Travel stops.....

Earlier this week TripAdvisor, the popular online travel directory and booking site, released the winners of its annual Travelers’ Choice awards, and while NYC topped the best U.S. destinations list (no surprise there), the number one spot on the international list, Istanbul, Turkey, is a newcomer to the top 10.

The winners, which included best destinations as well as hotels, beaches and islands, were determined using the reviews and ratings contributed by the site’s many users.

So why Istanbul? Besides being one of the world’s largest cities and brimming with historical significance and culture, the seaside hub is also more affordable than other popular overseas destinations.

TripAdvisor tells Yahoo Travel, “Like many of the international destinations, particularly in Asia, Istanbul offers a great value with one U.S. dollar equaling two Turkish lira.”

Three U.S. cities received accolades as both best national and international destinations: NYC, Chicago, and, you guessed it, San Francisco. Although S.F. dropped a spot (or a few) on both lists, the number of tourists trekking up our hills and looking perplexed on the bus while being yelled at to “Step down!”
continues to increase. According to the most recent figures from the San Francisco Travel Association, the city boasted 16.9M visitors in 2013, up 2.3 percent from 2012.

I have been to Istanbul and totally agree that this is a city to visit. The multicultural feel as well as the history is remarkable, plus you can go for Asia to Europe and back every day..