Rating: 
Summary: Eyewitness Travel Guide to Istanbul
Review: The only book, or map you need to take when visiting Istanbul and surrounding areas. Great directions how and where to find ferries and just really great general travel information. Recommend it after using it this past Christmas.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent guide to Istanbul
Review: This book made my trip to Istanbul much more enjoyable than it would otherwise have been. Very well organized and jam-packed with helpful information. You'll still need a bigger street map of the city when you get there, but that's true about any destination.
Rating:
Summary: Eyewitness Travel Guide to Istanbul
Review: This book was great. It was short but had all the major information on attractions, lodging, restaurants and travel. It was small enough that I didn't mind carrying it around everywhere also. I really liked the suggestions (for example, you may want to go somewhere friendly for your first Turkish bath, as it can be rather intimidating. Their suggestion was friendly and nice). We were short on time, so the highlighted attractions were really nice too. And it had suggestinos on navigating through some of the larger attractions, like Topkapi Palace (it's huge) or putting together attractions that are near each other (Blue Mosque and Hippodrome). The lodging descriptions were quite accurate, nice hotels were truly magnificent and well-described. The pictures were very pleasant, lots of pictures but generally relevant. Also, the food guide was great, because you have to enjoy the wonderful food in Istanbul. It described local specialties, what's in season and a detailed restaurant price and location guide. Also, the maps were very clear and very well done. All-in-all, a great guide, and that if very useful in Istanbul.
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Summary: I agree with everyone else, this is the best Istanbul guide
Review: This book was great. It was short but had all the major information on attractions, lodging, restaurants and travel. It was small enough that I didn't mind carrying it around everywhere also. I really liked the suggestions (for example, you may want to go somewhere friendly for your first Turkish bath, as it can be rather intimidating. Their suggestion was friendly and nice). We were short on time, so the highlighted attractions were really nice too. And it had suggestinos on navigating through some of the larger attractions, like Topkapi Palace (it's huge) or putting together attractions that are near each other (Blue Mosque and Hippodrome). The lodging descriptions were quite accurate, nice hotels were truly magnificent and well-described. The pictures were very pleasant, lots of pictures but generally relevant. Also, the food guide was great, because you have to enjoy the wonderful food in Istanbul. It described local specialties, what's in season and a detailed restaurant price and location guide. Also, the maps were very clear and very well done. All-in-all, a great guide, and that if very useful in Istanbul.
Rating: 
Summary: The best guide for tourists; OK for business travelers.
Review: This is pretty much the definitive English-language guide for tourists. You'll see people toting it along at all of the major historical attractions - with good reason. Like most Eyewitness guides, it is incredibly user-friendly. This book has it all - useful maps, readable background facts, helpful travel tips. My favorite feature is the list of the top ten sites. My only complaint is that the maps do not include the business districts - a serious oversight for the business traveler. Nevertheless, no one should go to Istanbul without a copy of this book close at hand.
Since I wrote this review two years ago, I have lent the book to 8 people who were traveling to Istanbul, and they've all raved about it. I was on a plane the other day making a connection through Istanbul and a distant acquaintance came over and showed me my copy that he'd borrowed via another friend. That's how much people rave about and rely on this book.
Rating:
Summary: The best guide for tourists; OK for business travelers.
Review: This is pretty much the definitive English-language guide for tourists. You'll see people toting it along at all of the major historical attractions - with good reason. Like most Eyewitness guides, it is incredibly user-friendly. This book has it all - useful maps, readable background facts, helpful travel tips. My favorite feature is the list of the top ten sites. My only complaint is that the maps do not include the business districts - a serious oversight for the business traveler. Nevertheless, no one should go to Istanbul without a copy of this book close at hand.
Rating:
Summary: The BEST Book out there. Plain and Simple.
Review: This is THE BOOK to get for your travels to Istanbul - or Constantinople to us Greek Orthodox :-) I used this book when I was there five years ago, and let me be frank: it got me around every street, every landmark, every side alleyway, every bus route, every boat ride. The City is covered from head to toe in this book, with tons of useful information about hours of operation of mosques, churches, museums, and restaurants, plus great maps of the City and its surrounding neighborhoods, with detailed bus and tram schedules. In the back, it offers all the up to date information on hotels and hostels, plus important addressess and phone numbers for police, tourist bureaus, airports, and bus stations. My personal favorite aspect of this book are the detailed pictoral discriptions of some of the great landmarks of the City: Hagia Sophia, St. Saviour in Chora, the Blue Mosque, Suleymanie Camii, Topkapi Palace to some of the more "off the beaten path" locations, such as the Church of Pammakaristos, the Basilica Cisterns, the Church of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus (Kuckuk Aya Sofya), and the residence of the Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church. Rather than other guides such as Fodors simply writing it all down, Eyewitness literally "shows" you the information, so it's not only a great book to help you navigate the City, it's great to help you navigate the locations! I carried this book with my at all times when I was in Turkey. I cannot recommend this book more than Amazon allows, but I'd give this book 10 stars if I could. It is the absolute best travel guide on the market today! I hope it will also serve you as well as it did for me!
Rating:
Summary: Both necessary and sufficient
Review: This lightweight volume is all you need in Istanbul--you don't even need additional maps, as the ones in here are excellent. Despite its relatively small size it includes surprisingly detailed information on the nooks & crannies of major monuments (even including interior plans), plus numerous listings of off-the-beaten path sights that give a real thrill to history/architecture buffs. Every sight mentioned in here is well worth seeing. The historical overview at the beginning is excellent and accessible--definitely adequate to help the traveler understand the context of what s/he is seeing. For the person who may have read up on history and architecture at home, the handy timelines serve as helpful refreshers. The map of Constantinople in particular is a real gem and helps you identify the otherwise unmarked ruins you may sometimes come across (Byzantine bits & pieces are everywhere!) A word of caution--although this book provides a useful overview of Bursa & Edirne, don't attempt those cities without more extensive information, especially maps--Bursa is hell without a good map. Good luck & enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Both necessary and sufficient
Review: This lightweight volume is all you need in Istanbul--you don't even need additional maps, as the ones in here are excellent. Despite its relatively small size it includes surprisingly detailed information on the nooks & crannies of major monuments (even including interior plans), plus numerous listings of off-the-beaten path sights that give a real thrill to history/architecture buffs. Every sight mentioned in here is well worth seeing. The historical overview at the beginning is excellent and accessible--definitely adequate to help the traveler understand the context of what s/he is seeing. For the person who may have read up on history and architecture at home, the handy timelines serve as helpful refreshers. The map of Constantinople in particular is a real gem and helps you identify the otherwise unmarked ruins you may sometimes come across (Byzantine bits & pieces are everywhere!) A word of caution--although this book provides a useful overview of Bursa & Edirne, don't attempt those cities without more extensive information, especially maps--Bursa is hell without a good map. Good luck & enjoy!
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