Viator Travel Blog

As a native of Turkey and Istanbul resident for more than nine years, Emre Ozkara is eager to share with you his love and knowledge of all things Turkish. Private individual and group tours to Istanbul’s most famous sights are Emre’s specialty, and his custom-made itineraries will ensure your experience will be as close to your expectations as possible.

Whether your layover is a quick break or an entire 24 hours, venturing outside the airport in one of these ten European multi-faceted cities will make your layover just as memorable as your final destination.

Here are our picks for the best European cities for layovers.

Stumbling upon vibrant street art may seem like you’re digging for a needle in a haystack but it’s actually easier than you think, especially if you know where to look. Many cities where street art culture flourishes have one or two neighborhoods where street artists tend to leave their mark. From Bogotá’s colorful La Candelaria to London’s gritty East End, here are 11 of the world’s best neighborhoods for spotting street art.

There’s nothing quite like visiting a place when it’s in the middle of a party – especially if it’s the kind of celebration that doesn’t happen every year. In addition to the many festivals and events that occur annually around the world, there are some that are on a far less frequent schedule – some will only happen this year.

Here’s a selection of some of the must-see festivals and events happening exclusively in 2013.

You’ll find all kinds of activities listed below, including musical field trips in Austria, island-hopping in Scotland, royal history lessons in Russia, castle visits in Portugal and Ireland, and enjoying a little luxury in Monaco. Join us for this tour of the Top 25 Things to Do in Europe!

For Western travelers, Istanbul is truly exotic. The dictionary defines exotic as “intriguingly unusual or different; excitingly strange” and that’s a great way to think about Istanbul. The sights, the sounds, the food, the music, the culture — it’s all excitingly strange, intriguingly unusual.

I jumped into a taxi and headed straight to the small hotel I had booked in Istanbul’s Sultanahmet district. The last thing I remember before collapsing into bed is opening the window of my 4th-floor room.

Meet Cem Balsun, one of Viator’s local experts in Istanbul, Turkey with a license to provide private tours to those interested in learning more about this fascinating region of the world.

Licensed tour guide Cem Balsun has been leading tours in Istanbul, Bursa, and Canakkale for five years, offering personalized tours and transportation around his home and showing visitors the effusive hospitality found in Turkey. Offering insight into the culture, history, religion, and economy of Istanbul and Turkey, he also loves to help tourists to discover what daily life in Istanbul is really like.

The fun continues! Last time we checked in, Ryan and Asha were in Vienna enjoying music and ferris wheel rides. Next they traveled to Istanbul to tour beautiful mosques and make new Turkish friends. Read on to see what they did during their five days in Istanbul…

Imagine… visiting Europe when the weather is nice, the crowds are thin and the prices are slashed. Don’t think it exists? It does. Europe’s shoulder seasons – that gorgeous time of year when the temperatures begin their climb upwards or slow descent down, windows are flung open, the water is that perfect temperature and the prices for air and lodging are firmly planted in off-season prices, despite the glorious weather – are ideal times to plan international travel.