istanbul
is the cruise terminal far from Topaki Palace, Blue Mosque, St. Sophia? How can I get there without buying a shore excursion with the ship?
gluey
bowmanville, ontario canada 9/22/09
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Gluey - You can actually rent a car and driver for a very reasonable price in Istanbul and have him take you to all of the spots you want to see - please include The Grand Bazaar and Spice market. The drivers will be by the port when you disembark - negotiate before getting in and agree to finalize payment when arriving back at the ship. They will have no problem with that. I've spent a lot of time in Istanbul with two of my friends that live there and it really is the way to go. The ship's tour is way too expensive.
Have Fun in an Amazing City, Greg
I agree with Greg. Also, you can do some searches online and book it ahead. I did this for Istanbul and Kusadasi. We saved a ton of money, had a personal tour rather than a big bus, and got to go where the locals go for lunch. If you want more info on who I used, PM me.
Thx guys for the helpful info. Mike whom did you use for this trip?
Gluey,
Here is the company that I used:
http://www.ephesustours.com/istanbul-tours
Tijen was our guide- she and her husband run the company and are excellent at what they do. Even though her website only has a few pre-done tours, you can work with her to make it what you want. For instance, we designed our own tour in Kusadasi because some of the people in our group had already been there, so we wanted to see a few different sights, like the market and the Isa Bey Mosque.
History is Tijen's specialty, which I was enthralled with, however my father in law was not as interested in, so asked her to lighten it up a bit, which she did.
Side note- Topkapi,Blue Mosque, and St. Sophia are all very close together, so that is easy to do. Also consider seeing St. Saviour in Chora (a gorgeous Byzantine church with stunning fresco's), Grand Bazaar, Spice Market, and the spectacular Süleymaniye Mosque complex. If you have a choice, you do have to pay extra to see the Harem in the Topkapi, however I thought that it was worth the extra fee.
Its not walkable distance but there is very affordable and quick tram that runs down the side of the Bosphorus and straight into the Sultanahmet area where all the locations you mentioned are located. You can take it to the Spice Market and to the Grand Bazaar. If you google Istanbul Rail Transit you should see a line called the Historic Line. It will hit all the sites and for just pennies of what you would need to buy from the cruise.