Istanbul - San Francisco with Turkish Airlines

Turkish Airlines starts direct flights from Istanbul to San Francisco, which will be its 7th destination in the USA after Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Washington, and Boston.

The San Francisco flight will operate 5 times a week on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays in both directions.

Expensive restaurants in Istanbul

Here is a list of most expensive classy restaurants in Istanbul according to Hurriyet newspaper: 
1- Sunset in Ulus
2- Ristorante Italia at Zorlu Center 
3- Lacivert in Anadoluhisarı
4- Spago at St. Regis hotel in Nişantaşı
5- Alancha in Beşiktaş
6- La Petite Maison in Şişli
7- Ulus 29
8- Nicole in Beyoglu
9- Kız kulesi off Salacak-Üsküdar
10- Papermoon at Akmerkez-Etile

Hagia Irene opened to visitors

Hagia Irene (Aya Irini), former Byzantine church of 6th century, is opened to public as a museum as of April 2014. The site is located in the first courtyard of Topkapi Palace in Istanbul. 

Entrance to the museum costs 20 Turkish Liras. It's closed on Tuesdays, same as Topkapi palace museum. During summer months it can be visited between 09:00-18:00 (last entry).

Istanbul is a "Powerful City Brand"

English newspaper The Guardian has listed "The World's Most Powerful City Brands" for 2014. The list ranks world cities on everything such as transport, attractions, weather, crime rate and safety, economic prosperity, and social ‘buzz’. This brand list is all about how cities use their assets, how they do the best with what they have.

Istanbul ranks #11 out of 25 cities listed.

Topkapi Palace is the top visited museum in 2013

According to a report issued by the Turkish Travel Agencies Union (TURSAB), nearly 30 million people visited the museums of Turkey in 2013. 

The highest increase in the number of visitors was seen at Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, due to its Harem. While the number of visitors to the Harem exceeded over 1 million people for the first time, the total number of visitors to Topkapı Palace was above 3,397.000 people. Therefore, on the list of the most-visited museums, Topkapi Museum left behind the Hagia Sophia Museum, which topped the list in 2011 and 2012. 

Turkish museums and ancient sites, which hosted nearly 7 million people in the beginning of the 2000s, welcomed 29,533,000 visitors by the end of 2013. According to the data of TURSAB and the Culture and Tourism Ministry, 69% of visitors were foreigners and 31% were Turkish nationals. 

Most walkable cities in the world

Istanbul is listed among the “12 totally walkable cities to visit”, according to sheknows.com website.

Stone Town (Tanzania) was #1 on the list, while Austin (Texas) and Sydney (Australia) followed it. After Seattle (USA), Dublin (Ireland) and Vientiane (Laos), comes Istanbul (Turkey). The list follows with Prague (Czech Republic), Florence (Italy), New York (USA), Florionapolis (Brazil), and Boston (USA).

Istanbul's population is larger than many countries

Istanbul's official population is 13.854.740 as of today, which is more than 122 countries around the world!!!

Senegal (13,6 Million), Zambia (13,1 Million), Zimbabwe (13 Million), Chad (12,8 Million), Southern Sudan (11,3 Million), Cuba (11,2 Million), Belgium (11, 1 Million), Guinea (10,8 Million), Greece (10,8 Million), Tunis (10,8 Million), Portugal (10,6 Million), Rwanda (10,5 Million), Czech Republic (10,5 Million), Somalia (10,5 Million), Haiti (10,4 Million), Benin (10,3 Million), Burundi (10,1 Million), Bolivia (10 Million), Hungary (9,9 Million), Sweden (9,6 Million), Belarus (9,5 Million), Dominican Republic (9,5 Million), Azerbaijan (9,2 Million), Austria (8,5 Million), Honduras (8,4 Million), UAE (8,3 Million), Switzerland (8,1 Million), Israel (8 Million), Tajikistan (8 Million), Bulgaria (7,3 Million), Serbia (7,2 Million), Hong Kong (7,2 Million), Papua New Guinea, (7,1 Million), Paraguay (6,7 Million), Laos (6,6 Million), Jordan (6,5 Million), Eritrea (6,3 Million), Libya (6,2 Million), Togo (6,2 Million), Sierra Leone (6,2 Million), El Salvador (6,2 Million), Nicaragua (6,1 Million), Denmark (5,6 Million), Kyrgyzstan (5,6 Million), Finland (5,4 Million), Slovakia (5,4 Million), Singapore (5,3 Million), Turkmenistan (5,2 Million), Norway (5,1 Million), Lebanon (4,8 Million), Costa Rika (4,7 Million), Central African Republic (4,6 Million), Ireland (4,6 Million), Georgia (4,5 Million), New Zealand (4,5 Million), Congo Republic (4,4 Million), Palestine (4,4 Million), Liberia (4,3 Million), Croatia (4,3 Million), Bosnia (3,8 Million), Oman (3,8 Million), Puerto Rico (3,7 Million), Kuwait (3,6 Million), Moldova (3,6 Million), Mauritania (3,5 Million), Panama (3,4 Million), Uruguay (3,3 Million), Armenia (3 Million), Lithuania (3 Million), Albania (2,8 Million), Mongolia (2,8 Million), Jamaica (2,7 Million), Namibia (2,1 Million), Lesotho (2,1 Million), Slovenia (2,1 Million), Macedonia (2,1 Million), Botswana (2 Million), Latonia (2 Million), Qatar (1,9 Million), Gambia (1,8 Million), Guinea Bissau (1,7 Million), Gabon (1,7 Million), Equator Guinea (1,6 Million), Togo (1,3 Million), Estonia (1,9 Million), Mauritius (1,3 Million), Swaziland (1,2 Million), Bahrain (1,2 Million), East Timor (1,1 Million), Djibouti (865 thousand), Cyprus (862 thousand), Fiji (858 thousand), Reunion (821 thousand), Guyana (785 thousand), Bhutan (737 thousand), Comoros (724 thousand), Montenegro (620 thousand), Macau (582 thousand), West Sahara (567 thousand), Solomon Islands (561 thousand), Luxemburg (537 thousand), Surinam (534 thousand), Cape Verde Republic (492 thousand), Malta (416 thousand), Guadeloupe (403 thousand), Martinique (394 thousand), Brunei (393 thousand), Bahamas (351 thousand), Iceland (324 thousand), Maldives (317 thousand), Belize (313 thousand), Barbados (274 thousand), French Polynesia (268 thousand), Vanuatu (265 thousand), New Caledonia (259 thousand), French Guyana (229 thousand), Mayotte (213 thousand), Samoa (188 thousand), Sao Tome and Principe (187 thousand), Saint Lucia (167 thousand), Guam (159 thousand), Curacao (151 thousand)

More interesting facts on Istanbul.

Short Course World Championship in Istanbul

The 2012 FINA Short Course World Championship will be hosted at the Sinan Erdem Dome in Istanbul between 12-16 December 2012.

Some of the biggest names in swimming, around 900 athletes, including Olympic champions such as U.S. swimming icon Ryan Lochte, France’s Florent Manaudou, Italian Federica Pellegrini and Hungarian Laszlo Cseh, will take to the pool during the 25 meter races.
The FINA World Swimming Championships (25 meters) is a five-day sports competition held every two years.

Graffiti Festival 2012

The biggest graffiti festival of Turkey will be held on 15th of July 2012, Sunday, in Taksim Square - Istanbul. The event, called as "Meeting Of Allstars", will bring together many world-known graffiti artists from various countries and from Turkey as well.

Ataturk Airport breaks record

Istanbul’s Ataturk International Airport (IST) has broken its all time record for air traffic. On June 15th, 2012, the number of planes departing and arriving at Ataturk Airport was recorded as 1,090. In other words, one plane either departed from or arrived at the Ataturk Airport every 75 seconds.