When we reached the Ataturk Airport, the immigration clearance process was no hassle at all, as we did the visa processing online before we flew. To obtain the online visa, visit the e-Visa website, fill the online application form, make the payment, then download the electronic visa. All the steps will hardly take more than 15 minutes. The cost of the visa is 25 usd per person.

At the Baggage Collection, I was looking for trolleys, and when I found them I had to use a coin to get one, and sure I didn’t have a single coin of lira. Oh well, we just pulled the luggages, no issue. Once outside I noticed that most people with luggage were without trolleys.

I’ve informed the hotel in advance that we would need a pick up at the airport. So there after the exit, I saw some names put up at a board, while looking for my name, the teenager next to the board asked me, “Mr. Idi Kurniawan?”, I said “Yes, It is me”. “Come sir, just wait here, I will call the taxi driver”, he said. After a while, he walked us outside, and a family van that would take us the hotel arrived.

It took around 20 minutes from the airport to the hotel, Best Western Premier – Regency Suites in Sultanahmet. After having the welcome drink, which was cay (tea) for me and my wife, and apple cay for the children, we went up to the room, took showers, and ordered some pizzas from the hotel. We found the pizza tasted really nice, or probably it was just because we were so hungry? 🙂

I was thinking of having some rest at the hotel, but my wife and children were so eager to see the surrounding. Well, so I okayed it, I thought they were tired. Since it was only around 2pm, we had more than a couple of hours for strolling around before it got dark, sunset was around 5pm.

Sultanahmet square is just around 500m from the hotel. On the way, we passed Arasta Bazaar. It is a small bazaar just next to the Sultanahmet Mosque, having some souvenirs and traditional food. We were surprised that in that cold weather, around 5-7 degree celcius, tourists were many all around the area. I can’t imagine how it will be in the spring or summer. 

Here I’d like to share the Summary of my Istanbul Trip 4-8 January 2015. I’ve also summarized the opening hours, the closing day(s), and entrance fees of some major places of interest in Istanbul, you can find it here. When you develop your own itinerary for the trip to Istanbul, make sure to double-check the opening hours and closing day(s) of the destinations, as they might change season to season.

I will write more detail about each day of my visit later. In the meantime, you can scroll through the summary.

Day 1 – 4 January 2015

• We had lunch at the hotel since we reached the hotel at just about the lunch time
• And we had kabab for dinner from nearby restaurant. It was raining, we couldn’t really explore for options.
• The detail for day 1 is already available here.

 Day 2 – 5 January 2015

• There are some restaurants near the Sultanahmet tram station. Tastes are nice, and prices are okay. I had mashed potato stuffed with chicken for the lunch, and a plate of kabab for the dinner.
• You can perform the prayer at Yeni Camii (New Mosque).
• Yeni Camii Meydani (Plaza) is behind the mosque. We were sitting at the plaza and but didn’t notice that next to it is actually the Spice Bazaar 🙂

The schedule below covers only selected major places of interest in Istanbul. And it is valid as of my visit to Istanbul, 04-08 January 2015.