Istanbul

I came here the autumn 2021. Before i had lived in another Turkish city which was amazing! But I had to live that place and came here.
What can I say? My first real estate agent scammed me for 1500TL. And I couldn't rent any apartment for 6 months because I am a single woman and also my national is being considered as not the one with decent women. So finally after 2 weeks of searching and meetings with many completely rude and unprofessionally real estate agents I did find the apartment.
What am I thinking about now? Yes, how to leave this city. The city centre is not clean, it's almost impossible to have a taxi, the electricity cuts off very frequently and i Never know when my remote work will be stopped. The city itself is overcrowded and despite living in the city center I am afraid to walk nearby at night.

Spent 4 months in Istanbul. Lovely city. Lots of things to do, cafes to work from, historical sites and nice parks. Might be chaotic at times but its part of its charm.

Pros:
Everything is really cheap from food, groceries, clothes, etc. The only unusually pricey thing is alcohol. Rent prices are skyrocketing too

I found Turkish people to be really nice. Some of them went out the extra mile to help me out with mundane things. The tea culture and community feeling of every street is awesome too!

Public transport is great. Make sure to live in a place close to a Metro/Marmaray/Metrobus station. I'd recommend staying in the European side, specially close to the Yenikapi station (M2)

Cons:

English is not widely spoken and it can be an issue if you don't speak turkish. You can have a hard time if you decide to live in 'authentic' turkish neighborhoods because finding people speaking English is hard. To avoid this simply stay in the european side, Taksim is where most foreigners hang out and people speak decent English

Watch out for scammers. They are everywhere in Taksim/Istiklal Street. 1 in 10 taxi drivers will try to swindle you. Not even Uber can protect you on this.

We love Istanbul! To the person who said there's no pros in Istanbul, I'm not sure if this person was really in Istanbul or always just sees the negative. The people are so nice! Despite it being a touristy place, vendors are not aggressive. Locals are chill. Some shops would even round down our bill if they have no exact change. There was working WiFi in coffee shops but it was faster in our Airbnb of course and that's where we work.

For transport, google is never reliable (sometimes yes). A local recommended us the app Moovit and it was accurate. Get an Istanbul card for the metro. They have really efficient public transport, comfortable and cheap! People are so nice they assisted us in buying the card when the vendor can't speak English. Locals are so helpful, you just have to look for the nice ones. And maybe be nice so people are also nice to you :)

Aside from the historical spots, it's a great place for food! They have a great coffee and tea culture too.

I have almost no pro to this city, been there for 15 days, and tried really hard to see the good side, but I didn't.
People were rude 100% of the time, very hard to find someone who can speak english, uber just works with cash and price is not accurate, don't trust google maps for public transportation (it doesn't gives you all the routes and some bus routes were wrong), Internet was REALLY bad everywhere, you can't access wifi in public areas without a local sim card, SIM Card for tourists are way more expensive ...

If I can yet advise you, Stay in Moda, Kadikoy. It's not that crowd, more chill, and people are nicer (not that nice but comparing with the european side...)

I spent one year in Istanbul and it's absolutely amazing. The city is really safe, I went back home really late during the night, walking, without any problem. Parties are really fun and there are all kinds of spots to have fun (bars, nightclubs, restaurants...). The city has a lot of cafés to work at and most of them have free and reliable wifi. Definitely recommend!

As any other city, there are its pros and cons. Of course, it is not a village where everyone will be nice and smile at you if you expect this. Large cities are usually cold and people are quite disconnected. However, the beauty of the culture compliments everything. I suggest having a right intention when coming to Istanbul. If you're looking to make new friends, this is probably not your place to pick (as people are pretty cold), but if you want to enjoy your life, live in your own pace - go to islands to swim, see historical places, walk on your feet a lot, go to cool restaurants and very vivid coffee shops (the variety, is wow!!). As you enter your routine, people will follow and you will connect with some as well that it is not going to be lonely.

Beautiful, affordable, and historic. Downsides are that Turkish people can be often very casually racist and culturally insensitive, especially if you are an ethnic minority and/or a woman. I've also been followed on multiple occasions by random men on the streets. But don't let this take away from your experience of the place as I've experienced some of the best hospitality, food, and sights this world has to offer. There are plenty of cafes and public spaces with reliable wifi where you can get work done.

Spent six months in Istanbul in 1993 when Turkey was really exotic. Didn't return till 2007, when I made mostly Kurdish friends in Sultanahmet, whom I'd see on frequent visits thereafter. Otherwise, I'd skip the city as like throughout Turkey bar the Kurdish areas there's anti Western feeling and targeting of visitors (I noticed that after a meal with alcohol, I'd nearly always be approached by a single male in the street near the restaurant inviting me to a bar certain. I'd suggest going to the first busy café instead, at which point they'd excuse themselves. I suspect some waiters were part of a scam targeting single males).

It's most historical city with most rude people!!
you always be careful to not to be stupid

I planned to go there next spring !

İstanbul is the most historical city in the world.