in Philadelphia, PA USA 10/11/2011
The City Wall walk was a disaster, it is not safe and contruction prevents its completion. We had to turn back and return to the Chora Church. We barely convinced someone to call us a cab to return to our hotel, it was not a safe experience.
Our Bank of America ATM card did not work well in Istanbul, worked at maybe 1 in 20 ATM's. B of A told us this was a common problem and that your guidebook was just plain wrong about this issue.
Joe Mackenzie in Kenmore, WA USA 08/06/2011
Add information on the Mosaic Museum at the Arasta Bazaar.
Anna McHale in Kensington, Md USA 04/25/2011
I was there 11/22-29, 2010. Using 4th edition book.
Generally speaking, seems like the book refers to a mail box as "post office", instead of an actual post office where you can buy stamps at. There are many references in the book, but the one I distinctly remember is the one at Topkapi palace grounds, near where you buy the tickets. Mado cafe on Istiklal Cadessi (mentioned in the New District walking tour, pg. 227) is now closed. I went to Koska Helva shop (pg 230) and they looked at me funny when I asked for 3 TL karisik (and apparently, there was one helva type that's called karisik, so he gave me a chunk of that instead). Finally another person stepped in and cut a minimum piece of 5 different types of helva and approximate the price to 5 TL. You can now take a tram to Edirnekapi station (requires a transfer at Topkapi station) and a short walk to go to Chora church. Cemberlitas Hamami provided a kese and underwear (since I'm female) to keep with the 55TL entry + scrub fee. There was no Ethnographic department at the Turkish and Islamic Art museum, perhaps it was closed because of the special 1400 year of Qoran exhibit?
Dian in Portland, OR USA 12/05/2010
My husband and I just spend a glorious week in Istanbul with Alp as our guide during our Rick Steves City Tour. In preparation for the trip, you sent us the Istanbul guidebook, but we also purchased a Kindle version, which we installed on both my husband's Kindle and my iPod Touch. My feedback is in regards to the Kindle version.
I will be happy to go over the issues in very fine detail with an editor there if you wish, but you need to be aware that the conversion to electronic Kindle form was not very smooth. Since I am a tech writer (I write software manuals) and deal with format conversion and locazation (to other languages) of our books, I have a better grasp of the issues here so I will be happy to "talk shop."
Major issues:
- MAPS: The book (both printed and electronic) include some really nice hand-drawn maps of neighborhoods and interior diagrams (of places like Topkapi Museum), but they are very hard to read in electronic form. They start out way too small, and require a ton of magnification and scrolling around, and when you do, the words start to get blurry. Is it possible to increase the resolution on these?
- TABLE OF CONTENTS does not contain an entry to the helpful things, like maps. This was probably the second most frustrating thing about using the electronic book. I stuck Post-its all over my printed book to mark specific landmarks as well as maps, and I tried doing that to some extent on the Kindle version, but the Kindle app does not have user-friendly bookmarks; instead of saving bookmarks by the object's title, you get a numeric ID instead. It means absolutely nothing to the reader to see "Bookmark 124512" in the list of bookmarks. At the very least, I would like to see the table of contents of the electronic version to include sub-sub headings (not just chapter and major section headings, but smaller headings). For example, the ToC included an entry for "Walking Tours" but then there were no subheadings under them. You get the picture. I would've liked to have seen sub-entries for individual tours, as well as main points within the tours, in the ToC.
- INDEX: The electronic book doesn't include an index. To me, this is a dealkiller and the reason I will continue to purchase your printed books over the electronic version. It's not that hard to keep the index and transfer it to the ebook. Without the index, I CANNOT FIND INFORMATION IN THE BOOK!!! Here's the problem. If it's not in the table of contents, I need to know what something is called so I can perform a search for it. But the way Search works, it spits out a huge list and you wind up having to wade through them to figure out what's appropriate. Forget trying to look for the main entry for Topkapi; you'll see a ton of listings, most of which aren't going to help.
KEEP THE INDEX WITH LIVE LINKS back to your book. This is the lifeblood of an electronic reference book. Right now access inside your book is almost blind.
How's this for extraordinarily painful--if I want to search for Dolmabahçe Palace on an ebook, how in the world should I enter the character for "ç"? Without this ability, I wind up looking for "Dolmabahce," which returns.... zero hits. Ouch.
- Special characters: Another issue in the translation--not all special Turkish characters seemed to convert correctly. Where I was supposed to see a "c" letter, I'd see a mysterious blob! Someone should probably QA the ebook in all platforms (native Kindle book, iPad, etc.).
- Unedited text? I would often run into text that looked like a draft that hadn't seen a copy editor. Words stuck together, no space after a period, etc. TI'm going to assume this was just a conversion issue.
Lani Teshima in Dublin, CA USA 09/29/2010
The book's practical information is overall very good. However, some of the historical background info is problematic. Orthodox Christians will likely be very offended by the historical sections about the Virgin Mary and the Iconoclast period, of which the writers apparently have no understanding. The description of Mary as some kind of adopted "mother goddess" ignores the very solid theological reasons for naming her "Mother of God," which can be found by reading, for example, the writings of Cyril of Alexandria. Citing these writings would provide a much solid historical background to the Orthodox veneration of Mary. Calling her a "mother goddess" is just as offensive and inaccurate as saying that Muslims worship a "moon god" (a claim made by some ignorant polemicists.) As for the section on iconoclasm, the writers make some equally ludicrous points. They say that church fathers opposed icons (which ones? I challenge you to name them) while Emperors favored them to boost their glory. Consider that the Iconoclastic period was initiated by an emperor (Leo the Isaurian) and that many common folk, monks, and priests suffered torture and martyrdom for the sake of the icons. Again, the writers could have benefited from reading some actual Christian literature instead of introducing lazy speculation. St. John of Damascus explains that the icons express the fullness of Christ's incarnation- God became a true, material human being, and therefore it is possible to depict him. I hope these sections will be extensively revised for the next edition.
Ryan McCarthy in Glenmoore, PA USA 08/20/2010
In the first room of the Imperial Treasury (Topkapi Palace) I believe there is some confusion about the thrones. The emerald pendant was over the throne on the left, but the book says the emeralds are above the Persian throne, which is on the right according to the book. I was holding an upset toddler and didn't read the placards, so the problem might be that the book should simply list the thrones "left to right" instead of right to left. Of course right to left is more helpful since you move around the room counterclockwise.
Brian in Sonora, CA USA 07/03/2010
Updates to the 2010 addition - Tombs of Suleyman and Roxelana are closed on Mondays - Bosphorous Cruise is now 25 TL - Shot of vodka at Rejans is now 9 TL - Armory and kitchen at Topkapi are currently closed for renovations, and the first room of the Imperial Treasury is currently displaying Afghans. - The price for a cab to Chora cost us 55TL going out from the New District and 45TL coming back to the Old Town; 3 times what it says in the book. - Istanbul Archeological Museum is open until 19:00
Clara in Cincinnati, OH USA 05/17/2010
Historic Markiz Cae at #172 A Istiklal St. is now a retaurant. The Pera palas hotel is not restored yet. It looks far from opening.
George lauscher in Pocono Summit, PA USA 01/26/2010
Maybe I missed it, but I was surprised to see no mention of getting to or about getting to Ephesus. It's mentioned in the older DVD on Istanbul.
Wayne Watson in Nevada City, CA USA 08/09/2009
-We found that the major tourist attractions (Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace) took only Turkish lira. We had to get out of line and find an ATM.
-We were in town on a Sunday, and the Spice Market was open.
Kelley Snead in Washington, DC USA 07/31/2009
The Bogaz Iskelesi ferry is 20 TL round trip, not 17.50; it is 13 TL for one way, not 10. Tram and metro fare is 1.5 TL, not 1.4.
Dale in Fairfield, OH USA 07/19/2009
Public transport is now 150 lira.
Jane Wolfarth in Salt Lake City, ut USA 06/21/2009
Changa was a recommended restaurant we tried to go to, but it was closed for the summer when we got there. It may be helpful to recommend that folks check in to make sure they're open in your next edition.
[Editor's Note: We've noted in the 2010 edition that Changa is closed on Sundays and mid-June through mid-October.]
Sara Patterson in Atlanta, GA USA 06/15/2009
The bus back from Saryier off the Bosphorus Ferry tour back to Taxim is only the 25T, the 40 has been cancelled. Thr funicular token is no longer .90 but is the same as the Tram 1.40 The last ferry from kadikoy back to Istanbul was 8pm.
Bob in palm city, fl USA 05/12/2009
We were just in Istanbul on Easter Sunday and the Spice Market was definently open. The guidebook states it is closed on Sundays.
regina white in tampa, fl USA 05/08/2009
My wife and I rented an apartment and stayed a month. The 30-day Akbil was a great convenience, but it does not give you 200 rides for the TL 112 it costs. Instead, it runs out after 65 rides or so and can then be topped up with more money. Rides end up costing 10 percent less than the standard TL 1.40 fare; the real savings is in time and convenience.
David in Seattle, WA USA 05/04/2009
We were in Istanbul in early March 2009, and purchased the guidebook within days of its publication, so I was suprised at the number of errors in the book.
*A passpost photo is not required for the Akbil pass, and the pass is actually very handy if you are staying more than a day or two, esp. since you can share it with another person. Also, some of the buses do not take tokens and require an Akbil pass.
*The kitchens at the Topaki palace were closed.
*The Mosque and tomb of Suleyman the Magnificent were closed.
*The location for the Sunday Whirling Dervishes performance is not at the monastary but at the train station.
*The City Walls tour was great but the directions were quite confusing.
*The Ataturk cultural center is closed.
Matti in Chicago, IL USA 04/12/2009
Be a little more specific in your Topkapi Palace tour. Some of the directions to get you to the Treasury and to the jewels and then back to the Courtyard with the Circumcision Room, etc. are very unclear.
Shelby in Columbia, SC USA 04/08/2009
I love Rick Steves's books and use them whenever I go to Europe. I've never had a problem until I used his Istanbul book.
Overall its well done, but the City Walls Tour left me scratching my head. The walk ran through some really gritty areas, which are also very high traffic areas, and included a walk up a tower that was more like rock climbing than stairs. In addition, since there was no map provided and there are few street signs in Istanbul, we were never quite sure if we were where we were supposed to be.
My world traveller girlfriend understandably didn't want to climb the "stairs" to the tower, and had her arms crossed, her mouth closed, and her antenae up for the whole trip. I won't say it ruined our day, but it definitely was not an enjoyable excursion, and was otherwise a waste of time and money.
Plus, I may very well be wrong, but I think the ghost writer is wrong in stating that the historically significant Mese Street led to Edirnekapi Gate (i.e., the starting point; see p. 245). I've read several sources -- and even seen old maps -- which show Mese Street following what is now Divanyolu Avenue to the Golden Gate, which is at the present day Yedikule. If I'm right, that's not some minor error. It's like saying that the Appian Way was some place in modern Rome that is was not.
After visiting Yedikule, which includes the huge Seven Tower castle, the Golden Gate, etc., I wondered why in the world Rick led to me to the section of walls that he did rather than Yedikule. Yedikule can be reached easily and relatively inexpensively by cab from the airport (it cost us 17 Lira), and from Sultanahmet (that leg cost us 13 Lira), includes the Golden Gate, a castle (with dungeon), a modern park, and wall sections in far better shape than those in the area he recomends.
My recommendation: scrap the City Walls tour, and add an excursion to Yedikule.
Dave Harstad in Indianapolis, IN USA 03/23/2009
This is from a trip in Dec. 2008
The book is overly negative about the Akbil pass. It doesn't require a photo, and 2 people can easily share one. It's really more convenient than carrying jetons, and we had no trouble getting the deposit back.
The Haseki Sultan Bath was not open.
Koska Helva doesn't sell mixed helva any more (but their helva was quite good).
The Turyol Bosphorus cruise was only running once a day, and it follows the opposite bank than what was described in the book for the ferry trip.
Restaurants:
Yeni Akbiyik Caddesi wasn't recogizable from the description in the book. There are a few hostels left, but it's mostly been upgraded to mid-range, mid-priced hotels and restaurants. The bars were always empty when we passed.
Sultanahmet Koftecisi - nice scene, but the food wasn't anything special.
Buhara 93 was just OK - food was reasonably priced, but boring.
Balikci Sabahattin was a disappointment - just tourists, food was OK but very plain, somewhat overpriced, service was out of "Fawlty Towers".
David in San Francisco, CA USA 01/18/2009