Customer Reviews

Rick Steves' Istanbul

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This useful guidebook is compact in size, concise in descriptions, and colorful in discoveries. Husband-and-wife authors Lale and Tankut Aran love Istanbul with such passion, enthusiastically guiding readers through the back doors, back streets, and back stories of their beloved city. They single out Turks you can track down for a chat; don't miss their picks of several Grand Bazaar shopkeepers who happily share their stories and, of course, their wares.

I especially like the self-guided walking tours; museum must-sees; and money-saving transportation tips. Although I've been to Turkey six times, this little guidebook helped me rediscover Istanbul with fresh eyes and a renewed sense of appreciation for this complex, appealing country.

I've bought the Rick Steves phrase books (which are the best, by the way) but this was my first of his guide books and, I have to say, I'm hooked. I absolutely love his list of the top sights. Not only does he rank order them from the must-see to the could-probably-miss, but he includes a very brief description of the site, the days and hours it's open (great for planning!), and the page number you can go to for more in-depth information. I put a post-it note on this page and was constantly referring back to it. There's really great information on each site you visit and my friends started out our first day in Istanbul making fun of me for always referring back to the book for the fun facts he includes. By the end of the first day there they were coming up to me asking what Rick Steves had to say about where we were at :) I love that he includes lots of budget and mid-range options. Europe isn't cheap and Rick Steves helped me stay within my budget. After using this book, I've now purchased Rick Steves Rome, Paris, and London books as well. I know they're going to be worth every penny!

This Istanbul follows Rick Steve's usual formula of focusing on the main sights, providing practical information, good walking tours and useful travel tips. I have used Rick Steves guidebooks for over 7 years livng and vacationing in Europe. My only disappointment with this book was with the eating recommendations. The restaurant descriptions were not as honest as they could have been - especially for the Sultanahmet touristy area. If I am going to eat in a tourist trap I prefer to be forwarned. At one recommended $$$ fish restaurant, the Balikci Sabahattin our group of 3 adults and 3 children was subjected to snobby service and were outright scammed into ordering multiple servings of first course dishes (dishes were the same size but contained different numbers of portions) - NOT the treatment I expect from a Rick Steve's recommendation. Buy this guide for the sightseeing and the Lonely Planet Turkey guide for complementary information and restaurant recommendations.

Great guide, but as so often happens, the Kindle edition is an outdated edition. It is the third edition, while the book version being sold by Amazon is the fourth edition. I have noticed this trend with several nonfiction books. Amazon does not disclose this either, e.g., when you look at the 4th edition book version and click on the buy kindle link, it does not tell you that you are buying the old edition. This is the second time this has happened to me in the last week. It is a great book though, and I am sure it is still useful, but things do change (hours and rates, restaurants open and close), and up to date guide books are desirable.

We went to a few of the restaurants Rick suggests in this book. In all the restaurants I seemed to notice that everyone had a copy of Lonely Planet, or Rough Guide on their table.

I'm not saying I don't recommend the book, however the book does seem to advertise itself in a way to lend you to believe that it was written by a local guy that is going to recommend lots of "hidden gems" or "locals' favorite little spots" - this is not the case.

This guide will probably be appreciated most by readers who are one-time visitors, have a few days in Istanbul, are not particularly interested in the history of the city, don't want to spend much money, and want to see the major sites, in other words the average tourist.

For visitors who want more, a better general guide to the city try Istanbul (Eyewitness Travel Guides), and for those truly interested in the city, buy any of the books by John Freely, an American ex-pat who has lived in Istanbul for more than 40 years. Examples: Istanbul: The Imperial City and John Freely's Istanbul.

I bought 4 books - (can you tell that it was my first trip abroad). This book was the book that I thought I would like the least. It seems wordy and the pictures are not so good... That was until I was in Istanbul. In the first few days, we traveled with other books. But at the end of day 2 - I sat in the hotel room and began reading this book. Once I had a good idea of the city -this book was invaluable especially the walks in different regions. On day 2 (at night) I found out that I was about 100 feet from some place I had wanted to go.. but did not get the spatial relationship of different sights. I began using this book religiously. I really liked the short historical descriptions of different sights and the way it grouped sights that were near each other together. It made my sight seeing more efficient. The index was well organized so I could look up things that we were considering going to quickly. The directions were very good. The only place we had problem was a trip we took to Kirkakoy on the Asian side.. (but there was a huge construction project that made it hard for us to orient with the book's directions).

I would highly recommend this book. I thought their recommendations on must see, should see, and see if you are nearby were very good.. They also used Turkish and English names for places - so I was able to point in book for cab drivers on occasion when necessary. The maps it had were clear but not flashy - but allowed me to use to public transportation on several occasions. The only thing I wish it had done better was talk about Turkish food.. I also bought a Just Enough Turkish for deciphering menus and they made an excellent pairing.

I would recommend this book because it contains multipage guides to walk you through major sites (Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, Chora Church, etc.)

Despite a March 2009 publication date, the most recent edition was out of date when I used it in April 2009. The Suleymaniye mosque, the Galata Mevlevihanesi and the Topkapi Palace kitchens were closed for renovation in 2008 but are still listed as recommended sites in the 2009 guide. It's not worth paying a premium for a new edition--save money with a used older edition instead.

I was just in Istanbul for over a week, and my friends and I shared several guidebooks. Rick Steves' was one of them.

Pros
-Offers very detailed tours of major sites for the self-guided wanderer. (Unlike other Rick Steves' guides, this book was written by 2 Turkish tour guides, and Rick Steves lent his name to the book.) My friends and I used the book as we walked through Chora Church and the Archaeology Museum without a tour guide, and the detailed descriptions of the mosaics were excellent.
-Good details such as recommended length of visit for each site, phonetic pronunciations of site names
-Interesting sections of information on history and culture scattered throughout (read up on harems, iconoclasts, etc)
-Listed fees were very up-to-date (as of March 2009)

Cons
-Maps are not very granular. Definitely need to supplement with maps you pick up at a local office or maps from another guidebook (I recommend Time Out Istanbul's maps) if you plan on finding your own way around
-Pictures are lacking
-Entire book is black and white. Heavy on text and a little difficult to navigate.
-Book sometimes has TOO MUCH detail, e.g. listing locations of restrooms at certain sites, providing guided tours of areas that I felt did not need stall-by-stall, store-by-store explanations (Istiklal Caddesi - a major shopping street, Spice Bazaar). Using this book could cause some to fall into the trap of following a guidebook too closely and not seeing things for oneself.
-Large sections of the book are not useful until you are actually at the sites. Unfortunately, the book can get a little heavy to carry around.

This has all the things that make Rick Steves' guides great. The clear maps, the insider tips, the historical back-story. The Authors are Rick's guides who live there, and know their city forward and back. This gives you the indispensible knowledge to make a visit to Istanbul safe and rewarding.