A flying visit to stunning Istanbul

During the summer of 2019, I was offered the fantastic opportunity to travel to the exciting and historic city of Istanbul on a Travel Counsellors trip with Turkish Airlines. We flew out on a direct flight with Turkish Airline in Business Class, which was a brilliant experience. The service was exceptional, and the food was fantastic I couldn’t recommend it highly enough. I went to Istanbul with five other Irish Travel Counsellors, and we really made the most of our visit to Istanbul. The flight took about 4.5 hours direct from Dublin, and we arrived into the newly build Istanbul airport. Istanbul is a unique destination and an ideal location for a weekend away.

We were met on arrival and had a private transfer to our hotel. The city was bustling full of life, and it took us under an hour to arrive at our hotel. We stayed in the four-star Eresin Hotel Sultanahmet which was located in the heart of Istanbul. It was a Boutique class hotel and it even had a its own private museum showcasing a cistern (covered reservoir), mosaics, 49 other museum pieces of historical and architectural significance from Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine times. This hotel is in Istanbul’s historic district close to the city’s main touristic, entertainment and shopping areas and just a short walk away from the world-famous sights such as the Blue Mosque and the Topkapi Palace.

We had dinner in a lovely restaurant on the Friday night which was about a 5 minute walk from our hotel. The city is full of amazing restaurants and all mix of all dishes from around the world.

The next morning, we started our adventure with a relaxed walking tour of Istanbul and the first stop was the famous Blue Mosque. The mosque is known as the Blue Mosque because of blue tiles surrounding the walls of interior design. Head coverings are available at the Blue Mosque entrance for free.

Next stop was The Topkapi Palace which is the biggest and one of the most popular sites to visit in Istanbul. This Palace was very interesting and is formed by a maze of buildings centred around a series of courtyards protected by different gates. While we strolled around city we stopped at the Hippodrome and the Obelisk of Theodosius, The Serpent Column.

After lunch we got the opportunity to visit the Grand Covered Bazaar. The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with over 4,000 shops. It is often regarded as one of the first shopping malls of the world. We had such a fantastic time here this Bazaar was massive and we shopped until we dropped! It was a fantastic experience. We then got a tram back to our hotel and we then quickly changed for our boat trip on the Bosporus where we had dinner and fantastic entertainment and a show on board. On the trip we experienced some traditional Turkish dancing.

The next morning we had breakfast on the roof top of the Eresin hotel. After breakfast we were on the return journey home. This business class lounge Istanbul is so huge where you can indulge yourself with fantastic foods and drinks which of course we sampled. Some of us decided we would sample the massage which was also included for all business class passengers. It was a lovely relaxing experience! The lounge can be accessed by business class, Miles & Smiles Elite Plus and Elite, Star Alliance Gold and Corporate Club passengers.

All in all this was a fantastic trip from beginning to end.