Time Out Istanbul (Time Out Guides)

 (8 customer reviews)

I just returned from 4 days in Istanbul using a hot-off-the-press copy of this guide and cannot recommend it highly enough. Given the layers of history and multitude of sites this city has to offer many guidebooks seem to forget to detail the modern life of the city. The Time Out guide has far and away the most up-to-date information about the present day life and cultural activities of this stunningly beautiful, vibrant and surprisingly hip city. Keep in mind that Istanbul has changed a lot in the past few years and if you are interested in the latest restaurants, nightlife, hotels and shopping options in addition to the traditional historic sites tour-route, this will be a great primary guidebook for you. The book is filled with a lot of current photos and interesting sidebars and highlights that are very helpful in narrowing down the multitude of possible ways to spend your time.

Time Out gives you an insider's view of the city from an expat-resident perspective and...Read more

I just went to Istanbul without much time to plan the trip so i made up for it by buying almost every guidebook available. This was the stand-out, for general information, for places to go and for the fabulous maps at the back. If you're only getting one guide, get this one. It's the first time I've purchased a TimeOut Guide, but I'll be looking at them first for my next trip.

We used this guide on a recent trip to Istanbul, and by contrast used the Lonely Planet Turkey guide outside of Istanbul (Izmir and Selcuk). The contrast couldn't be greater: while Lonely Planet thinks that comprehensiveness is a virtue -- including hotels and restaurants that are in fact trash -- Time Out only lists places that you really *should* go to. Time Out's signal-to-noise ratio is incredibly high. We only regret that we didn't have time to see all the sites that Time Out recommended.

One travel note: after grabbing coffee at Pierre Loti Cafe, overlooking the Old Galata and Ataturk Bridges, we ambled down the hill to a mosque that Time Out described as the third-holiest site in Islam. We took off our shoes and my girlfriend covered her head with a scarf; we then stood at the back of the mosque at prayer time. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. The moral for me is: follow the book's advice, but allow ample time to wander off the beaten path.