Program

Enjoy Istanbul on your own

Outside the program, you are free to enjoy Istanbul on your own.
Ideas and inspiration can be found on this website as well.

Historic and cultural sites of Istanbul.

The history of Istanbul is way too long to even consider understanding in a few days, there has been a ping-pong of wars, battles, trade, empires between Rome, Athens and Istanbul for several thousand years. On that basis Istanbul has some very interesting and important historic sites to visit. A few mentioned below, which luckily are located fairly close together - although quote far from the wedding venue.

• Basilica Cistern
• Topkapi Palace
• Hagia Sophia
• Blue Mosque
• Grand Bazaar
• Spice Market
• Galata Port and Istanbul Modern

Turkish bath / Hammam

Turkish bath is a great way to get clean. A very thorough shower you can call it – some call it a SPA experience. Many hotels will have their own Turkish Bath, however, below are listed some old traditional and historic baths, that dates back several hundred years. These are worth a try if you want a relaxing / thorough bath.

• Kilic Ali Pasa Hamami
• Cagaloglu Hamami

Active tourist

• A walk along the Bosphorus is highly recommended, the better places for a walk are:
• Between Karakoy and Besiktas Stadium, or
• Ortakoy and Bebek area, or
• Sariyer area (close to the wedding venue)

Shopping:

• Grand Bazaar if you are looking for Touristic things
• Spice Market if you are looking for spices or Turkish delicacies
• Nisantasi area is great for premium shopping
• Malls for nice premium shopping – local and international brands
• Zorlu
• Istinye Park
• Kanyon

Recommendations on food and dining

Turkey is wellknown for their cuisine and has a very proud food culture, inspired by - or some say inspiring - the neighboring contries including Greece and Levant countries. Turkish people are known for their hospitality and love serving a lot of food. If you have a proper Turkish breakfast, you will unlike want to eat anything else before dinner

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Turkish breakfast guide (by Niels):

Turkish breakfast is a feast of food. It is a complete mistake that many hotels internationally are serving English or Continental breakfast. The Turkish breakfast is many times better and should be the global standard from now on. The Turkish word for Breakfast is Kahvalti, which means "before coffee". As such the breakfast is typically served with Turkish tea (as much as you can drink), and you will have your Turkish coffee after, or at the end of the breakfast. The food is served to share on the table and typical dishes, which are tested and recommended by Niels, include:

• Vegetables (cucumber, tomatoes), olives 
• A variety of cheeses, especially string cheese and soft cheese 
• Menemen - a sort of scrambled eggs prepared with tomatoes, green peppers, olive oil - highly recommended
• Borek - a lasagne inspired pastry
• Various jams, butter, a Turkish version of Nutella (only better)
• Honey and Kaymak (a sort of creme cheese - goes very well together with the honey, way too yummy)
• Sucuk - a fried sausage 
• Various sorts of bread, including Simit (a Turkish version of a bagel)

And yes, its all of this for 1 breakfast - however there are no expectations of finishing the dishes.

Once you are done eating you can have your Turkish coffee. When ordered, let it settle for a few minutes and then sip it carefully. Drinking too much, too fast or too early before it has settled and you are up for a bad coffee experience. Doing it right and it taste great.

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Most hotels will have a Turkish breakfast, but if you want to try some recommended places, these places on the European side of Bosphorus are known to have good breakfast.

• Namli Gurme – located in Karakoy
• Mukellef – located in Karakoy
• House Café – located in Ortakoy and in Nisantasi
• Gunaydin – they are many places, but the one in Etiler is good (so are the others)
• KALE – located in Rumelihisari
• Sutis – located in Emirgan
• Big Chef’s – located many places, the one in Tarabya is recommended

Turkish lunch

• No one have ever requested this after a Turkish breakfast, so not sure it exists
• You can try burger from Nusr-Et (by famously loved/hated Salt Bae, primarily hated after the World Cup). He has multiple restaurants (named Nusr-Et) across Istanbul 
• If you are in a more touristic area, you can probably also find shawarmas and kebabs, however (interestingly) this is not something you will see a lot of in Istanbul
• But you might just want to find a salad somewhere. 

Dinner:

Istanbul has some great restaurants, there are many options available, but the below are tested and recommended. However, most likely you will need to book table well in advance.

Local dishes are typically very rich on vegetables, fish and meat. You often have a salad with the food - often served before the main food.

Suggestions for fine dining:

• Mikla
• Sunset
• Neolokal
• Nicole
• Alaf restaurant (famously known for the place Niels proposed to Guzi)

More local and relaxed dinners you will find at the Mayhanes (directly translates to drinking places – they also have great Turkish food). Some recommended are:

• Mukallef in Karakoy – a Mayhane
• Karakoy Locantasi – in Karakoy – a Mayhane
• Murver – in Karakoy – a seafood restaurant
• Bebek Balikci – a seafood restaurant in Bebek
• There are many options in the Galata Port area (promenade with restaurants)
• Hamdi – next to Spice Market - a Kebab place
• Zubeyir Ocakbasi – in Beyoglu area – Mayhane/Kebab

If you are eating at a Mayhane, it is recommended to do as the locals and have Raki with the food. Raki is the Turkish national drink and comparable to Ouzo, Pastis and Arak - mixed with water and it is drinkable. But be careful to imitate the locals too much, you have a wedding to attend Saturday night!!

Other practical info:

• Istanbul is the largest city in Europe with c. 16 million people, traffic can be really bad, but especially if you want to cross the Bosphorus by car
• The wedding location is at the very north end of Istanbul, on the european side and towards the Black Sea. It takes a bit of time to get there if you are living in the other end of Istanbul
• Istanbul has a lack of taxis. You might get lucky to find a driver and get their phone number to call them directly, but relying on getting taxis is difficult. Even the hotels are struggling to get taxis 
• Public transport is available, but only recommended for short trips
• Presents. We have guest from more than 20 nationalities, and probably even more different cultures, however we acknowledge that some people might want to bring a present for the wedding. Due to the location away from our home, we will recommend to bring presents that are not too heavy or bulky meaning that we prefer something we can bring on the flight to Dubai again. Alternatively, delivered in Dubai
• Some have expressed a wish to give speeches. As we have a lack of common language all will understand (some only Turkish, some only Danish and a lot of people English++, we will recommend that any speeches are kept very short) - please inform us ahead if you want to  give a speech
• It is utterly important that you have a great time, enjoy, drink and dance at the wedding.