Two continents, 3 hours. Get around.
Istanbul can be a hard place to get around if you don't speak Turkish. Many people come to Istanbul and never get out of the box; that small area around Sultanahmet (the main tourist area) because it takes too much effort to figure out how. You have to buy a travel card, read the schedule, ask people to make sure you're going in the right direction.
And once you get off, you have no idea where to go next. So most never come over to the Asian side and see what life is like over here (where I live). And what's more, few people ever get a chance to meet real Turkish people to talk about real things. If you have met Turkish people, they were probably trying to sell you something in impeccable English. So why not get out of that box? You want to know something different about Istanbul, don't you?
You want to feel its pulse, know what makes it tick. See both sides of Istanbul and judge for yourself which side is the best!
We're an American and Serbian married couple, living in Istanbul. I (Derek) am an English teacher, giving tours to visitors from time to time and my wife (Milena) is studying engineering. Sometimes she gives tours too, and she's quite good at it. We had always taken our friends and guests around Istanbul for free, because it's fun; but since the workload is heavy and demand on our time is great, we've decided to treat it like a job. Which means that we'll take your enjoyment more seriously! I've been living in Istanbul since 2002 and came here because of the fascinating history... and stayed. I love to take people around and introduce them to the real Istanbul as I have discovered it. I also love to introduce visitors to my students, who are hungry to learn about other cultures and practice speaking English (which is harder to do on the Asian side, with so few tourists) Full profile
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