Is Istanbul safe for solo female travelers?

Istanbul is generally safe for solo female travelers with some caution required. Although crime rate is relatively low, it is advisable to stay vigilant especially in crowded tourist areas due to occasional pickpocketing and scam incidents. It's also important to respect the local customs and dress modestly to prevent unwanted attention. Stick to well-lit areas at night and always inform reliable contacts about your whereabouts.

Safety rating

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How safe is Istanbul for female travelers?

Travel safety index

3.9 /5

based on 121 experiences from female travelers

Meruyert

Meruyert

Slovakia

Family travel

Istanbul was stunning—views, mosques, food—but I didn’t always feel safe. Daytime felt fine; at night around Taksim/Istiklal I met pushy touts, catcalling, and a taxi scam attempt. Keep valuables close, stick to lit streets, and use taxi apps. I’d still recommend it, just use big-city caution.

Posted: October 25, 2025
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Solo travel

I was in Istanbul for over a month. It's was a little bit expensive, compared to my last year trip, but totally worth it. Amazing food, nice people that are always trying to help if you need something. Definitely my soul place.

Posted: October 16, 2025
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Solo travel

I started the trip by meeting a guy someone I met in couch surfing recommended me. He walked me to my booked hostel and talked to the guy in his language, I went to my shared room where I met a girl who was staying there for some time, a fellow latina and there were a lot of empty beds. I then went to ask to extend my stay a couple of days and the giy said they didnt have capacity, when my fellow latina asked though, they did have space. This seemed suspicious to me as the one I have met insisted that I should stay with him and meet hia friends. The next bad expefience was going out with thw latina girl and suddenly everything changed for me there, she was showing a lot of skin and men went crazy and talked to us in spanish, some of them grabbed me trying to pull me to the back of their shops..horrible. I was not showing much skin, but since I was with someone who was and we were speaking spanish I got tagged as a hooker?

Posted: October 14, 2025Experienced: June, 2018
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Widad

Widad

Algeria

Solo travel

Istanbul was magical. I had a blast there! It was my first time traveling abroad and I did it alone, no regrets🥰 Met amazing people and i felt safe there the whole time I didn’t do many activity since the trip was poorely planned yet i had so much fun. The public transportation is greaatt, didn’t have to use a taxi once. I mostly used buses,public ferries and metros/tram

Posted: August 14, 2025
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Solo travel

Istanbul was quite a safe and easy going place for a solo female traveler. I mostly moved around the Taksim, Kadikoy, Eminonu and Kumkoy areas which are very touristic, so there was always this sense that you’re not alone. Especially around Taksim things are very busy during night time. The sites are quite expensive, so since i was travelling on a budget I couldn’t see all of them. The food is average priced compared to Greece but not a lot of vegetarian options are available. Transportation is quite cheap.

Posted: August 11, 2025
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How safe is Istanbul for women?

Local safety index

3.4 /5

Based on 376 local experiences

Local crime index

3 /5

Based on 376 local experiences

İstanbul is safe in the mornings but I dont recommend at nights. Some places like Fatih or Esenler or Esenyurt is not safe. Kadıköy, Üsküdar, Eyüp is much safe than other sides. Some salers can try to overcharge their stuff. Dont buy the things you think its too expensive.

Posted: October 30, 2025
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Even though other women will look out for you, it is not the safest city to be in. I would not trust people with my bags or personal belongings, and I wouldn’t leave my stuff unattended at any point in time.

Posted: October 24, 2025
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Emine

Emine

Istanbul is pretty safe for living and traveling. But for sure you should be always careful to other people, I can’t guarantee that you will never come across any dangerous situation, there is some places more or less dangerous to be there in the midnight

Posted: October 24, 2025
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I think it's safe except for some neighborhoods.There are good people as well as bad people, especially some old people are so good at approaching. Crowded places are safe at night, but other than that, I wouldn't prefer to be on an empty street.

Posted: September 28, 2025
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İdil

İdil

I’m living in Istanbul, and İstanbul is the most beautiful city that I’ve ever been, but when I started to live in Europe I understand that our lives were in danger in İstanbul, especially as a woman.

Posted: September 23, 2025
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Safety in Turkey