Istanbul: Places
Photos & Words: Salina Christmas

The Orient Express Hotel, where I stayed during my holiday here.

Room rate starts from €90 a night for a single room in peak seasons. It's in Sirkeçi, in the heart if the Old City of Sultanahmet. It's ten minutes' walk from all the major attractions in the Old City, and about 20 minutes by public transport to the fashionable Beyoglu area.

With Easyjet, you can fly cheaply to Sabiha Gokçen airport to Istanbul, but it's too far from the city. Have YTL100 for each single taxi fare journey to and from Istanbul. Or spend very cheaply on the E10 bus, which will take ages to get you there. The jam is bad.

With Turkish Airlines, you can fly to Kamal Ataturk airport, which is about 12km away from Istanbul's Old City. This hotel is minutes away from the Sirkeçi train station, which links to the airport.