3 Months in Istanbul

I posted this in SighSee, completely forgetting about this board... forgive me

I'm going to Turkey (specifically and probably only Istanbul) August 15th, and I will be there for my entire 90 day visa.
I have a maximum of 30,000 Lira a month to spend on everything.
Give me the rundown on this place. I've always wanted to go, but could never really articulate why. It just looks magical.
I like dancing (specifically contact improv, open to learning a local dance if need be), Sufism (though I don't practice in much depth), working out (are 24 hour gyms a thing here?), anything outdoor or sightseeing.
Where should I look into renting an apartment for a few months? Where are the best places to be if I'm not renting a car?

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  1. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    Just got here today. Ask me anything. Jet lagged as frick, so havent had time to explore yet, but so far I can say Turkish breakfast is absolute fire and delicious.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      >Ama since I'm a moron who knows nothing

      I present to you the college moron

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        youre right i dont know much of anything, i booked this trip kind of last minute so im just walking around exploring. if anybody has some requests though on certain areas or places to see i can scope it out. dont have much else going on.

        where are you staying? go out and apartment hunt for me, I'll see you in a few weeks

        Nisantasi. Great area. Local, more modern area just immediately next to all the older touristy areas. Metro is right here too so you can cruise to anywhere in the city if you dont feel like walking. Walking will beat you up here btw, its very hilly, like super steep roads, and lots of winding streets making it easy to get lost and having to double back a lot. Bring comfortable shoes for sure.

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          Good advice. What're you spending a day? Are you going out socializing much?

          • 2 years ago
            Anonymous

            Not much socializing at all here, Turkish people are very polite and super friendly, but seem more reserved and not very small-talkish, but hey its Istanbul, a big city, and people are busy. The women? Forget about it. Some very friendly girls here, but also you can tell that there are large amounts of women who are Westernized and have that Gods gift to Earth sort of feel to them. All the Islamic influence does is just make them far less likely to put-out compared to Western women, so yeah lol. Might hit up a hostel in the city somewhere and see if theres any cool people down to chill, but I dont mind just doing my own thing for a while.

            Anybody know any good locations or shops to buy fake Rolex watches?

            • 2 years ago
              Anonymous

              Check out "dolap" app.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      where are you staying? go out and apartment hunt for me, I'll see you in a few weeks

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      >is absolute fire
      zoomer slang is the worst thing ever

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      >Ama since I'm a moron who knows nothing

      I present to you the college moron

      >is absolute fire
      zoomer slang is the worst thing ever

      Nothing is more funny than gen X morons on SighSee falling over themselves to cry about slang changing. Every fricking time lmao

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        >acting like a moron is zoomer slang

        I guess I'm too old to understand why you brag about being moronic

  2. 2 years ago
    Zoe

    U should definitely visit those antic areas, after all Turkey is a land of History, you will find a lot of sites marked by history and important places. I've been in Turkey couples times, too bad u can"t move out to Cappadocia or along the coast (Izmir, Bodrum, Kusadashi (the best place)).
    I'm moving next thursday to Istanbul too.

  3. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    Whats up with all the cancer roach threads battieboyss

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      whatcha mean? I made this because I'm heading there. I'm heading there for no particular reason.

      Not much socializing at all here, Turkish people are very polite and super friendly, but seem more reserved and not very small-talkish, but hey its Istanbul, a big city, and people are busy. The women? Forget about it. Some very friendly girls here, but also you can tell that there are large amounts of women who are Westernized and have that Gods gift to Earth sort of feel to them. All the Islamic influence does is just make them far less likely to put-out compared to Western women, so yeah lol. Might hit up a hostel in the city somewhere and see if theres any cool people down to chill, but I dont mind just doing my own thing for a while.

      Anybody know any good locations or shops to buy fake Rolex watches?

      I'm much less interested in the women than I am dance scenes or live music generally. Honestly being in a place where women are more prudish would probably do my ego some good, I was getting laid too easily in San Diego for my own good.

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        >I was getting laid too

        Thats because homo's are known for their inability to not frick every dude you homosexual ballerina.

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        Prudish isnt the word I would use. The closest example I can think of is a place like Korea. Liberal enough for girls to wear outfits with their ass cheeks sticking out, getting tattoos and dying their hair pink but conservative enough to where old school things like taking girls out on dates for a few times and building a relationship are a must before sex ever happens. This is just what Ive heard from many people though, Im not here to get laid personally. For what its worth, I have had numerous Turkish ladies smile at me and do typical flirty body language things, but I know literally 0 about the Turkish language besides "hello" and "thank you" so my chances of going anywhere with this are pretty much nil, especially since I only have a week left.

  4. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    OP you would be doing yourself a disservice if you only stayed in istanbul. Infact id suggest you only do a couple days instanbul.Go to the bus station and get the fast bus to Izmir go see the ruins of Ephesus and work your way down the coast from there by mini bus or regular bus and enjoy the frick out of the sights and history and food. You could also do the black sea coast up north this time of year, thats my plan next time i go.

  5. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    ok but where can i get a cup like that?

  6. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    do they speak english?

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      English is pretty decent for ordering food and stuff, expect to point at pictures on the menu though. Pretty standard affair.

  7. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    So what have you been doing the past few days bro?

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      Making new threads for you tards to respond to about going to Africa to coom, when is Japan opening , frog posting about backpacking across Canada etc

  8. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    I'm planning to go to Turkey after I finish my last semester at university. Can anyone provide info about their experiences with hostels in cities like Istanbul, Izmir, and Ankara?

  9. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    I've just came to Istambul and I've been here for a week now. Im staying in Goztep and Bagdat street is very lively and full of shops and restaurants.

    Now, things Ive hated so far:

    >Lack of wifi

    Emaar shopping center, the airport and many other places have this moron system that you need a fricking turkish mobile number to receive the code for the free wifi. So it pretty much only works for locals (who already have data).

    Also, you go to a restaurant and many of them are trying to enforce QR code menus. The thing is, they don't even have free wifi so you have to pretty much leave or guess what you want to eat.

    >Sim card

    I dont know what's the story here cuz everywhere you search for Sim card for tourist, websites and blogs show up saying that you can buy them for as cheap as 200 TL.

    I've been to over 10 stores, from all operators, and half of them didnt have sim cards for tourists and the other half were charging almost 4x as much as advertised on the company's websites.

    The cheapest one I found was from Turk Telekom, 400 TL for 20gb data.

    >Expensive accommodation

    I was told Turkiye was cheap but accommodation in Istambul was SO EXPENSIVE, like, more expensive than Milan.

    And now that Im here and trying to change from one hotel to another, Booking.com doesnt seem to work in Turkey. No hotels show up in any dates. So I dont really know how to look for accommodation here.

    >Traffic

    Just TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE street and traffic layout. One of the most inefficient road layouts Ive ever seen.

    > Food

    Gets old VERY quick. In the end, they only have Kebabs, Oily pastries and pidas.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      Whats up bro, Ive also been here about a week myself, staying the Nisantasi area.

      >Lack of wifi
      So true. This is indeed super frusturating. Most cafes do have Wifi for customers, or at least foreigners like myself, but definitely not all of them, and those that do allow you to connect it seems like more of a favor to you as a tourist rsther than something that is super common and standard. As someone who is used to having Wifi readily available on tap at pretty much anywhere in places like Vietnam or Thailand, sometimes with the Wifi password even being readily printed on menus or napkin dispensers, it is kind of frusturating not knowing if a place will have Wifi or not, but my ratio so far puts it at about 60/40 for places (at least cafes and small sit-down doner restaurants) having Wifi vs not having Wifi. So not terrible but yeah, kind of a headache, especially if your lost on some winding, hilly backstreets somewhere and need to open up Google Maps to see where you're at and where you're going. Never even bothered going for a Sim card, seems like a massive beaureaucratic headache here. Also, dont know about you, but whats with the pictures not being able to display on SighSee? I cant see any pictures posted here at all, no matter where I connect.

      >Expensive accommodation
      Yeah I was pretty dissapointed myself with the expense of accomodation here. I think the Asian side is cheaper, but I havent gone out of my to fully confirm, but I reccomend Anons here going to Istanbul stay on the Asian side especially just immediately near Kadikoy which is awesome and a super popular younger area that is also cheaper and more local than the more bougie, tourist infested European side. If I were to do Istanbul again, this is what I would do. The Old Town area in Europe is something that can be done in one day TOPS, do NOT stay there, it is overpriced and chaotic, and basically the equivalent of staying in Khao San Road in Bangkok or Bui Vien Street, Saigon.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      Correction, Ive just noticed that Goztep and Bagdat are on the Asian side and not too far from the Kadikoy area. How is it there in that part? Havent made it that far down yet. Are hotels there really that expensive in that part of the Asian side? What sort of things are there to do in that area? Thinking about checking out more of the Asian side, been impressed so far with what Ive seen but dont know where else I should branch out to.

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        Whats up bro, Ive also been here about a week myself, staying the Nisantasi area.

        >Lack of wifi
        So true. This is indeed super frusturating. Most cafes do have Wifi for customers, or at least foreigners like myself, but definitely not all of them, and those that do allow you to connect it seems like more of a favor to you as a tourist rsther than something that is super common and standard. As someone who is used to having Wifi readily available on tap at pretty much anywhere in places like Vietnam or Thailand, sometimes with the Wifi password even being readily printed on menus or napkin dispensers, it is kind of frusturating not knowing if a place will have Wifi or not, but my ratio so far puts it at about 60/40 for places (at least cafes and small sit-down doner restaurants) having Wifi vs not having Wifi. So not terrible but yeah, kind of a headache, especially if your lost on some winding, hilly backstreets somewhere and need to open up Google Maps to see where you're at and where you're going. Never even bothered going for a Sim card, seems like a massive beaureaucratic headache here. Also, dont know about you, but whats with the pictures not being able to display on SighSee? I cant see any pictures posted here at all, no matter where I connect.

        >Expensive accommodation
        Yeah I was pretty dissapointed myself with the expense of accomodation here. I think the Asian side is cheaper, but I havent gone out of my to fully confirm, but I reccomend Anons here going to Istanbul stay on the Asian side especially just immediately near Kadikoy which is awesome and a super popular younger area that is also cheaper and more local than the more bougie, tourist infested European side. If I were to do Istanbul again, this is what I would do. The Old Town area in Europe is something that can be done in one day TOPS, do NOT stay there, it is overpriced and chaotic, and basically the equivalent of staying in Khao San Road in Bangkok or Bui Vien Street, Saigon.

        I've done a hair transplant surgery so Im pretty much stranded in my hotel room (A11 Exclusive) and I only go out in the evenings.

        So far I've walked the Caddebostan promenade and it's kinda nice, there's this park at Goztepe 60 which is also nice and I've enjoyed walking down Bagdat street in the evening, lots of people, restaurants and pubs.

        I've also been to Emaar Square Mall, which is a nice underground mall with lots of stores if you want some window shopping.

        I havent been on the touristy europpean side but I plan to next week. Just an afternoon to take some pics of the Blue Mosque and then back to the hotel.

        My accommodation was arranged by the hair clinic, but if Im not mistaken, it costs 59 euros per night. I was supposed to stay at Broyt Suits but they are all sold out.

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          How was the surgery, how much did it cost? might entertain this while I'm there.

          • 2 years ago
            Anonymous

            The surgery itself is painless but the anestesia is 10 minutes of torture haha

            It took around 8 hours for the whole procedure tho, so bring a book or external battery for your phone.

            It costed 1100 euros, 2600 grafts. Im on my 5th day of healing and no complications so far

            • 2 years ago
              Anonymous

              That's very cheap. I was quoted £4000 by blue magic for 5-5500 grafts.

              What clinic did you go to?

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                The surgery itself is painless but the anestesia is 10 minutes of torture haha

                It took around 8 hours for the whole procedure tho, so bring a book or external battery for your phone.

                It costed 1100 euros, 2600 grafts. Im on my 5th day of healing and no complications so far

                would also be curious to know

                more generally, what is it like in turkey right now? the currency fell massively the past year. is it super cheap? i was there one year ago, and it was fairly inexpensive. what is the cost of a 4 star hotel now? a nice meal with a glass of juice? how much for a 20 minute taxi ride? what about hooks?

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                The currency is devalued but that comes at a cost of inflation raising prices everywhere, at the end of the day though, it all probably evens out to what it was before becuase you get more Lira for the Euro/Dollar despite inflation raising prices. Hotels are not that cheap IMO, but not terrible either. However, food is really cheap and super good. Taxis are a scam, take the subway which is dirt cheap. Good shisha at a cafe is about 5 or 6 Euros. All in all, Id say Istanbul is about the same or just slightly more expensive as staying in a nicer part of Bangkok, Thailand.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                ok so everything costs more in lira
                but the lira became weaker

                so as a foreigner it is almost like it was before

                but aren't the turks then starving? i mean, they still earn in lira, and now everything they buy in lira costs much more
                are girls selling themselves for a sandwich?

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                No everything seems pretty normal here. Couple complaints Ive heard when making small talk with the locals, but beyond that, business as usual, everyone is out and about, and cafes, restaurants and bars are all full of people. Not sure now they do it, I imagine wages kept up with inflation more or less somehow.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                seems bad
                numbeo shows turkey as being ridiculously cheap
                i had hoped they had collapsed and you could stay in a 4 star hotel for $40 a night. but sounds like that's not the case

                frickin roaches

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                Aww is the coomer incel going to cry?

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                Once youre settled in, it is indeed very cheap. Its just the hotel prices arent too impressive. I imagine if you had time to rent here for a few months on a short term lease in a cool, local part of the Asian side, outside of the hotel price matrix, it would be very cheap to stay and live here, as food and transport, the two main expenditures outside of shelter, are very cheap. If you could find a way to get away from hotels, it could probably be even cheaper than Thailand.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                You are full of shit

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                No Im not. Everything I said is 100% correct and youve clearly never been to Turkey. Hotel prices here suck ass compared to other places, but everything else is very cheap.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      >websites and blogs show up saying that you can buy them for as cheap as 200 TL.
      Get used to it. Not a single price you find online will be up to date. CPI inflation is over 70% and the lira has lost like eight times its value over the recent years.
      >you go to a restaurant and many of them are trying to enforce QR code menus
      See above. Turks got tired of glueing new price stickers on all the menus every month. Point at the QR code, your phone and say "no internet, wi-fi?". They'll give you the password for their private wi-fi no problem if there's no free one meant for customers.
      >Booking.com doesnt seem to work in Turkey. No hotels show up in any dates. So I dont really know how to look for accommodation here.
      Have you considered using any of the trillion other booking services?
      Booking is banned from within Turkey due to a tax dispute, you can only book from outside. Get a VPN or connect over TOR/proxy and it'll work.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      >lack of wifi
      just get a sim card holy shit, there's tourist sim cards. sadly yeah they do rip you off a bit now on them, that's just how it is now.
      >expensive accom and no booking dot com
      it's not that bad actually, just use a vpn for booking.com and look for hotels beyond the main tourist area. also hostels are dirt cheap
      >traffic
      istanbul is a 2000 year old city. it's not designed for your personal convenience. just embrace it for what it is and enjoy.
      >food
      just not true. there's so much amazing food in istanbul of many different cultures

  10. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    is it worth going there over the weekend of republic day
    monday is a holiday in germany and the weather will be warmer and fireworks are cool

  11. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    how about the girls who are just ordinary non hooker civilians? are they looking at white men right now like they want MEAT? these girls still want their nice purses but turkish poopskins cant afford that now

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      Those girls hook up with wealthy Russians and ME dudes. Why would they waste their time with you?

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        These desperate white incel millenial losers think they can just go to another country and they can have the white privilege they believe boomers had. They don't realize boomers were God tier chads, smart, tall, physically fit and capable of anything plus a full wallet. Boomers were the whole package like the million $ man of wrestling fame. How humiliating it must be to be them to see a strong Russia man in turkey who could pass as a 1970s boomerchad

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          >white privelege
          There are tons of white people in Turkey moron, its literally whiter than the US at this point. And Russians are white too, so whats your point?

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          >strong Russia man in turkey who could pass as a 1970s boomerchad
          the average russian in turkey is only there because it is all they can afford
          a lot of russian hotels ban russians because it attracts the lowest of the low
          nice try ivan

          • 2 years ago
            Anonymous

            >a lot of russian hotels ban russians

            Cia diversity hire? Anywho don't worry you lost the war against Russia but at least you killed 100,000 Ukrainians. Better luck in taiwan

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      Get checked out by girls all the time.
      Im 6'3", white, tall, brown hair, blue eyes and work out and am in shape though, and I dress like the locals (eg no shorts and no flip flops and other dumb tourist/backpacker attire). However I have some Slavic admixture in my genes and despite being 100% white theres a "look" I seem to have here that makes people think Im a local, its the weirdest thing in the world. Like not just being spoken to in shops and restaursnts and stuff in Turkish before switching to some basic English, but Turkish people will come up to me on the subway platforms asking me directions to places in Turkish, things like that. So they have white or white looking people here, usually with a Slavic/Russian sort of look, others with a sort of Mediterranean look, so I dont think theres any exotic factor to being white here necessarily, maybe blue eyes, but not just being white. That being said, working out and being in-shape here I believe will pay off big time, most Turkish men dont seem to work out, so a physique that pops a little bit will definitely stand out.

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        I'm self-conscious about my nose now because that had happened to me the most in Israel of all places.

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          Hooked noses are not unusual here. I kind of dig the vibe Im getting in this country. In the US I believe my features seem kind of weird or different, not bad, just unusual, but here Im getting the vibe that I blend right in and I like it. In the US I would get so many strange and curious stares or looks, like confused sort of looks, by people from all races, but here Im just business as usual, so to speak, and the women all seem to smile at me and flip their hair at me, very overt open interest reminiscent of girls in Latin America or the other Med countries. I feel like Turkish people are a lot less superficial than the US, people are skinny in a healthy and natural way, no super bulky or roided up over the top bodies, no over the top or super flashy fashion trends, people smile a lot more freely, gather and hang out at cafes. The women all seem naturally pretty, theyre not all caked up in make-up, theyre not super toned up and fit like in the US, nor are they fat and obese like many others in the US, but just naturally pretty and have healthy skinny bodies by female standards. Its very refreshing to see, people here feel more real. But I dont speak the language so this is just at a superficial glance.

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        your mom was a crimean prostitute but its okay anon you're a decent guy

  12. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    >going to istanbul
    Brainlet moment. All the morons go there and spend the entire time there. You're supposed to go there for a few days, max, and then go to the rest of the interesting places near the Aegean coast, central anatolia (Cappadocia). Hotel prices in the last place I mentioned was super cheap, like $400-500 for 30 days lmao. The lira is super devalued so you'll get so much value for your dollars/euros etc. Just don't look like a moronic tourist and you won't get scammed.
    Honestly, I'd live there if I could.

  13. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    Going to istanbul too later this month, any recommendations where to book the airbnb in? Which parts are comfy? Thx

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      Nisantasi/Sisli on the European side, Kadikoy on the Asian side.

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        Which side do you recommend?

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        Oh yeah and make sure youre close to a subway station, no matter where you stay.

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          Thx
          What do u think about this spot? Theres a metro station right at the brown sign on the map next to the home

          • 2 years ago
            Anonymous

            Turkey's internet wont let me view pictures on this board for some reason. Can you tell me the streets or name of the subway station?

            • 2 years ago
              Anonymous

              Damn
              One is close to the metro station taksim the other one too kek, just saw
              Guess its the cheapest yet most central/ not terrible area in the european touristic area

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                Yeah Taksim is solid, big night life spot though so make sure your hotel is quiet.
                Im just immediately north of there, no complaints. Be careful too to also make sure make you are near a main boulevard type street and not tucked too far back away on those small winding snake like streets, those streets are hilly and steep as frick and are exhausting to walk for too long, not to mention easy to get lost.
                Some people think theyre cool, and they are for a quick excursion, but I think theyre a massive pain in the ass and I had hate having to walk them every day. Make sure you have quick and easy access to a large main street nearby. Otherwise, have fun, anon.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                Thanks

            • 2 years ago
              Anonymous

              use a dns, SighSee cdn is soft-banned over here

              Which side do you recommend?

              european side is more “centered” (meaning that you can connect to a lot of places) and arguably more “historic”

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                eyvollah, broski. will keep that in mind. i tried my vpn but it wont connect in turkey either lol. first time thats ever happened. this shit is locked down tight haha.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                yeah some of the mainstream vpns and tor are banned. you can access them via some kind of proxy though

          • 2 years ago
            Anonymous

            The area north of Tarlabasi Blv is super sketchy and generally the local slum. You're very close to Taksim so it might not be that bad, but I wouldn't go deeper into the hood after dark.

            • 2 years ago
              Anonymous

              Bro that area is literally separated by a giant highway. Impossible to just "accidentally wander" into.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                Take a closer look at the map he posted, his hotel is right north of it.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                Oh my bad, Turkish internet wont let me see pics on here for some reason.

                Yeah other guy ITT, stay further North or further East of Taksim, dont stay Southwest to it, definitely stay East of the big highway.

          • 2 years ago
            Anonymous

            Basically, see that rectangular area Google didn't want to send its car to? That's the no-no zone. Everywhere else is fair game.

            • 2 years ago
              Anonymous

              Oh my bad, Turkish internet wont let me see pics on here for some reason.

              Yeah other guy ITT, stay further North or further East of Taksim, dont stay Southwest to it, definitely stay East of the big highway.

              Take a closer look at the map he posted, his hotel is right north of it.

              Bro that area is literally separated by a giant highway. Impossible to just "accidentally wander" into.

              The area north of Tarlabasi Blv is super sketchy and generally the local slum. You're very close to Taksim so it might not be that bad, but I wouldn't go deeper into the hood after dark.

              Kek damn, thanks bros

  14. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    Brother, I forgive you.

  15. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    My girlfriend and I are flying into Istanbul next Monday. We have both been before, so we are looking to spend most of our time at some nearby beach town. Can anyone recommend a nice beach town/resort with hotels within 1-3 hours of Istanbul without flying? Thanks

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