It's a very short flight from Kyiv, less than 2 hours and the airfare is only around $250 return.
A really reat experience, amazing city, fantastic sights and great food.
But beware.. Firstly the touts are a minor problem when you arrive. They spot foreigners a mile away and they all want to be your friend and offer you a cup of their apple tea, which is great. Then they are full of advice for finding you the best deals on accommodation, restaurants, Carpets etc all at jacked up prices from their relatives or friends. Best thing is just keep walking, don't look at them and don't acknowledge them.
The real danger however is when you find yourself in a nightclub or bar and by the way, these places are full of beautiful girls mostly flown in from Ukraine. They are up dancing and you go ask them for a dance and then you sit down with one or more of them. You buy them a drink and they order a cocktail, which, when I asked one if I could taste it she refused and nearly jumped 10 feet. Of course the reason being that it's coloured water worth nothing. Meantime your drink has been spiked but not enough to knock you out, just enough so that after a couple of hours they can frog march you to the nearest ATM to withdraw the Maximum limit from your bank account to pay them 500 euros for the drinks that they put on your bill. If you complain they say, didn't you see the sign on the wall when you walked in that says " drinks cost 50 - 100 euros each. Don't bother arguing with them as they also send two heavies with you to the ATM and if you think the police can help you, well you're dreaming. Which by the way is how you feel after you have drunk the spiked drink.
This can happen in FSR countries as well. Also watch out for having your credit card skimmed in these kinds of places. Don't let anyone take your card out of your sight, better still pay cash.
The turks however make the rest of them look like they are still in kindergarten. Just type the words " Istanbul Scams " into any search engine and you'll get the picture.
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Russian brides > Main Forum > Scams....Beware. If you take a side trip to Turkey, especially Istanbul