The flight to Istanbul is uneventful however we arrive quite late in the day. More in the middle of night, unfortunately. Luckily we have arranged transport to the hotel and this is good as you really do not want to try to find a taxi after midnight at the Istanbul Airport. It takes a while to get to our downtown hotel and we pass through the central area which is really lively with parties and young people enjoying the weekend night. The hotel room is at the top floor and has a balcony but we are so tired that we crash, tomorrow we have a long day planned.
In the morning we start with breakfast, the buffet is quite extensive. We really enjoy the selection and the fact that you can eat outside, anything you can do to avoid catching Covid especially before a long flight.
The first issue we have to solve is how to get to Dolmabahçe Palace. Luckily the trams are working ok and after a lot of effort in buying the tickets we are able to board one and ride it across the Golden Horn till we get to the end of the line. The tram is really full and lots of people are caughing and unmasked, no mandate here or at least not respected so we are quite scared of repeating this when returning.
The tram stations are quite modern though with automated gateways that are great when working. And they work when exiting so on we go, we have a ten minute walk to the palace.
The walk is on the Bosphorus shore or close to it and we are surprised to see quaint docks with ducks feeding along the way, we expected this to be a high cost residential area given the great views. And then we reach the first sign of the Dolmabahçe complex, the mosque and we know we are now close to the entrance, just around the corner more or less.
And then we are at the entrance, from where it is another five minutes to arrive at the gate. At least we find a map in advance where we can plan our route, there is a lot to see really and we look forward to it.
We see people walking to the official gate and we assume that is where you pay and enter, nope it is only people that bought tickets in advance. Otherwise you have to stay in a long queue in the heat, luckily there is some shade at least from time to time. And the queue is moving reasonably fast.
After getting our tickets it is time to pass through the Treasury Gate, finally and enter the interior courtyard. From here we have multiple choices to visit so we orient ourselves again and decide where to go first.
One of the annoying things here is that photography is not permitted inside the buildings. As such we have only photos of the outside of the beautifully appointed Dolmabahçe Palace. It is really a wonder of the world in our opinion being built between 1843 and 1856 to serve as the modern main administrative center for the Sultans until they were deposed. Dolmabahçe means filled in garden as the site is filled in bay that was a preferred garden for the sultan before the palace was built in the gardens.
Some of the famous rooms inside the Palace include Atatürk’s room, where the founder of modern Turkey died and the Harem besides of course many administrative and private rooms. There is a second gate, the Gate of the Sultans, which was the main entrance for the sultans and is now closed.
There is a third gate towards the Bosphorus with some nice views over water and the Asian part of Istanbul.
After a long visit it is time to exit but not before admiring the tame guinea fowl walking on the lawn accompanied by roosters, quite a mix. Exiting we decide to return on foot, it is a long walk but it will allow us to find something to eat and view more of the impressive city.
