If you’ve followed me for awhile, you’ll know that Istanbul is my favourite city on the planet, and that I lived there from 2014-2017 with my now wife, Bri.

It’s why I love writing about the city as much as I do, and it’s also why my readers and followers regularly reach out for advice on how they should visit Istanbul. It’s advice I’m only too happy to give, as I want to encourage people to explore Istanbul, but it also occurred to me that it’s about time I had an article on Istanbul travel tips, so I had a place to send people.

For building an Istanbul itinerary, I usually send people to my incredibly in-depth hour long interview on the Amateur Traveler Podcast, but in this article, I’m looking to give you a sense not just of what to see in Istanbul, but how to see Istanbul.

While Istanbul is beloved by travellers around the world, I wouldn’t say it has a reputation as a particularly easy city to travel in, or live in for that matter. In fact, that’s why I took such pride in how well I fell into the rhythm of the city in the three years I was there.

During that time, I learned a few things, and I’ll be drawing upon what I learned in this article culminating in some specific travel advice for Istanbul for you.

Honestly, it’s just too boring as a travel writer to pump out lifeless itineraries, so that’s why I’m so cognizant of mixing things up, so I can ensure I approach all my writing with a certain degree of passion.

I know that approach is paying off, though, as my recently published article “Why Travel is Important - A Short Essay on Travelling,” (literally the antithesis of drab travel itineraries) is now one of the most popular articles on my site, and I wasn’t even sure anyone was going to read that who wasn’t related to me and felt some semblance of familial duty.

Alright, before I go on an accidental diatribe on the quality of travel content these days, let’s get rolling with this, my friends.

What’s Worth Knowing Before Your Istanbul Vacation?

As I said above, you pick up a few things having lived there for three years that you wish you would have known from day one, so let’s get into it.

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