I am ashamed at posting this but here goes....................... I have lived in the twighlight zone for 3 years and haven't been very far. For my 50th birthday she who must be obeyed surprised me with a 3 night visit to Istanbul around the 10th of october. So basically this country hick needs........
1............. a nice hotel fairly central to everywhere.
2............. a list of places we should see
3............. tickets for a Besiktas match if poss (maymunn old chap)
4............. price for a ity tour and/or boat trip.
5............. decently priced restaurants (here in goat central, 7 ytl for a chicken sis is the going rate)
6............. places/people/situations to avoid
7............. whats the train like from denizli
8............. cheapest air ticket from Dalaman.

Thats enough for now................ your thoughts(however dark) are welcome.

Thats a lot of questions. Why dont't you buy the lonely planet or sth? for example there is a open top bus tour from sultanahmet.

Yakamoz CB lives in a place where they havent got round to books yet

yakamoz............. my version of marmaris is fair more insightful than any book, which is why I want to ask the questions to people who live there.
Bryn............ what's a book? is like a cross between a sheep and a goat?

1 büyük londra 2 gaziosmanpasa, eyüp, arnavutköy, bebek 3 maymunn is on holiday, sorry 4 boat trip 1,3 ytl 5 7. kat balik pazar (beyoglu, tested by eit members recently) 6 asian side 7 excellent i think 8 check onur air. have fun! ;-)

Gaziosmanpasa?? In Istanbul?

Three years in Marmaris w/o setting foot in Istanbul is roughly the equivalent of 3 years in Milton Keynes w/o having ever visited London (or Sunderland or wherever)

Up to me Fatih is more recommended than Gaziosmanpasa..

Thanks Utabe.......... nice start.
TP..... yes and what of it?

well unless you want to wander through a slum of immigrants surrounded by workshops and gecekondu Gaziosmanpaşa would be an odd place to choose for a holiday visit, especially if your coming from the countryside it would be little more in atmosphere than you would get at home expect more urban and ugly. Most of Fatih is also fairly dull as well, if you want a more interesting choice for an interesting urban area i would go for Yeşilköy.

besiktas, Ortakoy maybe worth checking out but beware of Moda as there are dodgy expats hanging around there.

well, it is good to see different faces of places, isn't it? (if not then rather stay in swissotel, eat at gaja roof there or cafe swiss and then if you are adventurous, go to kanyon or cevahir and in the evening to reina or so.)

I fully agree.. When I have visitors here I start the first morning with a breakfast in Rumeli Hisarı, going then to visit the historical places in Sultanahmet and later having dinner in Beyoglu.. (with a drink after dinner in Leb-i-Derya..)
Second day with a Bosphorus tour in the morning.. fish dish lunch at Sariyer.. afternoon in Fatih and Eyup (included a cafe in Pierre Loti..).. and at the end dinner + night life in Ortakoy, Bebek and/or Kurucesme..
Third day for Buyukada and/or other islands going back to Bostancı.. having a walk and dinner in Bagdat Street...
Fourth day for a Dolmabahçe visit in early morning (which is worth..), some hours to be spent in Gran Bazaar if visitors still want to buy something there after the quick tour of the first day.. And in the later afternoon, yes, also Kanyon deserves a coffee...
There would be still places for the 5th, 6th, 7th... day....
One thing is sure: the visitors leave Istanbul thinking to have visited several countries...

well i have never been to reina, kanyon, cafe swiss or swissotel but there is a limit to "authentic" could take them to Tarlabaşı, a wander round those backstreets should certainly be an experience to take home and cherish, depending on your activities maybe also have a lighter wallet and an STD as a souvenir, certainly showing a face of Turkey and give you a chance to meet women from many different countries.

the islands smell like horse piss. dont bother.

cheap, good boat tour--go to ortakoy and check the dock behind the mosque. tour boat leaves (i believe) every hour or half hour depending on time of day.

taxim hill hotel--right opposite the metro station at front of istiklal

[quote user="starman" post="95266"]besiktas.[/quote]

You mean Citir? Why else go to Besiktas - it's crap.

Stick to the touristy stuff in Sultanahmet and up to Eyup, cafe/nightlife scene around Taksim and Tunel (forget the Bos clubs) and anything (else) on the Bos (boat trips on normal not tourist boats etc for few lira, the cafes, the strolls past Ortakoy). If you want to go shopping for British clothes, check out the shopping centres Metrocity and Cevahir (not Kanyon), or wander down Istiklal. If you want restaurant recommendations, tell us what you want to eat! Indian, Thai, Italian, Turkish...

Got good flights to Marmaris with Onur Air this summer.

Biletix will see you right for match tickets. Can pick up in Taksim, Besiktas..doubt they'll deliver to your hotel but you could ask.