To ask you about Istanbul?

[IstanbulBaby]

I know I am but I'm not getting responses in Holidays
We're going to Istanbul at the end of June. Two DC aged 8 and 3.
All recommendations welcome.
What clothes should we wear?

Apologies for the poll.
I suppose the q would be
Aibu to look for holiday advice in aibu
Yabu - not a suitable topic.
Yanbu - it gets the most views so why not

Incredibly gorgeous city with so much to see, do and explore. Have travelled all over Turkey on my own and felt perfectly safe.

I was thinking the same, they’re hardly going to miss her or care.

I loved Istanbul and felt very safe there. Lots of families with children walking around late in the evening. I recommend taking a boat to Princes islands. Gorgeous. I felt safer in Istanbul than I do in Paris.

Just out of interest is there a best time to go so it is not too hot to sightsee? I love Turkey and have been to coastal resorts a lot but would like to plan a break with DD for the history.

Love love love Istanbul! Very safe and so much to do. Might be worth popping by istanbul aquarium for the kids if they like that sort of thing., the grand bazar is insane, be sure to haggle ! Have the best time :)

It is entirely possible to boycott Turkiye whilst not being anti-Muslim. Erdoğan is a strong arm leader with much in common with Putin. I wouldn't go to Russia either.

Turkiye has an awful human rights record. More journalists in prison than almost anywhere else.
An unforgivable history of oppressing their Kurdish minority. Attempting to destroy Kurdish language and culture, labelling them Mountain Turks and attempting to assimilate them against their will. When the Kurds were the people having most success against Islamic State in Syria, the Turkish state was attacking them from behind.
Turkiye has never accepted that the mass murder of the Armenian people during WW1 constituted War Crimes at best and genocide at worst.

I would love to see Istanbul but not while Erdoğan or his like are in power.

The Princes Islands are worth a visit, but they horse-drawn carriages are no more. They have been outlawed for animal rights reasons.

Istanbul will be getting hot and humid by the end of June. It is also worth taking some mosquito repellent.

I would advise going to the Grand Bazaar on a weekday, as it gets very crowded at weekends.
Basilica Cistern as someone has said upthread is also great on a hot day.

There is an aquarium, but it is out of the centre in Florya. I went when it was brand new, and thought it was well done. I don't know how it has aged. There are a zillion shopping malls and some of them will have some kids' entertainment. Enjoy yourself!

Make sure you have your insurance sorted , I ended up in hospital ( not Istanbul but they wanted to send me there from Bodrum ) .

DH is going in Sept , he is looking forward to it and planning .
And the cats , obvs .

Even old New York was once new Amsterdam

To what end, though? You're punishing regular lower/middle class Turks who work in the tourism economy; many of whom are themselves anti-government and have bravely protested as such (whether or not they would admit it to tourists, given the risks).

Boycotting Turkiye is certainly not hurting Erdogan, who will not suffer from a slight reduction in Western tourism.

You’ve either never been to Turkey or went last in 1980 😂

May is lovely, September too

This to the person who said blonde and blue eyed kids were in danger

I find it more odd that you don't believe there is a large number of Turkish immigrants in Paris. @Jhound

Thank you. That previous comment made me quite nervous

What was the point in even commenting then? Melt.

Dress modestly, if you show a lot of flesh you will get unwanted male attention.

Plenty of Turkish people are blonde and blue eyed.
My suggestions
Grand Mosque
Topkapi
Basilica Cistern
Emirgan Park
Bebek
Ortakoy
I hate malls but if you must then Kanyon mall can be a refuge.

I went everywhere except mosques in longish shorts/ tees and did fine.

You should be cautious, if not nervous.
PP has a Turkish DP. I assume you don’t.

Because it's an open thread. Melt.

Istanbul felt very safe to me. Not sure where you’ve got this concern from.

😆 🤣

Not only Istanbul. I travelled to Ephesus, Cappadocia and other places in Turkey on my own with no tour guide. Perfectly fine.

Fabulous place, my favourite city break destination so far

@Swiftie1878 there are loads of blue eyed blonde turks. What's with the weird comments! The more north you go the whiter, blonder and blue eyed the natives are also ffs.

Stop scaring the OP