Time Out Istanbul

by Time Out Guides

Which? Recommended Provider: Time Out Guides kicks off 2014 by being rated top guidebook brand by Which? Survey, for level of detail, photography, quality of maps, ease of finding information and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1846702631
• ISBN13: 9781846702631
• Release Date: May 2012
• Publisher: Time Out
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.0" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

Lightweight, great maps, good restaurant recommendations

Was just in Istanbul for over a week. The friends I traveled with and I all picked up different guidebooks to share, and Time Out was one of them. Pros -Best maps by far of the 6 guidebooks we had. We used it to walk pretty much everywhere since we all like walking. -Good map of the subway system -Very good restaurant recommendations in all price ranges. My friends and I have high confidence in the recommendations now. We ate at random places the first few days and then tried three recommended restaurants in our price range over the next few days. Time Out's recommendations were all significantly better than the restaurants we've found on our own. We stumbled into one restaurant which was overpriced and mediocre and later found out that Time Out had listed it as such. -Thinner and lighter than most guidebooks. Easy to carry around -Good pictures. Colorful pages -Divided into easily navigable sections (e.g. accommodations, sightseeing, bars and cafes, restaurants, nightlife, food, miscellaneous useful information) Cons -A few fees, tramway stops, and one address were slightly outdated as of March 2009, but none of the errors caused huge problems for us -Doesn't explicitly point out which sites are more significant or more worth visiting - can be difficult to figure out what to see for those with limited time -Not the best source of detailed information on history, culture, religion, architecture. Best supplemented with other guidebooks

An exceptional guide to Istanbul

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.

best istanbul guidebook i found

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.

A savvy and slick insider's guide to present day Istanbul

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 though its listings are much more opinionated than standard guidebooks, this is a very good thing. The additional info you'll get on everything from standard tourist sites to off-the-beaten-track hammams will help steer you in a direction that best suites your personal aesthetic, comfort level and style of travel. The guide is very well indexed and organized so it's easy to locate the information you need while you are out and about. I found the section on Bosphorus ferries and day trips out of the city particularly useful and much more in depth than other guides. Be sure to pick up a copy of the monthly English language Time Out Istanbul magazine as soon as you arrive for event schedules, music listings and articles on what is going on in the city while you are there as it provides a seamless "update" to the guide itself. The maps in the back of the guide are fairly detailed, but are printed on several pages. If you plan to do a lot of walking, particularly in areas outside the central historic Sultanahmet district, I would recommend supplementing this guide with a more detailed city map such as the Istanbul Map (Travel Reference Map) as this city is a maze of back alleys and winding, unmarked passageways and it's a bit difficult tracking down shops and restaurants using the included maps. If you like history this book provides an intelligent and well written intro and an excellent list of recommended reading. Use this guide to build the day's itinerary, choose restaurants, shopping venues and activities and then add a little Freeley (John Freely's Istanbul) and recent Nobel prize winner Orhan Pamuk (Istanbul: Memories and the City) to your in-flight reading list. If you want a hip, insightful and savvy guide to the lively city of today, this is a wonderful guide that will not steer you wrong. If you are doing the standard loop of historic sites in old Istanbul, then many other city guidebooks provide perfectly adequate coverage as well. Beware that many country-specific guide

Gunaydin Istanbul!

Well written and chock full of what appears to be some very recent photographs. The book starts off with twenty-some pages of Turkish history including several pages devoted to Istanbul for women--governmentally secular, Turkey is nonetheless 90% Islam. The travel section contains critiques of dozens of hotels and even lists web sites and email addresses. A rarity even in current travel books. Web search engines tend to overwhelm the senses with too much data, so finding a source that actually evaluates hotels on an individual basis is a revelation. Likewise the section on dining, drinking and shopping covers a wide range of price choices with many recommendations that have the ring of authority to them. With 5,000 of years of history, Istanbul would require several lifetimes to investigate properly. Sightseeing is arranged in neighborhood fashion and gives the armchair traveler an opportunity to plot a variety of routes depending on time and inclination. The more you read, the more time you want to spend peeling back the layers of archeological wonder. Time Out includes almost 50 pages devoted to arts and entertainment and provides a comprehensive guide to adult night life in Istanbul. The factual style of writing lends an air of believability and authenticity. One of the off putting elements in the book is the inclusion of magazine style advertising throughout the text. And, the map section leaves a great deal to be desired. Ten pages at the back of the book split into areas of the city, without hotel indexes, and only identifying major streets. All in all, if you have only one guidebook for Istanbul, this is the one. There is a small section on Turkish language and vocabulary, and where to go to get instructions in Turkish. Covering virtually every aspect of the city the editors have created a concise yet detailed guide to what used to be Constantinople.