visiting turkey in mid september. cappadocia, ankarra, effesis, istanbul best bet is to see some football in istanbul is it easy to purchase tickets? would it be safe for a foreginer alone or should i take a local with me? can i take a cab directly to a stadium or is it a mix of busses and walking in order? havent seen a thread like this or any helpful websites about this so answers would be appreciated. thanks.
depends on the stadium and which part of the stadium, If you are not planning to stand whole game and chant together, you should either go the most expensive one generally called numarali, or behind the goals called 'kale arkasi'. I dont suggest you go to fanatics portion like Carsi or ultraaslan which are sideways and across the numarali tribun. If you want to go that part you better take a local for other parts I think you should be fine but it is always better to go with someone who knows Turkish just in case. Dont go to away team's part. For Besiktas stadium its easy you can just walk 5 minutes from Taksim, its most populated center of Istanbul.
I think you will be fine, as long as you avoid team colours no matter whichever end you go to. They usually wouldn't let you into the visitors' end anyway. If you are asked what team you support, just say you are American and you are new to soccer and trying to get to know this sport. The worst can happen is that you'll get a few idiots with a broken English desperately trying to explain to you what the game is about -even though they are not asked to do so but they'll go ahead and be a smart arse anyway- and perhaps they'll ask you to chant for their team, which can be a fun at least for a few minutes. You'll feel involved, heh... If you think you've had enough, just pop out for a slash, and come back a few minutes later and quietly sneak back into your seat. Fenerbahçe plays his home games in Sükrü Saraçoglu Stadium in Kadiköy borough. Galatasaray plays in TürkTelekom Arena in Seyrantepe. (the old stadium Ali Sami Yen has been taken down a few months ago.) Besiktas plays in Istanbul Inönü Stadium in Besiktas. http://www.footiemap.com/multiclubc...ason=2010-2011&map=istanbul&league=1&showing= Fenerbahçe's and Besiktas' Stadia are in the middle of the city, so you can go somewhere near by cab/local transport, and then walk in. It's usually impossible to get near the stadia by vehicle during match times anyway, so at least you can have a chance for a good cross-sectional sightseeing from a local's point of view. Galatasaray's new stadium is on the border between civilisation and the wild. The good part is, the tube goes there, so if you can face to wait for your turn among some 50-odd thousand people, you can get there by local transport quite easily. Cabs will usually drop you off a few hundred yards away from the stadium and dash off into oblivion. If you can get a local friend take you to a game, that's even better. The majority of your worries will be over. Galatasaray's and Fenerbahçe's stadia are pretty new, and quite state of the art in terms of fittings and standards. Beşiktaş' stadium is very old. I have no idea why it is still there, but they keep carrying out a face upflift all across it anyway. But alas, it has probably the best view in the world by being 40 yards away from the Bosphorus coastline. B.