|
Of course, any trip requires as much money as you can carry - a suitcase for example... Just a joke, don’t worry. Although, when it comes to Istanbul this joke has a grain of truth. Istanbul is a city where you want to go shopping from the first day of your travel and continue to buy until the departure. The point is you won’t need a suitcase of money in Istanbul for this. This city on the shores of the Bosphorus is one of the cheapest in the world and certainly in Europe. Of course there are expensive shops and restaurants, but whether to go and purchase there is a matter of choice. After all, you can always search for something cheaper in Istanbul that won’t mean worse...
Expenses on food
Let’s start with the smallest sum you have to take with you to Istanbul.
The most common figure is about $60 per person per day. With this sum of money you will be able to rent a room in a simple hotel with a sumptuous breakfast (about $35-40) and have meal another 2 times a day. Once - in a cafe for $15, the second time - buy some food in the supermarket with the same amount of money. The food in the shops of Istanbul is cheap, so you would be able to buy a lot. As in the snackbars too, which are in great amounts in Istanbul. So be prepared that your expenses on food will be not paramount. For example, a hearty lunch on the Golden Horn bay consisting of a huge piece of white bread with whole roasted fish inside together with lettuce, tomatoes, olive oil and herbs will cost you three or four Lire. Approximately the same sum costs a large portion of kebab (often with a refreshing glass of ayran) or pizza.
Lunch of two or three dishes in an ordinary cafe is worth ten or fifteen dollars, but you won’t be hungry all day long and the food will be fresh and tasty. Dinner at a restaurant on the wharf will cost 20-30 dollars per person including wine and dessert. It will take you 30-40 dollars to sit in a meat restaurant on the Istiklal.
As we have already said, there are expensive restaurants with average check of 100 dollars or more in the city. But it is either very prestigious institutions with the best specifically hired cooks in Europe or... institutions that prey on tourists. Please note that the menu and prices in restaurants in Istanbul are located on a special board just at the entrance. If you see it’s too expensive - just do not enter.
Expenses on accommodation
We’ve already spoken on housing, though the price is not limited by anything except your ability. You can rent a hotel room in Istanbul for $30-40 as well as for 70-100 dollars (it will be "four star") and for 200 or even 500. But it will be some incredibly large room in an expensive hotel in Taksim with views of the Istiklal or on the wharf of the Bosphorus - with windows looking straight at the Strait.
In any case we advise you to book a room in advance and on the Internet. First, it will be cheaper (hotels meaningly sell rooms for simple tourists at a higher price to support Internet sales), second – it is easier. Third, on-line booking usually includes a free transfer that is quite nice and convenient for such megapolis as Istanbul.
Expenses on transport
Another item of obligatory spending except for food and shelter is transportation cost. You’ll have to move a lot, there’s a lot to see in Istanbul. It depends on the distance what type of transport to choose. You can walk any distance less than a kilometer. It will take you 10 dollars to go to Taksim by taxi from Sultanahmet, where all the sights of Byzantium are collected. Also you can get from Sultanahmet to Taksim by tram, getting to Kabatas stop and taking a funicular there which will take you straight to Taksim. It will cost you only $ 2. You can reach the Asian part of Istanbul from Sultanahmet by taxi. It is in a low-cost, you will pay on the counter. However, the distance from Sultanahmet to Asian Istanbul is not small and it will cost you not less than 30 dollars, but note that during the night they will take on a double rate. Also you can reach the Asian part from Sultanahmet by ferry, but first you’ll have to get to the Kabatas pier, Sirkeci or Eminonu where ferries regularly go to the Asian part of Istanbul.
Expenses on excursions
Now let’s talk about the museums and palaces worth visiting in Istanbul. Prices are exact, and that’s just not worth haggling. It will cost you 20 Turkish lire ($13) to visit Saint Sophia, 10 lire ($6) for visiting Yerebatan and 20 lire ($13) for Topkapi Palace. You should not skimp, it is the biggest treasury of the world, places that must be visited at least once in everyone’s life. Moreover, not all museums in Istanbul are very expensive. Ticket to the Archaeology Museum will cost you 10 lire ($6), and there are over a million (!) of unique items from around the Mediterranean.
Expenses on souvenirs
Your next expenses will be made on souvenirs. Hookahs, handbags, amulets against the evil eye in the form of the eye, the figures of the Ottoman warriors of clay, calendars, coins... You won’t notice yourself when you get a whole bag of these lovely nice trinkets, each of them being the appropriate gift for your friends and acquaintances. It will take you $20 at most unless you’ll be carried away with this.
Expenses on Turkish bath visiting - Hamam
Put another 30-50 dollars aside for visiting the Turkish bath "Hamam". This is an incredible pleasure worth testing by everyone who visits Istanbul. There are a lot of kinds of hamam but it is better to choose some historical. You can test a very good hamam at the Suleymaniye Mosque, it is as ancient as the mosque itself (more than four hundred years). If you happen to live in the hotel which already has a Turkish bath hamam, it’s even better. Istanbul hotels with Turkish bath (hamam) »
Expenses on entertainment
And finally, the money for entertainment, clubs, exhibitions and other events that will make your stay in Istanbul just too incendiary. You can count on this only if you are coming to the city for more than a week or two (otherwise there won’t be enough time for the trips). And if you still want to get acquainted with the nightlife of Istanbul thoroughly, you should count on additional 200-300 dollars.
|
