Travel Guide: Turkey
Earlier this month I took a 5 day trip to Istanbul, and it quickly became a trip for the books! The culture, food, people, landscape, and the character of every street was all so memorable and special. Here's a travel guide filled with tips and places we visited in Turkey...
Where we stayed: We stayed at the Shangri-La Istanbul and it was honestly one of the prettiest hotels I've ever stayed at. The service was top notch. Our room was insane, you can see it in the vlog below. The daily breakfast at the restaurant downstairs was so diverse, well-crafted, and delicious. We enjoyed sitting outside on the balcony as the morning sun was rising and we had the most spectacular view of the water. I can't recommend this hotel enough. It was such a great stay!
Money: we used the ATM at our hotel to take out cash. No need to convert your money into the local currency as the ATM automatically does that for you. Most places I travel I typically don't take out cash but still just use my debit/credit cards. However in Turkey, I had a lot of issues with my Chase cards being declined by Chase due to fraud and theft issues in Turkey so I had to just take out money and go that route.
Visas: we needed a Visa to enter Turkey even with US passports. For more details regarding if you need a Visa or not click here.
Places we visited:
Galata Tower
Grand Bazaar
Zorlu Center (many luxury shops as well as contemporary)
Restaurants: No Fish Today, Shangri-La Istanbul Restaurant, Nisantasi Baskose, Mavi Balik
Maya's Corner (cute colorful houses)
Hagia Sophia Museum
Dolmabahce Palace (very close to the Shangri-La hotel)
