Suha’s beautiful house in Istanbul made our trip particularly memorable. Off the beaten path for the typical tourist to Istanbul in the up and coming neighborhood of Kuzguncuk this lovingly restored house served as the perfect launching pad for our adventures in this magical city. Each morning began with a short 2 minute walk to the bus stop down the street. Of course, breakfast was usually completed before we made it to the end of the street, a quick bite of Börek at any one of the 3 bakeries to choose from followed by strong Turkish coffee at the little hole in the wall where all the locals stopped and the owner always greeted us with a warm smile and a couple of stools on the sidewalk.

Getting to the European side of Istanbul took all of 15-20 minutes each morning, a 5 minute bus ride (BTW- I don’t think we ever waited more than 3 minutes for the bus to arrive) to the transport hub of Üsküdar and from there either the 3 minute ride on the underground metro or a 15 minute ride on a much more scenic ferry of which there are plenty to choose from.

Each evening we would make our way back to the warm house and if we hadn’t already stuffed ourselves there were at least 5 little restaurants to choose from on the main street near the house. And if we didn’t feel like eating out there were a couple of little grocery stores with fresh produce plus a farmers market on Wednesday mornings to choose from and a fully equipped kitchen at the house.

Suha’s house had all the promised amenities and more, while there were only 3 of us I think the house would be perfect for twice that many people or ideal for a family with kids. The neighborhood gave us a snapshot of life in Istanbul and each night we went to sleep knowing we were just a few blocks away from the Bosphorus. Would highly recommend this house and location and thanks for a great experience.