As today, Thursday, November 28, 2024 is Thanksgiving Day in the United States — which is often nicknamed Turkey Day — what better topic is there to discuss than a stopover in Turkey: Touristanbul by Turkish Airlines.
Stopover in Turkey: Touristanbul by Turkish Airlines
Touristanbul is a complimentary tour service offered for passengers of Turkish Airlines with international transfer flights. Passengers who have a connecting flight from İstanbul and have a layover time between six hours and 24 hours can benefit from Touristanbul and start exploring the city…
…and as my itinerary between flights included an overnight layover in İstanbul, I decided to take advantage of this service. At first, I was denied participation because the flight prior to the overnight layover was operated by Air Albania as a codeshare to Turkish Airlines.
Somehow I was able to manage participating in one of the itineraries of Touristanbul simply by asking a different employee of Turkish Airlines; and we received our official Touristanbul tour badges. This is the itinerary that I chose and fit my schedule:
16.00 Departure from Istanbul Airport
Following the coastal road
Yenikapt Harbour
Beyazit Square
Istanbul University (Outer visit)
Beyazit Tower
Old Book Market
Grand Bazaar
Çorlulu Ali Paça Mosque
Tomb of Mahmud the 2nd
Column of Constantine
Hippodrome Square, German Fountain
Egyptian Obelisk, Serpentine Column
Obelisk of Theodosius, Blue Mosque
Hagia Sophia Museum (Outer visit)
Dinner
21.30 Return to Istanbul Airport
The guide to whom we were assigned actually brought everybody inside of the Hagia Sophia Museum, which was an unexpected extra bonus to the tour.
Final Boarding Call
Future articles will have more details and some more of the 276 photographs I took of my stopover in Türkiye, which is the new official name of Turkey. This article was meant to briefly show the general itinerary…
…and I could not pass up the unique chance to honor Turkey Day…
Photograph ©2022 by Brian Cohen.
