Toddler Travels in Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul, Turkey was one incredible adventure for us! We chose to fly up for a 4-day weekend because it was (by our math) the best bang for our buck: one of the shortest direct flights combined with one of the greatest decreases in daily temperatures. During our time there, however, we discovered so much more than good weather! We explored a strikingly beautiful city filled with bustling, chaotic, exuberant public spaces, markets, cobblestone streets, restaurants, and parks. It was green, cool, colorful, AFFORDABLE (for those of us using the US dollar), and full of unbelievable and ancient architecture.

However, before we could enjoy all that we had to first get through a string of unfortunate bloopers. Even despite the craziness of our first day, though, this wild city won our hearts over in the end. Hopefully if any family or friends want to venture to Istanbul, you can learn from the following:

Bloopers:

1. Customs… the LONGEST line ever. It took us over an hour after arriving at SAW Airport to make it through immigration. This line had no accessible bathroom, food, water, or what felt like air conditioning (that was probably due to the enormous crowds). This was all very challenging with our wiggly and wide awake toddler who kept trying to run under the line dividers and through the security gates where we couldn’t follow. If anyone ever flies to either Istanbul airport, I recommend doing so during non peak hours if possible.
2. No stroller…big problem (at least for us). We went back and forth when planning the trip, trying to decide whether we should bring a stroller and deal with the likelihood that it would be checked at the gate but returned at baggage claim, or a baby carrier which we can carry into the cabin. Many articles and blogs also advised against strollers because of Istanbul’s bumpy streets and high curbs. We decided to skip the stroller, and regretted it instantly as we wrestled with our grumpy dude across busy streets and in long airport lines. Thankfully we could rent one from our hotel for about $5 per day, which saved our sanity!
3. Lost Hotel Reservation. We booked our hotel and flights as a package through Expedia, which typically has great deals for us, but in Istanbul this did not work out. Our original hotel seemed to have a flawed reservation system, leading the clerk to say “I have your reservation here… but I have no rooms for you.” Milo by then was asleep in my arms and we were exhausted, and the mama bear version of me finally broke out in full force. We wound up finding an awesome place to stay at the last minute, but I would be careful about booking through bundle sites like we did.
4. Too much of a good thing. Turkish Delight and Baklava are sweet concoctions sold all over the city. After settling in the afternoon of our crazy first day we ended up wandering into a sweets shop, and although I only intended to buy a single piece of baklava… I somehow came out with a full box of delicious sweets, and still don’t know how that happened. The salesman was a magician. We chowed down too much after our stressful first day and my blood sugar spiked immediately (more quickly than other foods, even with insulin), leaving me feeling a bit off until I managed to get my blood sugar back within normal limits. So to all my type one diabetic friends, even the tiniest piece of Baklava has as much sugar as a whole soda. For the rest of our journey we would split a single sweet between us, which worked out much better.

Favorite Activities (Most to least Child friendly)

1. Gulhane Park: A massive, hilly public part alongside the old Topkapi Palace walls, full of flower gardens, trails, fountains, playgrounds, statues, and views of the water and ferry terminal just beyond. It was one of the best city parks we’d ever been to, was very comfortable and open, and Milo loved frolicking in it.
2. Aydos Forest Lake: This was a surprising gem that we found as a long pitstop en route to the airport. The Lake was gorgeous, and the forested hills were filled with people enjoying the beautiful day. Another child friendly aspect was the food, bathrooms, and restaurants all within the park bounds. I have been pining for some good quality nature time as the temperatures have turned up in Bahrain and this place gave us that exactly.
3. Castangia Beach Park: Milo spent his time here throwing rocks, making friends, and chasing water birds while we admired Princes’ Islands in the distance.
4. Petting all the cats of the city!
5. Sultanahtmet Square: The square is packed with people, and is bordered by the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, and public gardens galore! Being a pedestrian only square it was great for Milo to run in and enjoy corn on the cob street food while we took in the historical atmosphere.
6. Süleymaniye Mosque: We think the most beautiful of all the buildings we visited, and with the absolute best views. It is on a hill in the north of the Sultanahmet neighborhood, looking directly out over the water and with a massive garden system that is open for public use. We didn’t go inside the mosque, but the grounds were full of picnickers and tourists, gardens and trees, and were well worth the steep climb to reach it.
7. Istiklal Street near Taksim Square, and the ice cream wizards that line it!
8. The Grand Bazaar: Milo absolutely loves evil eye jewelry, and any kind of beads. So this both indoor-and-outdoor labyrinth of a bazaar filled with the bustle of people shopping for crafts was a favorite of his. Plus the hum of the busy crowds put our dude to sleep both times we visited!
9. Basilica Cisterns. This was incredibly cool! Built in AD 532, this awesome underground water storage facility was forgotten about for almost 1000 years until residents started wondering why they caught fish when they lowered buckets into holes beneath their homes. It was built with recycled columns pulled from all over the old city, and is one of the most mysterious feeling and magical spaces we saw. It was very interesting and fun to walk around, but keeping Milo from jumping into the water at every turn was a constant challenge.
10. The Blue Mosque: This was so high on our list of places to visit but was largely under construction during our visit. From the outside we saw the construction and were hopeful that we would still be able to see the beautiful stained glass and tile lined walls but about 90% of this was covered.
11. Bosporus Cruise. I would not recommend this if you have a wiggly one. The views were beautiful, especially toward sunset, but the boat was very crowded and he did not have as much space as he would have liked to run around. He did make a few friends, though, and we got off at the halfway shopping stop-off and got an Uber to our hotel to get back in time for bed.

Favorite foods:

1. Turkish Delight
2. Baklava
3. Kebabs and Kindness from Umbrella Terrace Restaurant: This restaurant and its amazing staff went well out of their way to give Milo food (literally off their plates) while we waited for our dinner.
4. Turkish Ice cream…this is just as much of an experience as it is delicious!

Milo’s favorites:

This is the first trip we have taken where Milo actually answered this question himself! I asked him to tell me his three favorites!

1. “Baby Wee”: Meaning Going down the slide infinity times at Gulhane Park
2. “Water”: He loved looking out at the water from the Bosporus cruise we took even though it was stressful for us as parents.
3. “Meows”: Meaning the millions of cats he petted, chased, and spotted around the city.

Istanbul was one of the warmest and most uniquely memorable cities we have visited. From the kindness that people demonstrated towards Milo, to the intense and and unexpected moments we shared as a family, it is a place that will not be forgotten.