Turkey: 9-Day Trip — Istanbul, Antalya, Kas, Antalya

We were incredibly lucky with the food on this trip — everything was delicious, which I couldn’t say about the previous one.

We stopped by:
📍 F& B Culture
⭐ Rating: 4.7 (2,700+ reviews)

We got a small mixed kebab, a salad, and beer.

At first, I wanted to go for wine, but all the names were unfamiliar, and the grape variety wasn’t listed, so I decided to stick with beer. Overall, alcohol is expensive — wine by the glass costs around 7–10€, bottles go for 40–50€. A regular lager was about 4€, while craft beer was 8-9€ (just like in Paris), but that’s to be expected in a Muslim country and a super touristy area.

After dinner, we finally met up with our friends who arrived a bit later than us and headed to a bar.

The guys got raki, and we went for beers.

Raki is an aniseed-flavored vodka. It’s traditionally served in small glasses with one or two large ice cubes, half-filled with raki, and then cold water is added. The drink turns a cloudy white. It becomes a not-so-strong, refreshing beverage that you can sip slowly. It’s worth mentioning that the taste of anise is very specific and not for everyone, so it’s an acquired taste. It’s similar to Greek Ouzo.

The place is also close to the Galata Tower:
Tower Pub
⭐ Rating: 4.7 (800+ reviews)

We went to bed late, chatting almost until morning. Thankfully, we didn’t have any big plans the next day, so we could get some good rest.

Day 2

Istanbul — Industrial Museum, Water Taxi Ride, Michelin Guide Restaurant, and Craft Beer Brewery

The day started late, and we headed straight for breakfast-lunch at one of the oldest restaurants right by the Galata Tower.

📍 Güney Restaurant
⭐ Rating: 4.5 (5600+ reviews)

This historic spot has been serving since 1964. The menu features both traditional Turkish dishes and Mediterranean cuisine. I had the Adana kebab, and I really liked it.

Next, we decided to visit the Rahmi Koç Industrial Museum.

We chose to take the water ferry. We arrived at the stop, bought entry cards, and topped them up. The system is pretty straightforward, and the cards can be used on any public transport.

The ferry ride itself was a pleasure: the wind, the seagulls. The kids started throwing bread into the water, and a whole flock of seagulls followed the ferry. I had never seen them so close, so I couldn’t resist filming a video.

The museum is huge: from retro cars to a bunch of small things, yachts, train cars — it’s really fascinating. I’d love to come back, but with a guided tour, as there’s surely a whole story behind each item. 

After the museum, we decided to grab some refreshing drinks at the restaurant on-site. Unfortunately, they didn’t seat us by the water, saying that everything was reserved and guests were about to arrive. They probably expected those who wanted to have a meal, although it wasn’t even lunchtime. But, in the end, no one ever showed up. So, we jumped in a taxi and headed to a restaurant for dinner.

🍽 Dinner at Yeni Lokanta — Michelin Guide

📍 Yeni Lokanta

⭐ Rating: 4.7 (1800+ reviews)

We were looking for something fine dining but without the mandatory 7-course tasting menu. At Yeni Lokanta, you can either opt for the set menu (if your group is 5+ people) or order à la carte, so we chose this place — and we were absolutely delighted.

🥂 Upon arrival, we were immediately offered signature cocktails:
Of note: there are cocktails based on raki with herbs — refreshing and interesting.

🍽 Food:
• Large portions. Unexpected for a Michelin-starred restaurant — we ended up really stuffed.
• I had lamb and asked the sommelier to pair it with a glass of red wine. The wine seemed very simple and lacking in depth. At that point, I definitely gave up on the idea of drinking wine during the trip. If I didn’t like the sommelier’s selection, I knew I probably wouldn’t be able to pick a good wine myself.

• My friend had a Turkish Sauvignon Blanc. It was okay, but closer to a Bordeaux-style Sauvignon, and I prefer New Zealand ones, so that was also not quite right for me.

Overall, we were happy with the restaurant. The bill came out to about 160€ for the two of us.

Afterwards, we headed to try craft beer at the local brewery-bar

📍Taproomx

⭐ Rating: 4.5 (300+ reviews)

• They had 10+ beers on tap. You could get a set of 6 different ones to try a little bit of several varieties.
  
• There were also 2 cocktails on tap — one Margarita, and I can’t remember the other.
  
• Snacks and a DJ added to the vibe.
  

The next day, we had a street food gastro tour planned, but the guide canceled it at the last minute.

Day 3

Istanbul — a park, a mosque, and more beer testing.

We kicked off in Istanbul, as it was the most convenient spot for everyone to fly into. We arrived in the evening and checked into a place near the Galata Tower.

🍽 Breakfast at Galaktos Gurme Restomarket

📍Galaktos Gurme Restomarket

⭐ Rating: 4.8 (900+ reviews)

Since the tour was canceled, we decided to have breakfast just a couple of steps from the hotel. It’s a supermarket with various delicacies, and they also serve a traditional Turkish breakfast.

We ordered a breakfast for 2, even though there were 4 of us. It’s huge, and even with four people, we couldn’t finish it.

While having breakfast, we started brainstorming what to do next. At first, we thought about visiting some attractions, but after Googling ticket prices, we decided to skip those activities. On average, an adult ticket to almost any place was around 30€. Plus, we knew there would be huge lines everywhere, and waiting in 40°C heat in the sun didn’t seem like a fun idea.

So, we headed to the other side of the river to visit a park and the Blue Mosque, where entry is free.

We already had Istanbulkart cards, which we’d bought for the ferry ride. Istanbul has a unified public transport system: you buy a card, and after that, you don’t need to top it up every time. At each stop, there’s a turnstile where you swipe your card to deduct the fare. So, we went to the tram stop.

🏛 An Unexpected Exhibition in a Mini-Cistern

In the park, we stumbled upon an old building, which turned out to be a small Ottoman-style reservoir. Inside, there was a modern sculpture exhibition — unexpectedly atmospheric: columns, cool air, and impressive lighting.

“Never expected this small underground cistern to host art — but it was magical.”

We walked through Gülhane Parkı, made our way to the riverbank, checked out the huge cruise liners, relaxed in the shade of the trees, and then headed to the Blue Mosque.

🕌 Visit to the Blue Mosque

At the entrance, they provide:
• Skirts/pareos if your knees are exposed
• Scarves for women (caps don’t count as head coverings)

Inside, it’s stunning, but 🥵 it was unbearably stuffy. At first, it feels cool as you step in from the heat, but after a while, you realize it’s so humid, you can barely breathe, so we quickly left.

Overall, it was extremely hot in Istanbul those days, with temperatures feeling like 40-42°C. The only relief was the fairly strong breeze, which was cool and helped prevent us from melting in the heat.

Galaport

This spot has a modern vibe with branded stores and a wide selection of restaurants. Cruise liners dock here as well.

We sat at The Populist bar, once again on the hunt for craft beer.

We relaxed, watching people wave to us from the balconies of the cruise liners and discussing future travels: maybe Bali, or even Australia, or a Mediterranean cruise.

I wanted to go to a rooftop bar to catch the golden hour lighting, but the bar we found wasn’t on the sunset side, and it also had no fans or air conditioning — just umbrellas. It was stuffy and hot, so we decided to leave. We went back to the bar street near Galaport and this time sat at 🍻 Cheers Karaköy.

The street was full of places offering national dishes: kebabs, gyros, mussels, and fish. Since our bar didn’t serve food, we asked if we could order from a nearby shop, and they gave us both approval and a menu. We were quickly seated, and both the food and bill arrived fast — everything was delicious. We tried shrimp in butter, cheese, and a fish roll, and it was all tasty. The bill wasn’t high at all, both for the drinks and food.

We got our food from: Meşhur Mumhane Balık Dürüm

The next day, we had a flight to Antalya waiting for us.