Before this trip, Turkey was a bit fuzzy for us. Intrepid and independent travelers, we were somewhat hesitant to venture there with all the hoopla in the US media. We also know, from much traveling abroad that the US media has a bit of a penchant, or may better said, an outright glee in blowing things out of proportion. So we started researching. And it turns out that unless you're interested in going to those hot spots along the Syrian border, you're really in no more danger, actually less danger than going to New York than it is going to Istanbul.
So we booked the Rick Steves Best of Turkey Tour, reserved our airline tickets and prepared for our trip! Rick Steves Tours suggests packing lightly, which we took to heart. With little luggage, lots of space on my phone for photos and an adventurous spirit, we left home in mid-Sept and headed for Europe. We chose fall because the weather is usually fantastic and the crowds are minimal. We spent almost two weeks before the tour began exploring Greece with our handy Rick Steves Guide Book and the recommendations of a dear friend who now lives on an island off the coast near Athens.
Winding up in Thessoloniki, Greece, we opted for the experience of a night bus to get us to Istanbul to meet up with our tour group. We were not disappointed with the very interesting and not-too-sleep-conducive adventure through the night. Spiced with a very interesting border crossing at 2 am... yes, we were the only US citizens on the bus and, yes, we were the only ones to have our bags searched that night... makes you wonder what their media might be telling them about us!
It was a long drive through the outskirts of Istanbul to the suburbs and finally (after about 2 hours on the highway) reaching the main bus station, we rode a shuttle for another thirty minutes to the center and walked about a mile to the hotel. After a night of sitting on a very comfy coach bus, it felt good to stretch our legs, buy a Turkish coffee and a gelato - yum! Our hotel, The Hotel Azade, was beautiful, comfortable and had a killer view of the Bosporus Strait from the dining area. We met our tour guide, Taylan, and our fellow travelers, took a short nap and headed out to dinner with the group - the entire experience exceeded our expectations from the very start!
Check out this link for more info: https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/greece-turkey/turkey