I went back in October with our company in a tour. It is a great country to travel and my guess is that Istanbul would be the most dangerous in terms of potential ‘unrest or terrorism’ but at that time we didn’t see anything. Some Syrian refugees there in the big city “begging” but for the most part they leave you alone. Never felt in danger at all. Definitely be wary of pickpockets of course.
I never travel with tour groups expect for ‘company trips’. The food choices being in a tour group was not great…but I expect going it alone you can find much tastier food options.
For me Istanbul has a lot to offer, but the highlight was the Cappadocia hot air balloon ride.
Another thing to consider: Turkey must be cheap af to visit these days since Lira has been about as valuable as toilet papers since last year. It went from 1 USD:1.344 TRY in 2005 to 1:3.6 in 2017 to 1:5.5 today. If that’s not an epic fail Idk what is.
I would be more concerned about the Syrian border area, and also eastern Turkey. Any city is going to be full of Syrian refugees, though. (There are some 3.5 million of them in a country of about 80 million.)
I’m sorry to say this, but if your trip to Turkey might result in anything as entertaining as the thread about your experience in Malaysia, then please go.
Istanbul, Ephesus, Cappadocia… all fantastic places to visit. Istanbul is no less safe than Beijing or London: yes there are scams, but don’t fall for them (like strangers asking to take you out for a drink - same scam in Istanbul as in Beijing, though in Beijing it’s invariably women who do the asking). You’re five times more likely to be struck by lightning than to be a victim of a terrorist attack.
Pretty much everyone I’ve met who has been to Istanbul falls in love with it.
What kind of logic is that? Anecdotes don’t mean anything, plus the article is about Costa Rica. It’s like someone asking if Taiwan is safe and you point them to something horrible happening in Sudan.
It’s common sense to take the right precautions and be skeptical about people in any 3rd world country (some more than others of course). But when it comes to life-threatening crime Istanbul is relatively safe, even safer than some 1st world countries.
My neighbor went on a tour with a luxe group from Taiwan. They had to avoid a lot of places due to safety concerns. She had a great time at the hot springs though.
Turkey is on the list of no thanks for women travel in general.
I’m not so sure if these are great vacation spots, haven’t heard to much about them. It’s off season right now so I want to take advantage of some cheap flights and hotels while enjoying places without hoards of tourists.
That’s a bit extreme. I know several women who went to Turkey by themselves a few years ago and nothing happened to them. The worst experience they had was the catcalls.
Besides, I’m pretty sure that Turkey is a lot safer than Latin America. It’s probably safer than MANY parts of the US.
I remember an Italian performance artist who was hitchhiking her way around the world wearing a wedding dress. Something about bringing people together. I think she made it safely through much of the Middle East and the Balkans. Immediately upon entering Turkey she was raped and murdered.
