Direct Return flights to Istanbul, Turkey from Gatwick - (8th - 15th November) - £61 (Wizz) @ Skyscanner

Agree with comments from others. Went to Istanbul a few weeks ago 4 nights/5 days. Loved it. Lots to see - we travelled everywhere by tram - cheapest and most convenient. We did;

i. visited the main mosques - Sophia Hagia, Blue mosque - even the local one round the corner from our hotel was amazing
ii. visited the grand bazar (rip off prices but worth walking round)
iii. visited the spice bazar (prices a bit cheaper than GB but you have to haggle hard)
iv. visit Sulimanye mosque on the Asian side - we had to walk and use tram to get there
v. At the Sulimanye mosque you can get the cable car to the hilltop - amazing views and the price is very cheap with your Istanbulkart
iv. we also visited a Hamman (walking distance from Blue Mosque) which cost about £45 pp - was a few hours well spent

a few other tips:

i. Definitely buy an Istanbulkart - it costs about £5 and can be continuously topped up. Up to 5 people can travel on a single card. Each journey costs about 70p or so. I purchased mine from the hotel but they are available everywhere.
ii. Haggle hard and be prepared to walk away. Some of the prices they charge are extortionate and there to rip you off if you are a tourist. If haggling make sure you do so politely and jovially - you are more likely to get the price down rather than being aggressive or accusing the vendor of trying to rip you off.
iii. We didn't use taxis on this trip but have on previous trips to Istanbul - ALWAYS AGREE THE PRICE BEFORE YOU GET IN otherwise you risk being ripped off.
iv. not all cash machines are fee free so do check if you are going to take money out over there. Also shop around for decent exchange rates it was around 25 lira to the £ when we were there but there was alot of difference between different exchange shops
v. you are going to buy barclava and turkish delight - shop around as prices do vary. everyone kept saying Haji mustapha but we found prices expensive so shopped around and found a cheaper place.

Enjoy your trip (edited)

Food is bland. Unless you find the restaurants that do Biryani's there. They are there in Istanbul need to find em

That is a bargain. Love Istanbul. Wish I can get this price from Manchester

Has anyone been? Any recommendations and is there enough to see / do there for a week?

Love these budget flights but alot budget flights fly in and out at the most inconvenience times when there is no public transport and end up driving there paying the expensive car parks. Anyone got any tips for cheap parking / transport to/from airport?

But what's the luggage fees? I was looking into a flight recently via wizzair, and it all seemed very reasonable until they sprung an £85 luggage fee on (one way). An astonishing amount. So high I feel like trading standards should be alerted to prevent this misadvertising of flight prices. Just a normal sized 55x40x25 hand luggage was almost £70.

Wizzair...just no

Are there any direct flights from Moscow to Istanbul? I need to make a quick escape. (edited)