What part of Istanbul is this in?  Anyone know the exact location?  This is absolutely on top of my must sees the next time I am in Istanbul.  Would love to see pictures of the interior of the Mosque if anyone has them?

Marhaba all,

I am in Antalya right now, staying in one of the resorts in Lara Beach.  I lost my adaptor and am unable to charge my laptop or anything else for that matter.  They run on the American system and for some reason, I can´t find any adaptors that run on the American system in Antalya, its all UK or elsewhere.  Can someone please tell me of a store in Antalya or in my region that I could get to?  Not sure if anyone can help. 

But thanks in advance for any info!!!

I´m overwhelmed by the responses! You guys are awesome!  Thank you so much Henry for the detailed info.  I´m going to be printing all that you guys wrote and keeping it in my "Turkey" folder. 

The hands up "sagol" is going to come in handy I think.   

I do have more questions.  Let me read through again and will write more.

Thank you again for the responses!

Marhaba her birilar

We will be traveling to Turkey at the end of February, beginning of March.  We are so excited! This is our first trip. I´m a bit nervous about the language, I understand written Turkish a fair bit, but I´m nervous if they speak to fast, I won´t be able to catch what they are saying...so I will be taking my dictionary with me wherever I go.  So here is a tentative plan for what we will be doing, your input would be great appreciated.  The hotel preferred currency is the Euro, is that the same throughout Turkey?  Should I have Euros as well as YTL?

Day 1 - 5 Istanbul

Staying in the Sultan Ahmet area and will take in the following sites that we can walk to from our hotel:

Topkapi (where can I get tickets to get into the Harem part and do I have to book this part through a tour? What tour group do you recommend?)

Hagia Sofia

Grand Bazaar

Blue Mosque

Sulaymanye Mosque

Possibly:

Dolmabahce Palace

Spice Bazaar (I´m not really interested in spices so I think we might skip this one)

Princes Island (If we have time, I think I can book a tour when I get to the hotel)

Taksim Square (not sure what is there?)

Day 5 - 13 Antalya

Staying at a Resort.  I´m not sure what is out in Antalya, but since I will be traveling with a small child, I can´t do anything stenuous, so we´ll probably just stay in the area.

Day 13 - 15 Istanbul

Regroup at hotel, perhaps go see our favorite sites from beginning of trip.

Did I miss anything? Anything we absolutely should do/see while we are in the area?  Please let me know!

Advice needed on Dining/Entertainment:

What restaurants are in the Sultan Ahmet area? Which ones do you recommend?  I would prefer to walking to taking a taxi or driving.

There is a Belly dancing/dinner show tour available at Galata Towers, I was thinking of taking advantage of, what do you guys think of those? 

I´m pretty excited and very flexible about my plans...we are just going to chill and take it slow so I don´t want to schedule too much in.  We will be going end of Feb, beginning of March, so I know it will still be a bit chilly? 

Your input would be greatly appreciated.

Tashakurlar Henry.

Does anyone know about traveling on Onur Air?  Is it the same as traveling on Turkish Air?  Would you recommend traveling on this airline?  I will be traveling with a small child.

Also, how does travel to/from the airport to the Sultan Ahmet area work?  I think the hotel provides shuttle service, but I wanted to see what my options were?  How do I find out? 

I will be in Antalya as well...so are there taxis lined up that can take us to our hotel there as well or do I need to reserve in advance?  The hotel we are staying at in Antalya does not offer shuttle service.

Marhaba!  I am in the process of booking at ticket with Onur Airlines.  I can understand Turkish, but I can´t speak it.   But I am having trouble with this statement.  I put in my credit card number, and there is this sentence at the bottom I want to understand before I click on "devam"

Bilet satýnalabilmeniz için,kredi kartýnýzýn VÝSA veya MASTERCARD olmasý ve 3D güvenlik sistemine tanýtýlmýþ olmasý gerekmektedir.

To sell you a ticket, your credit card Visa or Mastercard ? and 3D(??) security system proof is needed?

What is a 3D?? 

Tashakurlar for the help.

Marhaba! 

This is so awesome, tesakurlar.  Count me in as well, please. 

(Beginner I)

Teshakur for the info!

Marhaba!

I have a question for you lovely folks. I have some time off this summer, about 3 months. I would like to spend that time somewhere in Turkey (like Ankara). I want to immerse myself in Turkey and I feel within those 3 months, I will become fluent in the language. (I speak Turkmen fluently) I want to take some courses at a university. Can anyone tell me about accomadations, cost of living, cost of tuition, etc. in a place like Ankara? I will be traveling with my young daughter, so I would need a place that is safe.

Any info you guys provide would be greatly appreciated.

Teshakur! Rehmet. Allah Alkasin.