Travel tips
Şişli for families — a week with two kids
The parks, the markets, the metro rides, and a realistic picture of what it's like to spend a week in Şişli with young children.
Şişli is not a tourist neighbourhood in the usual sense. There are no Hagia Sophia queues, no carpet sellers, no restaurant menus translated into six languages. What there is: a very good supermarket 90 seconds from our front door, a large park 10 minutes on foot, and a metro line that takes you anywhere in 20 minutes.
Day one: settling in
The apartment has everything you need to feed children immediately — Migros is open until 23:00 and stocks formula, nappies, and the kind of pasta kids will actually eat. We keep a crib and a highchair in storage; message us in advance and both will be in the apartment before you arrive.
The parks
Maçka Parkı is the best nearby option: large, shaded, with a small pond and a cable car. About 15 minutes on foot or one metro stop. On weekends it fills with local families, which our kids have always found more interesting than tourist attractions anyway.
Getting around
Istanbul's metro is genuinely excellent for families. Air-conditioned, frequent, and cheap. The M2 from Şişli goes to Taksim in three stops, to the Grand Bazaar area in eight. With an Istanbulkart loaded up, a family of four can get anywhere for under €5.