ISTANBUL, TURKEY What Surprised Us, What We Loved & What to Know Before You Go

Thinking about visiting Istanbul, Turkey? 🇹🇷 In this video, we share our first impressions of Istanbul: from arrival, visas, and taxis to food, costs, and must-see sights like the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, and Bosphorus. As retired slow travelers, we’ll give you the real story of what surprised us, what we loved, and what first-time visitors should know.

We’re Rick and Daphne, a retired couple slow traveling the world one month at a time.

From arrival and visas to transportation, accommodation, costs, and food, we cover:
✈️ What it was like arriving in Istanbul (and what we wish we knew about taxis!)
🏨 Where we stayed and how we scored a hotel suite upgrade
💰 How much things cost (meals, transfers, haircuts, and more)
🚋 Why Istanbul is more walkable and more cosmopolitan than we expected
🕌 What we’ve done so far: Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Bosphorus cruise, local markets
🥙 What we’ve eaten and the street food we walked two miles to eat again!
🛍️ Why this might be a top-tier girls’ trip destination for shopping lovers

We also talk honestly about how we felt before arriving (we were a little nervous!) and what it’s really been like walking the streets, hearing the call to prayer, and connecting with the people here.

Whether Istanbul is already on your bucket list or you’re still deciding if it should be, we hope this video gives you a real, personal, and helpful introduction to one of the world’s most iconic cities.

Stick around we’ll be sharing even more from Istanbul soon, including a breakdown of what it really costs here and whether it’s somewhere we could see ourselves living long term.

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See you next week!
Rick & Daphne

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