Accomodation in Istanbul
 

Hi, does anyone know the best place to stay in Istanbul while waiting for Visa, cheap and safe for the bike and hopefully a spot to meet other overlanders.

Will be there in the next week and feeling a bit daunted by the idea of a big city!!

Linda

Hi Linda, We were in Istanbul a couple of weeks ago and stayed at the Side Pension. Wasn,t the cheapest but it was clean and close to all the sites. we locked our bıke up on the pavement outside under our cover with no problems. It was a quiet street. Think it was around 25 Euros per night inc breakfast - 2 of us. Hostels were charging around 15-20 Lira per night. İranian consulate is only a 10 min walk away and they were friendly and helpful, we got ours done through iranianvisa.com Dropped passports off and picked them up next day. Hope this helps ! Contact us if you have any other questions. Regards, Steve & Genelle

Thanks for the info, I will check it out though I need somthing a bit cheaper. Can you tell me where it is though. Did you need to get your Pakistan Visa first? I have the number from Iranianvisa but wonder if it is better to have the ongoing one.
Thanks,
Linda

Hi Casalinda,
you have 2 camps in Istanbul,one is in Adakoy area it is 10 euros per night and the other one is near by but I m not sure where.This one in Adakoy is pretty noisy because of the main road beside it. I don t know if you like camps ,that s all that can help you with. And one more thing buy a good Istanbul map you re gone need it.
Cheers,
Darko

There was a campground in Yeshelkoy, right near the end of the runway at the airport.
Decent tent spots and you can bargin for the cost.They will probably go for 5 euro a day, or try for a cheaper weekly price.
It is a little bit noisy during the day with the aircraft, but clean and safe with other travellers there. There is a good train connection to downtown Istanbul within a short walking distance.

iranian visas are a desaster,
I could not even get a transit visa in Istanbul. If you are going for a transit visa (7 days, can be extended for another 7 days in Iran even if they don't like doing that) and want to go to Pakistan you have to have the pakistan visa before you apply for iran in istanbul. getting a transit visa in erzerum (eastern turkey) is a lot easier and done within a day. tourist visas should be arranged in advance: applying to the embassy or using an agency eg. Pars Tourist. If you just want to spend some time in Iran (7days) you can also apply for a transit in erzerum and tell them you take the ferry to Dubai, since the dubai visa is issued on arrival the iranian embassy in erzerum will give you a transit. I went to Dubai, so I am not 100% sure how it would be to exit again into Turkey, but I think you want to go east anyways. Iran on a transit visa is a lot of driving and NOT relaxed at all. Iran is really worth taking your time.
Enjoy
Christian

Hi Linda Hotel was in Sultanhamet pretty much the centre of all the tourist stuff. We were having the bike serviced so we had no transport so it suited us. We had the Pakistan visa already...got in Sydney before we left. Overall found Ýranian visa easy and people helpful..but as we said we used Ýranianvisa.com maybe not so easy otherwise. Good luck !

Thanks everyone for your helpful replýes. Through a hub contact I got a place to stay on the Asýan sýde for a few days and now am on the other sýde through contacts of Emok, the Turkýsh club.

I had the agency number for the Iranýan výsa so had no problem gettýng ýt ýn Istanbul, only one day, and they saýd I didn,t need the Pakistan výsa fýrst. Just as well as I didn,t have ýt at that stage.
The story with the Pakýstan výsa ýn Istanbul is that the guy ýn the consulate thýnks he is God and doesn,t want to issue them. However, I got a letter from the Oz embassy (20E) and then spent two mornýngs tryýng to talk the guy into lettýng me ýn. We had a 2 hour dýscussýon on religýon and I also told him that my famýly are waitýng for me in India, which is true. Finally he relented. But I would advise anyone to go to Ankara, which ýs the embassy and says that there should be no problem. (I phoned them)

Will now be haeadýng for Gallipoli etc. Want to be in Iran beg. Sept. Anyone around?

I'll be in Iran on September. I am not sure about the date. Depends the ferry time from Bahrain or UAE to Iran. Hope to see you there.
Good Luck


------------------
ride safely
ozhan u.
www.ozhanu.com/gezi

While you are in Istanbul, you might want to contact the "One More Mile" motorcycle club. The guys are great. Just do a google search for thier web site- it's in English and has tons of info on riding in Turkey

[
hola linda.
estas todavia en istanbul? o te has ido
ja al iran? jo tambien estoy en la misma
routa. ahora en el sur de bulgaria.

------------------
mathias schmid
2radservice@gmx.ch
www.mathiasschmid.ch