Luxury Travel to
Turkey- Istanbul
Istanbul,
quite the darling of international media for its
exotic blend of western-style creativity with a
touch of eastern decadence. With the emergence of
the creative set(Turkish design is the latest byword
in the modern furniture industry) comes the
associated appendices- an exciting restaurant scene,
hotels and clubs. Definitely the setting of some of
the higlights of any luxury traveller's itinerary to
Turkey, this former Byzantine capital still embodies
an intoxicating mix of East and West.
True to its
character, Istanbul is multi-faceted (and layered).
Drinks with a friend by the Bosphorus in Istanbul
had him musing about the many 'secrets' that
Istanbul keeps- places he's sure he doesn't know
about but is accessible only to the very rich. That
is the luxury of travel in Istanbul- that it reveals
itself differently to different individuals- it is a
city, no doubt, of secrets, a city of mysterious
harems sealed off from the rest of the world,
consequently occupying the imaginations of the
Occidental world. Luxury travel in Istanbul is about
opening these doors, providing for insider access,
knowing the best places (and bases) for which to
explore this fascinating country.
Much of new Istanbul is tempered by
the old. In hip Nisantasi, dine in luxury at a restaurant
known for reconstructing Ottoman palace cuisine, watch the
famous whirling dervishes, visit the world-famous
harems and re-live the intrigues that went on behind
its walls.
Urbane Nomads is able
to arrange for weddings in Turkey, in luxurious, converted yalis by the Bosphorus- surely one of the most
romantic settings in the world.
Luxury accommodations
in Turkey run the gamut from the world-famous prison
conversion (The Four Seasons at Sultanahmet), a
palace conversion (The Kempinski Ciragan Palace) to
converted distilleries and cave houses- some of the
most historical iconic vanguards on the luxury hotel
scene possibly anywhere in the world!
Main photo courtesy of Senan Sagsan