There are a lot of fantastic websites and articles out there which have their own take on Istanbul. Istanbul Guides is a very personalised account of where to go, what to eat etc. but it is by no means intended to give a full account of all the city has to offer. Just as an example, we have absolutely no references so far to the Asian side of the city, because it happens to be an area we don't know so well. Below are some of the cool websites we found that give their own account of Istanbul, some quite personal like ours, and others just cover all there is to do in the city! I'm not going to bother going in depth on the generic TimeOut and Lonely Planet guides as you're all well informed individuals who know them yourself...
The Guardian - Istanbul City Guide
The Guardian has developed a wonderful tool that shows, geographically the hot spots in the city. This is really a fantastic tool because it can help you identify the cool places to go close to where you are staying or where you happen to be. Interestingly, a lot of their recommendations do not overlap with ours so you can be the judge on who knows best! Just click here to access the site.
Turkey from the Inside
The author of this website, Pat Yale, wrote the Lonely PLanets guide to Turkey for 10 years, so she knows what shes talking about. It's obviously written from a foreigners perspcetive as Pat is not a Turkish name. Again, you can follow her on twitter. This site is especially good if you want to venture out of Istanbul. Turkey really is a beautiful country, and you have many regions with their own local food, traditions, dialect, and so on and so forth, so if you want to spend some time somewhere else, let Pat be your guide.
Istanbul Eats
Istanbul Eats calls itself a serious eaters guide to the city, and it really dives in to the culinary scene deeply, offering advice on places to eat even in obscure parts of the city. You can follow them on twitter, or check out there website. Something I found quite interesting is that they offer culinary walks, which I can only assume is the eaters equivalent of a Pub Crawl!
New York Times City Guide
The NY Times offers a less user friendly, but still interesting guide to the city. Some of their hotel recommendations are pretty high end so watch out. You can always find cheaper hotels on websites such as booking.com
WikiTravel
For people who like to do a lot of reading, Wikitravel offers a rich guide to all things Istanbul. I was slightly jealous when I saw their map that splits the city into different quarters more aesthetically than mine, but overcame that jealousy upon realising I could incorporate the same image below:
Istanbul: The Guide
I haven't personally audited this website as I have better stuff to do you know (I'm writing this at the office so show some understanding please!) but I did like the layout and look so if you feel my website hasn't given you enough to eat/drink/see check this one out.
Simply Istanbul
Simply Istanbul is a nice blog because it touches on some topics neither my site or others I have seen online touch on, e.g. people of Istanbul, architecture of Istanbul. It offers this information in a short, simple format which is useful for people who really like understanding the place they travel.