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Istanbul is without a doubt one of the most amazingly beautiful cities I’ve ever been to, and it has so much to do. You can read my 48 hour itinerary HERE, but I wanted to write a separate post addressing concerns which regularly come up about safety. This follows recent bombings (like the one just a few weeks ago, and a big one in 2016 at the airport), the Syrian war, and of course the regular reports of scamming.

Now, I can only base this on my own personal experience and of course no guide can tell you what’s safe and what isn’t based on only a limited amount of time in the city but in my personal experience Istanbul is as safe as any major city, if you’re careful.

Is Istanbul safe as a solo female?

I arrived in to Istanbul solo, on one of my trips to meet up with my husband while he was travelling. I never felt unsafe, but I did feel uneasy at times.

• Dress sensibly. Istanbul is a fairly liberal city so there were many women in casual dress and without head coverings. However, my advice would be to cover up if you don’t want stares and comments. At the airport, I was in baggy trousers, a T-Shirt and a loose cardigan and I only got a couple of comments. However there was a woman in really tight push up leggings and a crop top with cleavage on show and many were commenting on her body and trying to touch her. She was clearly also a little tipsy – I found her crying at the airport and I ended up taking her in my taxi and escorting her safely to her hotel room. I know it’s 2022 but honestly this is about how comfortable you feel, not what’s right or wrong, so just dress sensibly.

• Don’t get drunk on your own. Just don’t put yourself in that situation.

• Be confident. I can’t stress enough that it’s great to be assertive and to  keep your wits about you so you don’t look like an easy target. I had an itinerary, maps on my phone at all times, had no valuables on show and just walked with purpose pretending I knew where I was going rather than hovering around. When I ordered food on my own I was also just really direct – two sellers tried to overcharge me or short change me and I had to be very firm.

• Understand that the culture IS different. As a woman, you might receive attention from men that feels a bit uncomfortable. However, I just politely declined advances and not one man pushed it. Uneasy – yes, but unsafe – no.

The moment I was re-united with my husband it changed. He was deferred to, most taxi drives/hotel staff/restaurant staff etc spoke to him and he was served first. I was largely ignored and didn’t receive a single comment whilst with him.

Scams in Istanbul

Ah there’s no escaping them. They are EVERYWHERE. So let’s talk about them, because the best lesson for Istanbul – learn to say NO.

• The Airport. The moment you get to arrivals people will be offering you rides. My advice is book in advance and then ignore everyone in the airport (a standard, decent value fare is about 300 Turkish Lira or about £20/EUR20). That said, even with a pre-book, be prepared for CHAOS. I had to meet at a meeting point but no-one turned up for 15 minutes, people were shouting, gesticulating, running everywhere and then I was taken to a basement to get in a blacked out van (complete with aforementioned sobbing drunk woman that I had to negotiate an additional stop at additional cost for). Not ideal. But also never actually unsafe.

• Taxi Safety. I’ve split taxis in to multiple points as there’s so much going on here. The first issue is safety. The drivers don’t wear seatbelts, are on their phone the entire time and often the back seats don’t have belts either. They then drive off at 100kmph. So just be warned, and check if the back has working seatbelts before getting in. I actually sat there thinking ‘I’m so glad my Mum can’t see me right now, she’d be having a complete fit’.

• Taxi Costs. Istanbul is full of yellow taxis which are the city taxis and SHOULD operate on a meter. As a rough guide, a correctly working meter to the airport from the Old Town comes out at around 250 Turkish Lira. Around the Old Town to cross the bridge it’s about 100 Lira. However, don’t get in unless you’ve agreed you’re going off the meter and the route, or better still you’ve agreed a price. Haggling and demanding more money at the end of the ride is common so just be ready. And give the money to the man in your party to pay (if you have one) – you’ll pay a lower price that way.

• Ubers. Uber does operate in Istanbul, but it’s largely a scam (and they are the same drivers as those yellow taxis above). You can book using the Uber app but about 80% of the drivers then cancel when a better fare comes up. They will also not quote a fair on the app, but instead message you on it with a minimum (normally 5x the price of the meter rate), so you’ll be overcharged. Then when you get in the car and start driving, they pull over saying the journey is cancelled and to get out unless you pay more, demanding more money in cash. This happened on all of our 5 Uber rides, and my husband had to be very very direct to avoid paying more.

• Ticket Sellers. Attractions like the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque are FREE. Unless you want a guided tour, do not pay for any tickets as you can just walk in. If you want to visit Topkapi Palace, Basilica Cistern or other well known attractions, just get there for opening (if you can) and pay on the door. Even Viator/Get your Guide tours are ridiculously expensive vs door price, although our guides were great so we didn’t mind paying.

• Queue Sellers & Pickpockets. Entrance queues at all the attractions were hideous, and you largely have to wait in them even if you’ve bought a tour. At Galata Tower we queued for over 1.5 hours, Hagia Sophia was 1 hour, Basilica Cistern was 45 mins (we visited in September). Queue sellers will be everywhere trying to sell you things and be careful as pick pockets (normally children unfortunately) also walk the queues so just keep your wits about you.

• Offers of help. Are usually just scams. Don’t be afraid to be ‘rude’ and just walk away, it’s totally acceptable behaviour here. You don’t need to go to that restaurant, or take the guided tour, or do anything you don’t want to do.

That said, and this is REALLY IMPORTANT, most of the people we met in Istanbul were so nice. They are hospitable, they really care about great service, and they were kind. I also recommend learning a few words of Turkish – we learned thank you and hello and definitely felt it was appreciated.

My advice would just be stay somewhere where you can walk between places and minimise navigating taxis or public transport scams.

Security in Istanbul

• Airports. I’ve never known anywhere with so many security checks. At the airport, you go through security, then passport control, then a more detailed security check. THEN you get to your gate and have to open all your bags, and have a full body scan and get everything swiped as well. After 3 very detailed security checks, the airport definitely felt safe (and this is understandable after the 2016 bombing). Of course you can never guarantee safety, but they definitely take it seriously.

• Hotels. I’m not used to going through security scanners for entering a hotel, but most of the chain hotels in Istanbul ask you to do this. Fine by me if they want to scan my tissues and multiple pairs of glasses to add another layer of security.

• Streets. All the main tourist areas had police presence and were well barricaded so cars couldn’t mount up the pavement. You can never guarantee security, but Turkey had definitely made an effort.

Update: Between writing this post and it publishing, there was a bombing on Istiklal Street, which I had walked along and shopped in. I bought a jumper in Mango, where just 4 weeks later a bomb was detonated killing many, including children. Events like this serve as a constant reminder that life can be over at any point and I was just lucky it wasn’t 4 weeks ago. That bombing could have happened in any major city – life is precious and make the most of it.

Overall, at the time I felt safer against a terrorist attack in Istanbul than I do in London but Istanbul does suffer regular bombings and you can never be 100% safe. For me, once I relaxed and embraced the different culture, I had the absolute best time. Stay safe and happy travelling everyone.