I got in touch with another company that is currently recruiting and who invited me for an interview. Although nothing sure yet, I do think it would be a good idea to have an idea in advance of where to live in case it'd be a successful interview, so that I could already look around a bit right after getting the result of the interview.

Can anyone tell me which areas close to the city centre and especially close to the seaside are recommendable? I always lived close to the beach and would find it quite pleasant to be close to a shore again, if it's close to the centre it's a nice bonus although I'd say the shore is more important to me. Also it'd be a plus to be in an area where other expats live but where you still have the Turkish influence as well, bit of a mixture.

Any recommendations? Besiktas or Taksim or anywhere around that maybe?

PS the company is a Dutch company recruiting people for their Istanbul branch. So it's no hotel or anything like that like I first tried to find.

Cihangir, ortakoy.
You'll have to reach deep for both though.

Yenikoy, Rumeli Hisari, Bebek; Ortakoy. Cihangir, too, of course. A lovely place, but gets a bit too empty in the evenings. My groupmate got mugged there last week. Another Dilmer student spent a week in hospital after a mugger attacked him with a knife in Cihangir...

İn cihangir you can have a view on bosphorus, it s close to taxim, and it s mixed expat-no expat people-
The night some streets are empty, for sure, but not only in cihangir- There is no place 100% safe especially in the night-

For cheaper rent, you might want to consider the Asian side. Somewhere around Kadikoy or Uskudar. They are less crowded than the European side and it's really easy to cross. Boats go from Uskudar to Besiktas every 5 mins or so and it only takes about 5 mins (and you avoid traffic).

Except for when they get cancelled!

Besiktas would be nice. You can also try Tophane which gets you the access to Bosphorus for a little cheaper, but less likely to have the dramatic view you would get in Cihangir up the hill.

and anyway it depends too on your work place..don t forget to consider the traffic in choosing yur place..

[quote user="jellyfish" post="88507"]For cheaper rent, you might want to consider the Asian side. Somewhere around Kadikoy or Uskudar. They are less crowded than the European side and it's really easy to cross. Boats go from Uskudar to Besiktas every 5 mins or so and it only takes about 5 mins (and you avoid traffic).[/quote]

Depending on how yabanci like you look I would not recommend Üsküdar. Also it´s a huge construction site at the moment.