Rick Steves' Istanbul

Reviewed by Rachel Stoll

On my recent trip to Istanbul this past September I was looking for a guidebook that would offer me a fair amount of history and allow me to skip guided tours and save me money. Knowing Rick Steves mostly by his Rick Steves' Europe television series, I decided to purchase his guidebook and take it with me, along with Turkey (Eyewitness Travel Guides).

All in all, this is one of the better guide books I’ve purchased over the years. Rick Steves' Istanbul fits nicely into a purse or backpack and offers a good crash course in the history of each area and major historical site in the city. He also offers up information on good local restaurants, how to use the public transportation, and what sites are really worth seeing.

Detailed maps for each area of the city accompany the walking tours, as well as larger maps showing main streets, the light rail system, and the public ferry system. Although the book is small in size, I did not find the maps hard to read, which was mostly due to them being for specific quarters of the city. The best features of this book are the walking tours that are put together and the guides to specific historical sites such as the Hagia Sophia. Providing a map of an area or a floor plan of the building, Rick Steves points out where to stop, why it’s significant, and usually offers a portion of history to go along with it. Having a guidebook that was so focused on a “do-it-yourself” mentality worked really well for a city as accessible as Istanbul. However, those who are more inclined to sign up for tours while on vacation will find this book less useful, as most of its charm is in these walks and self-guided tours.

An interesting feature of Rick Steves' Istanbul is that it is the first guidebook that Rick Steves did not fully write himself. Instead, he left it to two of his good friends, Lale Surmen Aran and Tankut Aran, guides who grew up and worked in Istanbul. I did not feel like this took away from the guidebook at all. If anything, it enhanced it by providing a more on-the-ground guide to the city.

For budget travelers, or a travelers who are interested in exploring the city by themselves, I highly recommend Rick Steves' Istanbul.