With its allure of beautiful mosques, the Marmara Sea, and plentiful street food options, booking a flight to Istanbul is easy. What’s less easy, is deciding where to stay in this sprawling megacity that spans two continents. After way too much deliberation, we finally settled on the district of Zeytinburnu in Istanbul – a working-class neighborhood with reasonably priced accommodations, far removed from the hawkers and overpriced doners found in the more popular tourist areas.
How To Get to Zeytinburnu, Istanbul
Unless you’re prepared to part with a great sum of Turkish lira and risk the likelihood of being scammed, it’s in your best interest to avoid taking a taxi. Sticking to public transportation may be more time-consuming, but it is vastly more budget-friendly and the options are virtually endless. Trains, trams, and ferries, oh my! Istanbul has them all and more. Getting around is theoretically easy, but it’s in our blood to get lost. Hopefully with a bit of WiFi at your fingertips and a better sense of direction, you will be able to navigate your way to Zeytinburnu more easily.
Our flight from Paris arrived to IST at the very unreasonable hour of 4AM – two full hours before the trains even fire up for their first journey of the day. It’s not until 6AM when they begin to haul sleepy/excited visitors to the center of the city. After collecting our luggage, the first order of business was to head out of the airport, following the signs to the metro just a short walk away.
Istanbulkart
In order to maneuver through the transit systems, you’ll need to obtain an Istanbulkart. The card does cost money to purchase, but once you have one you can continue to top it up with additional funds throughout your stay in Zeytinburnu, Istanbul. The initial cost (as of December 2024) is 160TL ($4.50). The good news is that more than one person can use the same card. At the turnstiles, Matt would scan to let me through, then scan again for himself. From IST airport to Zeytinburnu, we spent approximately 70TL (1.98) per person. As we had just come from a layover in Paris, this was shockingly inexpensive and the metro was modern and clean.
At the station, you will see several different types of machines to purchase tickets from. The one that issues the Istanbulkart is the yellow one.
Which Route to Take?
This may vary greatly depending on the hour of your arrival to Istanbul and also which hotel you will be staying at. A simple search on Google Maps will present you with no less than a handful of viable options to get from the airport to Zeytinburnu.
The easiest and most direct route, which our hotel advised us to take, was the Havaist Bus (HAV-1) from the Transportation -2 floor of the airport. This will take you directly into the neighborhood. From there, we were advised to take a taxi the remainder of the way, which should have only been a ride lasting only a few minutes.
Given our predisposition to distrust taxis, we opted for the more difficult route. We started off by taking the Metro (M11) towards Gayreteppe. From here, you’ll need to transfer to a bus. Be forewarned, there will be a bit of a walk between the exit of the train and where the buses leave. This is where we got into trouble. Perhaps it was the lack of sleep or our freezing breath obstructing our vision, but we ended up going in circles. Somehow, with the help of kind strangers, we made our way onto the correct bus. You’ll want to get on the high-speed bus heading towards Beylikduzu (34G). This bus may not deliver you exactly where you want to be as it follows a certain path down the highway. You should check Google Maps for exact directions to your hotel as a bus change is likely required.
PW&A Hot Tip :
If you find yourself feeling lost and without WiFi like we were, just use the neighborhood you are heading towards to ask for help. Nobody seemed to have a great grasp on the exact bus numbers we were looking for, but they were able to give us guidance when we indicated which general direction we wanted to go – Zeytinburnu.
Where to Stay in Zeytinburnu, Istanbul
There are several decent hotel options located in and around this neighborhood, so finding accommodations shouldn’t be a problem. Our go-to for selecting hotels is usually Booking. If you’re traveling as a group or staying long-term and prefer to have a kitchen, Airbnb is also worth considering. One can only eat so much kebab – or can they?
As for us, the wind blew us in the direction of Hilton. Rather, a mound of loyalty reward points blew us in the direction of the Hampton Inn in Zeytinburnu. Due to rather extreme inflation over the last few years, Turkey isn’t the cheap trick she used to be, and being savvy in the miles and points game proved beneficial here. Our short stay in the city coincided with New Year’s Eve and many hotels raised their prices in conjunction with the elevated number of visitors to the city. This particular neighborhood of Istanbul offered a Hilton reward redemption of just 20k points per night. Not bad at all.
This hotel is situated just a few minutes walk from the nearest metro station. We actually had a clear line of sight of the trains coming and going from our room. While it might not be the Hagia Sophia backdrop one might long for, the convenience and quiet of our location were highly favored. Also worth mentioning here was the large and varied breakfast buffet. Everything from simit to a salad bar and menemen in between was included. With such hearty fare available just an elevator ride away, going out for the coveted Turkish breakfast was almost a challenge. But when in Istanbul…
What We Ate in Zeytinburnu Istanbul
By the time we reached our hotel, we had been up for 50 hours straight and were jet-legged to the point of sickness. As a result, venturing too far from our hotel wasn’t an option when it came to meal choices. However, we made the best of it and thoroughly enjoyed all of the eateries in close proximity to our hotel.
Doner Kebab at Ak Bufe Tavuk Doner
When we headed out for our first plate of food in Zeytinburnu Istanbul, this place caught our eye. The
owner was smiling, the place was full and the ingredients looked fresh. We peeked over the
counter to see what they were making. It looked good, so we pointed and asked for two. This method hasn’t always worked for us in the past, but this time it definitely did. After a few minutes, the chef led us to a table in the back of the restaurant. As we sat, he placed two plates containing rice with chickpeas, fries, tomato, lettuce, tender, thinly sliced doner, and hot peppers in front of us. We enjoyed it so much that we ended up going back again during our short stay. One of these plates cost 150TL (4.22 USD)
Address : Telsiz, 41 72. Sokak, 34020
Turkish Breakfast at Doya Doya Kahvaltı
It was New Year’s Day and we were hoping this place would be open. As we made our long walk, we passed one closed business after another. To our delight and surprise, Doya Doya Kahvalti was open. They had most likely just opened as they were still squeegeeing their windows clean. To read the
menu, you’ll need to scan a QR code. However, we didn’t have any data so we just gestured to our server to fill our table with many small plates – as is typical of the traditional Turkish breakfast. Within a few minutes, the plates started to arrive. Dips, spreads, olives, meats, cheese, and fresh bread appeared. As we prepared to dive into the food before us, our server reappeared with two more hot dishes. Menemen and Turkish sucuk with eggs. The choices and combinations seemed almost endless as we tried to create one flavor explosion after another. For the full spread and two cups of chai, it cost 650TL (18.28 USD)
Address : Sümer, 24. Sk. No:3 D:B, 34025
Durum at Durumcu Akin Baba
At first glance, we were a bit weary as this place looked like one you would find downtown in the main tourist district. However, Durumcu Akin Baba was full of locals at almost every table. The menu had no English but it did have pictures to help make our selection easy.
As we waited for our food, I watched the grill cook work the kebabs. He was an older gentleman sitting in front of the fire with a lit cigarette dangling from his mouth. He seemed relaxed, waiting for the right time to give the kebabs a spin. At one point, an elderly woman came in, cold, hungry, and without any money. Our server took pity and dished up some soup and handed her some warm bread to warm her belly. When our food arrived, the server warned us that the peppers were spicy. He was right. Within moments of diving in, I had stripped down to my t-shirt with sweat pouring from my brow and my nose had begun to run like a faucet. The meat was cooked perfectly, seasoned to perfection and the red sauce condiment called ezme was the perfect accompaniment.
Address : Telsiz, 72. Sk. No:53, 34020
Baklava at Gaziantepli Ramazan Usta
No evening seemed complete without these sweet treats. Each afternoon on our walks, we would stop in this shop and select a few to have back at our hotel with a cup of tea before bed. These little treats are made of layered phyllo stuffed with nuts and sweetened with sugar syrup or honey. You pay by weight, making it easy to have as many or as few as you would like. When the young man behind the counter asked where we were from and we replied “America,” he pointed to my shirt which was sporting a NASA logo. Smiling and with a thumbs up, he reached down for two more pieces of baklava. Still smiling, he handed them to us to share with him in the store.
Address : Telsiz, 72. Sk. 47/B, 34020
Borek at Yeniyol Sariyer
Borek are pastries or pies which are made from a flaky phyllo dough and filled with a variety of fillings such as meat, cheese, spinach, or potatoes. When we walked into this small shop, we pointed to a handful of different borek, building ourselves a sampler platter to enjoy back to our hotel. The owner of the shop smiled the whole time, not knowing a single word we were saying and vice versa. The kind man heated up our selection for us. He then neatly packaging up the food and sent us on our way. Our hands were full and our bellies were ready to devour the delicious-smelling snacks.
Address : Telsiz, 72. Sk. No:46, 34020
Food options that we surely won’t miss out on the next time we find ourselves in Istanbul, hopefully when we’re less groggy and more ready to feast on the local cuisine, include fish sandwiches, mussels, ciğ köfte, and Turkish delights. All of that to be washed down with a glass of wine made from none other than the Öküzgözü grape which we came to love while working on a vineyard in Datca a few years ago.
What to do in Zeytinburnu Istanbul
This is a much quieter neighborhood than Taksim Square and other more touristy areas, so the list of what to do is much shorter. The good news is that the metro stop is situated very close by to take you into all of the action. If you’re feeling more laid back like we were during our stay in Zeytinburnu, the following activities are a good option.
Theodosian Fortress Wall
Explore a little bit of Byzantine history with a walk around the Theodosian Walls. Also known as the Walls of Constantinople, these walls were originally built by Constantine the Great and date back to the 5th century. Today, large sections still stand, mostly still intact, each promising to provide an elegant backdrop to your photos in Zeytinburnu.
Sea of Marmara
Go for a stroll along the sea to clear your mind and get your steps in. We were fascinated by the sheer number of offshore boats in the distance. Many locals seem to flock to the water’s edge to enjoy a run, gather with friends for a chai and a cigarette (chai sigara!), or try their luck with fishing. During our long walk, we even happened upon a group of men cleaning off their harvest of mussels from the day. Don’t be surprised if you have to fight a cat or two for a seat at a nearby bench if you want to stop and give your feet a rest.
Final Thoughts
Is Zeytinburnu the most exciting neighborhood in Istanbul? No. Is it just far enough off the beaten path to be affordable, quiet, and accessible to the more common tourist areas? Yes! Everything you need from your stay in the city, aside from iconic views is available here and we would definitely consider staying again.
Cheers friends,
Megan and Matt
