I did this trip earlier in the year and thoroughly enjoyed it. If I remember rightly Turkish Airlines hand luggage is around 8kg so you might want to consider using their 20kg hold allowance instead or as well as!

This is a great short break which packs a lot in. Whilst I recommend the optional extras, if you don’t do them the excellent hotel is well positioned in terms of other attractions you may want to visit.

Hope this helps!

Michael.

Hi I'm new to JY, and have just booked a place on the Istanbul city tour. Any tips would be useful and if you are also booked I would love to say hello! Does anyone have any idea about baggage for this trip, is it just hand luggage? I'm sooo looking forward to the trip!

HI

I did this trip 5th October and fulfilled a lifelong dream. The weekend was very busy as it was the Eid 4 day religious holiday but this meant we really saw Istanbul in the raw. It is amazing and if you are lucky enough to have Hakan our guide then he is a mine of information and really does try to show you as much of the city as he can. I took all the excursions as I did not want to miss a moment but more time to just stroll would have been great. My personal highlight was the Bosphorus river cruise, Ortakoy (replacement for the Grand Bazaar which was closed) and the Spice Bazaar but all of it was amazing. Do use your hold allowance as the leather goods are so good and cheap plus amazing jewellery and Turkish delight weighs a bit too!!.

Thank you for your replies and good tips (re bringing stuff back - there's no doubt I will!!!) Only a few days to wait now, I'm really excited....a bit nervous but excited. May have to start looking at all the other great trips this company offer, so far they have proved to e most professional. So may see you on one of them!

Once again thanks for your replies. 🙂