Is Istanbul safe? A post based on personal experience.
I visited Istanbul many times, sometimes it was a business trip, where I had some time to walk around the city, sometimes I went there with a female friend, and I have never had any issues.
So, here I am not going to talk about crime statistics, but share my personal experience after visiting the city 6 times.
Just to be short: nothing bad has ever happened to me in Istanbul 🙂
Is Istanbul safe?
Looking back at my personal experience in the city, I can honestly claim that Istanbul is safe. I have never been robbed or taken advantage of. When it comes to unwanted attention, yeah, there is such a thing, but it didn’t happen often, at least, to me. But I have to add that I didn’t walk at night in the non-tourist areas: I opt for crowded areas, they seem to be safer. During the daytime me and my friend walked around non-tourist areas and everything was fine. Of course, like in any other city, you should take general precautions: don’t flash expensive items, don’t wear too revealing clothes and be careful where you walk at night.
Cheating isn’t really about safety, but I decided to mention it anyway. I have heard many stories from tourists who claim they were cheated at restaurants: they would receive a bill where items were much more expensive than in the menu they were shown. Something like this has never happened to me, I guess I am just lucky. Well, just in case, keep a menu at the table, so that you can compare the prices.
Sometimes tourists are sold fake goods in the streets, so be careful when you buy something at unauthorised places. And remember, if it is too cheap, then it must be fake.
And be careful when exchanging money. I once exchanged euros for Turkish liras, but the amount I received was lower than expected. I hesitated, and the exchange bureau worker saw it. It took us some time to realise that he entered the dollar exchange rate, and the resulting amount was lower. He gave me the rest, and I am not sure whether it was deliberate or unintentional.
Is Istanbul safe at night?
Well, I stayed out late till it was dark, but it is fair to say that I was only in the tourist areas where there are crowds and everything is lit. I walked around Sultanahmet and Taksim and everything was fine. There are lots of restaurants in the area, and they were all full of people, so it is very safe.
If you are interested in night clubs and safety there, I have nothing to say as I don’t go to these kinds of places.
Is Istanbul safe for female travellers?
I have been to Istanbul a couple of times with my female friend and we have never had any issues… well, except a teeny-tiny unpleasant situation I will mention below.
Actually, we have met only nice people there. We stayed at Capa (it is a neighbourhood relatively close to Sultanahmet) and usually had breakfast at one place. The lady working there was really nice, and she never took from us the full amount for food.
We were usually given tea to taste in shops, though I know it is just a way to convince people to buy it, but it never felt weird or dangerous.
We have never felt any discomfort or stress when we walked around the city, even when we were far from the historical part of Istanbul. I still remember how we ended up waiting for a bus in an empty street with half-constructed buildings far from any area we knew, and everything was fine.
The most peculiar thing happened to us during our last trip to Istanbul. As always we booked a hotel on booking.com, but when we arrived, our room wasn’t available: double booking is a thing. So, they had to look for another room for us, and found one at a different hotel. The new room was nicer, but we had a feeling that that hotel was used for quite specific stays. The staff were men only. And we had a terrific stay there: the guys were nice, they offered us tea frequently and we never felt any danger or even discomfort.
Now about that unpleasant situation: well, sometimes ladies are bound to get unwanted attention. It happened to us once, when a guy spotted us in the tram and followed us for some time, but he left when we entered the nearby restaurant. Basically, that’s the only nasty thing I can remember, except taxi drivers who don’t always know the addresses 🙂
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Is Istanbul safe for solo female travellers?
Like I said I usually went to Istanbul either with my friend or on business trips when my boss was there as well. Still, it doesn’t mean I was never alone in the city.
I stayed there alone for some nights, and even when I was there with my friend, sometimes we separated and went to different places.
When I was in Istanbul alone for the first time, I booked a hotel behind Gulhane. The staff were men only, and the hotel was almost empty. It was a bit scary, but my fear was unfounded. The guys allowed me to choose the room I liked most and talked to the bus driver who drove me to the airport for free.
I walked around the city alone, usually in the tourist places, and the most unpleasant thing was some people rolling their eyes: apparently, the shirt I was wearing was too short. My friend went to the Prince Islands alone, spent the whole day there and didn’t have any issues. As I am a late sleeper, my friend used to wake up earlier and walk around the city by herself.
That’s all on my experience on safety in Istanbul. Do you have any comments? Do you want to share your experience?
