Travel with the folks - Istanbul

After much planning, anticipation, hyperventilating, preparing for the VISA formalities, we finally made our trip to Istanbul in late November 2025. The trip went smoothly.

Istanbul has always fascinated my father. We spent about a week there and it was amazing. It was my second time there and I loved it just as much, maybe a tad more because I was familiar with everything. Things are more expensive than I remember them being in 2018, the food specifically.

I’d like to write long posts about each of the places we saw, because they are each deserving of it but I’ve have a tiring long week since I returned. I’ll keep it brief and maybe at a later point, filter and expose some of the phtoos we clicked. I purchased a Pixel device for my father before our trip, while I carried the old but still capable Nikon D5300. Some of my photos are already on my Pixelfed cyberjunkie@pixelfed.social

We stayed in two parts of Istanbul, Fatih-Sultanahmet and Beyoglu, near the Galata tower. Both of those places were charming in their own ways.

Sultanahmet might be avoided by most as being the touristy part of the city, but we wanted to be able to walk multiple times a day in and around the Hagia Sophia area, the Aquaduct, Gulhane Park and everywhere around there. We did and I’m happy we stayed there. I think we clocked about 9km on average, on each of the 7 days in Istanbul.

On the 3rd day we moved base to large apartment in an alley a minute or two away from Galata Tower. It was quiet, calm and very home-like. We had a good time there and most of our journeys meant either walking down to Karakoy or taking the funicular. Travelling around Istanbul is an absolute joy, moving from a Funicular to a tram to another tram or a ferry, all using a single card. It’s a heavenly change from how things are here.

The Galata Tower area is crowded as always, but being able to walk by it every day, morning evening and night was something. Some evenings, I would walk out to the local restaurant to get dinner in, rather than all of us going out. The food in Istanbul is great. Istiklal street was buzzing with activity but it was nice walking around early in the morning before thw crowds showed up.

We also spent half a day in Kadikoy (a town on the Asian side) after taking a ferry. Our other ferry ride was a 90-minute Bosphorus tour which was also very nice. We clicked a lot of photos. Shopping was done, at the Spice Bazaar and Grand Bazaar, and a local convenience store. Everything from teas, dry fruits, cheese, meats of the cured kind, chocolates and even bread was bought. We will nibble on this over the weeks to come.

I think this visit was a good mix of touristy things, and also living there and seeing people go about their day. I think my father is open to the idea of visiting Istanbul again and I definitely am.