Eid plans

Planning to visit Turkey...any suggestions??

Some safety tips for Istanbul:

Be extremely careful when approached by suspiciously friendly people on the streets, there were many cases of people getting robbed (friendly people approach, brings you to a bar/restaurant, bill comes amounting to thousands, forced to pay and end up getting robbed of every penny you have). I was approached 4 times within 5 days in Istanbul, asking if I want to hang out with them.

Be alert during taxi rides (always ask the hotel how much is the typical taxi fare for your trips). One taxi driver did the "change 100 bucks note with 10 bucks" magic and said I didn't pay enough (fare was 20 bucks) - I was persistent and found out he dropped and snuck the 100 bucks I gave under his butt. Typically they will ask questions to find out what notes you have with you and try to play around that.

Aside from that, Istanbul was a superb experience for me  :top:

This would be my first time to visit and being solo female traveler that is one big helpful tip. Thank you

Also, in Istanbul - since you're going to be in Turkey during the summer months - choose to buy drinking water from shops, despite your empathy to help the kids selling bottled water on the streets.

I was exploring the smaller streets and back alleys - I saw a group of kids refilling used bottles with water from a big basin, loading them into baskets, and back to consumer.

Oh little cheats...thank you again