How To Find A Beach in Europe’s Biggest City
mom-toddler-beach-wave
Solar Beach is this place about 45 minutes from Ortaköy, right on the coast of the Black Sea. We MAY have waited too long to go to the beach. This summer was such a blur. All I remember was me and Paolo submitting paperwork for visas again.On a different but related note, we have Swiss friends who (as a rule) don't eat just any kind of chocolate. They're self-described chocolate snobs. Much like we Filipinos are beach snobs.When people tell us, "Oh it was an amazing beach!" We're a little wary for obvious reasons. CORON. EL NIDO. And these are just the beaches from my mom's home province. Our country has more than 7,000 islands! But with Autumn and Winter fast approaching, we'll take any sun and sand experience we can get.
How to get to solar beach, kilyos
Mosaic-tree-Haciosman-Metro
There are a ton of ways to get there. If you've read any of my other posts, I usually recommend just taking a cab. Ha ha! (Later this was hilarious because we found out we actually COULD have taken one)But this time, we chose the scenic route:
Find your way to the M2 Line on the Istanbul Metro. It's the line that runs from Yenikapi (in the Old City) to Haciosman in Sariyer, the area in between the second and third Bosphorus bridges.
Get off at Haciosman station, and right outside there are buses to Kilyos.
Take the bus to Kilyos, and it'll be about a twenty-minute ride to Kilyos Merkez in Kümkoy.
Here's where it gets tricky: We tried walking to the beach from Kilyos Merkez but it was a LONG walk and we have an incredibly squirmy toddler. Try to catch a cab to one of the private beaches or walk to the public ones.
We ended up walking to Solar Beach and right before the entrance, we caught a shuttle operated by the resort. HURRAY! It would've been a nightmare to walk up and down the winding road to the water.
HOT TIP: The same shuttle also drives into the city, so you don't have to take the train again (unless that's easier for you). On the way home, we got dropped off in Besiktas Port. We realized too late that we could've just gone down at Gayrettepe and taken a cab downhill to Ortaköy, but the baby was asleep. It's fine.The shuttle costs TRY 10 (USD 2) per person one-way, which is about the same cost we spent on the train and the bus, but with a lot more effort.
what to bring to solar beach
Swimsuit and a change of clothes of course
Snacks, especially if you've got a toddler (Fruits like grapes, nuts, etc)
Bottle of water (I always recommend this, because it's always expensive to eat/drink at resorts)
Money for food, it's around TRY 50 per meal per person. More than the average meal in the city center, which is around TRY 30.
Small bottle of shampoo, body wash, other cosmetics
what's at solar beach
Black-Sea-Kilyos
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Water-sun-bed-Black-Sea-solar-beach
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Solar Beach is facing the Black Sea. It is NOT like the water back home in the Philippines. I mean that this water is BLOODY COLD. It made us miss the warm, tropical waters, but as I said, we'll take any beach we can get.To be fair, it was lovely. There were huts and umbrellas provided on every beach chair. Servers were on hand to take your food or drink order. At night on summer weekends, the resort throws a massive party. Like a club on the beach. Like BORACAY, but not.I learned about this because some organizers asked us to leave the pool area so they can set up for the party. It was a little off-putting because it was two in the afternoon and the party wasn't until sundown. Oh well. We moved to the beach after having lunch.
how much THE ENTIRE BEACH TRIP COST
Here's the breakdown for the whole trip:
Transportation - TRY 10
Entrance to Solar Beach - TRY 80 per person
Meals - TRY 30-70 per person
Drinks - TRY 20-40
TOTAL: TRY 145 per person (minimum)
It's not bad, but if you want to have beers by the sand or big meal, be prepared to splurge. I actually got a little sick from eating the porsiyon döner, you could tell the meat was old and just recooked, clearly not freshly sliced off the spit. Paolo and our daughter had a burger, and they were fine. But at those prices, I expected better food.
OTHER FUN THINGS THAT HAPPENED
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Mother-daughter-looking-Black-Sea
Kilyos-Beach-Istanbul
It was a wonderful time to celebrate our daughter's birthday. The weather was great, and even though she was shivering in the water, it wasn't all that bad on the shore. There were other families there so that was good. It was amazing to see her go crazy over the sand.The hard part was leaving. From the sandy beach to the showers, to getting dressed and walking toward the exit, all I could hear was "MOMMY I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE. I WANT TO STAY HERE." People kept walking up to us to try and console our poor girl.. Is it your second or third visit to Istanbul? How do you feel about visiting Kilyos?