I´m thinking of couchsurfing the next time I´ll go to Istanbul (no, no dates set, no need for jealousy )

But.... when I seach for potential hosts I see areas I´ve never heard of. I know these areas: Beyoglu, Fatih, Kadikoy, Uskudar, Buyukada and Eyup (I know more but those, like Sultanahmet, Galata or Taksim or not listed).

My question is: Where are the next areas? I don´t mind travelling by tram, bus or subway, I will by an akbil but just 3 hours or so for a one-way trip seems a little too much for getting into town. Who can tell me?

Zeytinburnu - Umraniye - Silivri - Kucukcehmece - Heybeliada - Esenler - Buyukcekmece - Burgazada - Bakirkoy - Besiktas - Kartal - Maltepe - Sariyer - Cekmekoy - Beykoz - Sisli - Tuzla - Adalar - Avcilar - Bagcilar - Bayrampasa - Pendik - Kinaliada

Silvri - is on the coast on the European side of Istanbul but a long way out

Kucukcehmece - out beyond the airport

Umraniye - Asian side, industrial I believe

Besiktas - Close to the Dolmanche Palace and has a football team and towards the Bosphorus Bridge

But I think you can google them and find those places, or even look on google earth to give you an idea.

 I did Google, but I got so many hits I got dizzy of it! And Google Earth? Sorry, it never works out for me, I therefor deleted it, I´m too blond I guess

 at first; get on a bus from taksim to sarýyer direction (one bus number is 40T; it goes from beþiktaþ, ortaköy, bebek, yeniköy, tarabya and Sarýyer) along bosphorus. you can get off in beþiktaþ and walk towards ortaköy and if you want to go sarýyer u can get on another bus from there. I advice you to see ortaköy, bebek, yeniköy and sarýyer. you can see the bus numbers on this site.

http://harita.iett.gov.tr/?hat=40T

if you want to see þiþli take the subway (Metro) from taksim square to Levent. Second station is þiþli/mecidiyeköy.

if you want to see baðcýlar, küçükçekmece, bayrampaþa, you need a guide

Thanks Janissary, but it´s not about seeing areas, it is about staying there. If I go to Istanbul I need a place to stay (a couch) and to send requests to possible hosts I need to know whereabout these areas are.

You can get to Zeytinburnu by tram directly from Sultanahmet.  It takes about 20 mins, but no more than 30 minutes. 

I presume you will be staying with people you know, so they should e able to help you with transport enquiries.

Good luck.

No, if I knew them I would be able to ask them where they live, wouldn´t I? That´s the fun of couchsurfing, meeting new people - and knowing them after a stay - meeting new cultures etc.  

Try reinstalling it as it really is possible to see the areas, how built up they are or forested etc.  I think many of the areas you have suggested are a long way out of the main city area and not the sort of areas you would want to stay in, unless you are prepared for long bus journeys and nothing much to see in the area.

I googled some of these places a long time ago and I found a site that had details about most places in Istanbul.  I will see if I can find it again.

In fact Wikipedia has entries for most of these places.

 That I will try, thanks I haven´t thought of it.