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Istanbul, Slowly

Istanbul, Türkiye · Slow travel · 13,000 words

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What this is

Istanbul for people staying two weeks instead of three days. The ferries as daily transport rather than a tour, the Asian side, neighborhood markets on their fixed weekdays, tea gardens, and how to see the famous things without giving your whole trip to them.

Who wrote it

Written by a resident of Kadıköy. Twelve years on the Asian side.

What is inside

  1. 01The ferries, as transport
  2. 02The Asian side, and why you should stay there
  3. 03Neighborhood markets, by day of the week
  4. 04The famous mosques and museums, timed properly
  5. 05Tea gardens and the art of sitting
  6. 06Eating breakfast for three hours
  7. 07Getting out of the city for a day
  8. 08Ramadan, summer, and winter: how the city changes

Free sample

The ferries are the best thing about this city and most visitors ride one, once, as an activity. Residents use them the way other cities use a bus line. If you are here for two weeks, build your days around crossings. A twenty minute ride between continents costs the same as a metro ticket and is the only commute in the world worth taking on purpose.

Staying on the Asian side is the other change that turns a trip around. It is cheaper, calmer, has better daily food, and puts a ferry ride at the start and end of every day you spend seeing the famous things. The obvious objection is the commute. The commute is the point.

On the monuments: they are genuinely worth it, and they are worst between ten and four. Go at opening or in the last ninety minutes, and give each one a morning rather than trying to chain three together.

The full guide continues for 13,000 words.

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