From the airport to your last day: practical tips gathered from our guests' trips to make your holiday easier and more fun.
Travelling to Istanbul with family is wonderful, but the city is big and the traffic is real. These tips come from years of planning family trips, so you spend more time enjoying and less time on the road.
Before you arrive
- Book your airport transfer ahead: Istanbul Airport is far from the centre, and a driver waiting in arrivals is a relief after a long flight.
- Choose the hotel by your plans: Taksim and Şişli for shopping and city life, Sultanahmet for the historic sights.
- Plan a rest day between long trips, especially with children.
During your stay
- Start early: sights are calmer in the morning and the roads lighter.
- Avoid the evening rush hour, or use a private car with a driver who knows the side roads.
- Pick tours with hotel pick-up and a meal included, so you do not plan every day.
- Children under 3 go free on our daily tours, so bring them along.
Small things that matter
- Food for every taste is easy to find, and restaurants are very welcoming to families with children.
- Dress in layers: the weather changes between morning and evening, and it is cooler on the water.
- Keep one evening for a Bosphorus cruise — the moment everyone remembers, young and old.
