Day Trip to Istanbul Turkey

Istanbul Turkey Layover Tour

I used to dread really long trips and for the most part, I still do. This year I am all about an open and optimistic mindset (what you have to have to travel anyway). So Ive started viewing long layovers as the gems they are -a two for one trip! Our final destination was Cape Town, South Africa but that didn’t stop us from checking out charming Istanbul, Turkey, if only briefly.

Istanbul Turkey Layover Tour

Getting there/logistics:

We flew with Turkish airlines and landed in Istanbul at about 5:30 pm their time. In order to enter Turkey, you have to have an E-visa so we made sure to do this in advance ($20 USD). We also reserved our layover tour in advance so we checked our extra luggage and made our way with our tour guide Ali to explore the city of Istanbul.

Ali, (the guy with the blue lanyard) our tour guide, gave us a fantastic view of the city at night and even a quick language lesson.

Hello.

Merhaba.

Goodbye.

Güle güle.

We took in the sites at places like the Hippodrome of Constantinople.

The Blue Mosque and fountain. In this area, we got to hear the call to prayer.

We stopped by a restaurant to have an authentic Turkish meal.

Overall we had a blast! Great way to spend a 9-hour layover. Good sights, good food, and good people. If you’re in Istanbul on a long layover, or there for a few days, be sure to check out Daily Istanbul Tours, you can find their website here.

The Crew: