I m Planning to go to Turkey next March Alone.. Any advice for a lonely gal & first time to Istanbul?

Answer 1

I love to travel alone! I am also a girl, I travel alone pretty often and I didn't have any single problem because of that! I traveled alone for the first time to Turkey and that was also my first visit to this country. I didn't plan to travel alone that time, but the circumstances turned out to be that way and I didn't want to give up the traveling... so I went. And it turned out to be such a great experience! From then on, I prefer traveling alone. Why? Because every experience is more intensive when you travel alone, as you are focused only to the new things; then you meet only new people and you are in a totally new surrounding, so it is a kind of a stepping out of your own life for a moment and having another one for a while. And although I am very satisfied with my life, I am happy to have different experiences, different episodes in it... They after fit into my entire life just perfectly, they make it even greater, reacher... So, I always go for it and I really enjoy traveling alone.
Any danger about it? Noooo.... People are usually afraid of the things they don't know yet, but believe me, as a girl who has traveled alone, I can assure you there is nothing dangerous or problematic about it. Besides, note this: basically, people who are afraid of a traveling alone have never done such a thing and people who did it are not afraid of it at all. Let me tell you something... When I decided to go to Egypt alone, many people around me (I am from a european country) were more than surprised and afraid for me (prejudice, prejudice...). And still I went to Egypt (alone), had a great time (of course) and not a single problem! According to my experience, all you need for your safety is a common sense. For example, I have met many people on my trips. I am talking to people trying to talk to me at a street, in a cafe, in a shop... But I don't enter any stranger's car or apartment, I don't walk alone at dark small streets with no people... Simple things not having to do anything with any specific place, small (yet so big) rules you should practice wherever you are... If you do, you will be perfectly fine.
Finally, Istanbul... A great city! People coming from western countries for the first time might find it a little bit strange, but it is only a little bit different. Those who are egocentric (personally, culturally or whatever) will be upset, disappointed and unsatisfied and they are most likely to end up weeping their tears. Yet, people being open-minded and with a friendly attitude will have a great time!
One specific thing... People trying to talk to you... You will meet a lot of them at certain parts of Istanbul. When you are a girl and if you are at least a little bit attractive, many men will try to talk to you, but if you are an adult person and know how to deal with a men's attention, I don't see what could be a problem with it. Some people might try to convince you to buy something, but as long as you are not an idiot able to buy things you don't need or you don't want, there is no problem about this neither. Of course, those are not the only two motifs of people trying to talk to you, but they are the most common. Anyway, an adult person shouldn't have a problem with this. Finally, you can simply ignore them all, but I see no reason for that. I have been talking to people who seemed to be interesting and I really met some interesting people this way, I even made some friends.
So, don't worry, enjoy your trip and have fun!

Answer 2

Hi there, I saw you were going in the onther question about Turkey. I went to Turkey alone but met up with some friends in Istanbul for a couple of days and that was the only time I wasn't horrified. I have traveled alone a lot, in the Middle East, Asia and Europe with no trouble but Turkey was really hard for me. I was followed by strange men, at first I tried to be polite but that seemed to encourage them so I tried to ignore them which is what some Turkish friends adviced me to do but this just made them angry and one guy actually threw a coin at me head. You know Turkey is beautiful but I wouldn't advice going alone. I had dreamed of going to Turkey but I spent most of the time in my hotel room after a while because I was harassed everytime I went out. I was fine when I went out with my friends but that was it. And you know I have heard many girls who have had the same experience but then again my stepsister went with no trouble but she was with a friend. If you have to go alone then I think you should try and stay in a hostel and make some friends there. I went on holidays there from Afghanistan so I am used to some weird s-h-i-t but nothing has ever been as bad as Turkey for me.

Answer 3

Totally agree with JP. You have to get a travel buddy quickly. That's what I have done when I was travelling to US. Thanks gos I have more freedom in Turkey.
P.S. I love travelling alone too, that was especially for US. Unfortunately those ignorant people consider any Muslim person as a terrorist. That's why I thought that I will need someone to protect me while I was in US.

Answer 4

Get a travel buddy quickly -- never travel alone, especially to a foreign country. You ARE a target.

Answer 5

Don't go alone. Find a travel group so that you have contacts in the foreign country. As a woman, it is definitely not safe to travel by yourself.

Answer 6

Make sure you dodge the terrorists' bombs. Tourists are a prime target.
I would not travel alone in any case.

Answer 7

www.tourismturkey.org