Turkey | A Day in Istanbul

17:14

Last week I was lucky enough to travel to Turkey with some of my best friends. We went up on a project which was offered by our University, which involved six students from our country to stay in Bursa for a week. However, my friends and I decided to fly to Turkey two days before the project started, so we would have some time to roam around Istanbul as none of us had ever been there before and it is known to be one of the most beautiful places in the world.

We arrived in Istanbul quite late at night, and by the time we found the hostel we were staying in we were all exhausted. We went for a quick dinner and went back to the hostel for an early night, so we could wake up early in the morning as we knew we were going to have a long day. The next day we went for breakfast near the Galata Tower which was very close to where we were staying, and later carried on walking 'til we got to the Galata bridge. From there we caught a boat and went on a tour around the Bosphorus which was literally breathtaking.

the kitchen wall in our hostel

After the Bosphorus tour, we stopped to have lunch by the sea. We only had one day to go around, so we wanted to see as many places as possible. We managed to have quite a productive day and visited some of the most well-known sights such as the Suleymaniye Mosque, Sultanahmet Mosque (Blue Mosque), Aya Sofya (Hagia Sophia), Basilica Cistern, and also spent some time in the Grand Bazaar. I don't think it's possible to pick a favourite out of all these places as they were all incredibly beautiful in their own ways. Everything was very different to the places I usually see and the things that I'm used to, but I loved every second of it. Every mosque we saw was amazing and really made me appreciate the beauty of these sights.

I can honestly say that all the walking we did was more than worth it and I wouldn't think twice about visiting Istanbul again. I'm sure there are more amazing places to see and I wish I had more time to go around. The people there are also very sweet and helpful, and although not many of them can speak English well they still tried to help us whenever we asked for something. If you haven't been already, Istanbul is definitely one place that should be on your bucket list of travelling.