Rick Steves’ Istanbul
Rick Steves’ Istanbul Review
I bought the Feb. 2010 edition of Rick Steves Istanbul guide for a week-long vacation there in April 2010 (volcano month). This has to be the best travel guide that I have ever used, and the best in his series.
It begins with basic travel tips, followed by almost 200 pages of self-guided walking and museum tours, followed by hotel and restaurant recommendations. I took every tour in his book and would have missed half of Istanbul’s beauty and history without it.
I have been in Istanbul before, but always with a group herded by local guides. Traveling solo with the RS guidebook in hand was infinitely more enjoyable. I pitied the multitudes of tour groups who hurried past the sights as I read about and savored them.
If this guide has any weakness, it would be timeliness. Prices in Turkey are rising so fast that many of the published prices for hotels and entry fees are already outdated (Istanbul hotels are now almost as expensive as their western European counterparts). Also, some listed sights are closed or modified for renovations, but nothing major.
I usually buy a copy of the corresponding Lonely Planet guide to accompany my RS guides when traveling. LP guides have more detailed maps and more extensive background information, and they cover more areas than RS guides. The RS guides are narrower in scope, but are wonderfully subjective and accurate in their recommendations of what to see and what to skip.
I only wish that RS guides were not limited to Europe. We have been there dozens of times, and wish that he also had guides for our travels in Asia, South America, and Africa (an impossible feat considering how personal his guides are).
Rick Steves’ Istanbul Feature
- ISBN13: 9781598803785
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Rick Steves’ Istanbul Overview
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