We arrived in Istanbul on Oct 28 for four nights at the end of our 10 day cruise on Norwegian Viva and flew back to the US on Nov 1.
We stayed at the Azade Premier Hotel in Sultanahmet, from Rick Steves' Istanbul book. We found the immediate area around our hotel to be a peaceful neighborhood and a great base for easily enjoying the big sights of Sulltanahmet and avoiding the crowds - Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Hippodrome, etc. It’s just a couple blocks downhill from Sultanahmet Park. Staying there allowed us to settle in and walk to the sights at convenient times and come back to our comfortable room whenever we needed a break or even a nap :). The hotel was super reasonably priced with very friendly staff, a wonderful rooftop verandah with incredible views of the Blue Mosque and the Bosphorus and a breakfast room where an included giant breakfast spread was served each morning.
We did experience some crowds in Istanbul, especially at Galataport when we arrived, on some of the trams at busy times and in the market streets around the Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar. We also saw some big lines for the Hagia Sophia and Topkapi Palace but we came back in the mornings near opening times and were able to get tickets and enter both very quickly then. We found that when touring the big sights the key was to go the opposite direction of any tour groups we encountered clogging the space and come back after they moved on. Interestingly although the streets/alleys outside the Bazaars were packed with crowds the actual inside halls of the Bazaars were not too crowded for us.
We really enjoyed the Turkish food (manti pasta "ravioli/dumplings", corbasi lentil soup, beyran lamb soup, adana kebabs, koftecisi meatballs, stuffed vine leaves and especially salep, an orchid flour drink) and found a wonderful tasty Turkish restaurant - Dubb - right next door toour hotel. I think having such a nice casual and very good restaurant with outdoor seating on a quiet corner so close by our hotel also helped make for a peaceful stay for us.
Visiting the mosques of Istanbul was a highlight - the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Nuruosamaniye Mosque, Mosque of Suleyman the Magnificient, Rustum Pasaf Mosque and the mosques in Uskudar. All were beautiful and a great experience of the history and culture of Istanbul and Islam.
The local people we encountered were very friendly and helpful, often offering unexpected free treats - tea as we checked in to our hotel, turkish coffee on the rooftop verandah while our room was prepped, free gum tossed in our bag at the mini grocery store, free appetizers, tea and desert at restaurants and once my uber driver even made a quick stop to pick up some Turkish donuts for free for us at a roadside cart on our way around the Golden Horn to Galata Bridge!
We definitely plan to return to Istanbul and Turkey soon.