Welcome to The Istanbul Insider, formerly known as Witt Magazine.
Witt Magazine
In July 2010, Witt Magazine was founded. The website was part of the acclaimed Witt Istanbul Hotel. The idea was to offer an extra service to people considering a stay at the Witt Hotel.
Gradually the website became known for its quality articles full of advice given by Istanbul locals. Its success transcended our wildest dreams. Year after year we welcomed more visitors to the site, leaving an ever growing amount of comments. Needless to say that the amount of time it took to answer all these comments rose exponentially.
After personally answering over 4500 questions in the comments sections, I realized that it would be hard to keep this up while maintaining the quality of service. Not only was it getting unorganized for you as a visitor, I also didn’t want to reduce the quality of my answers just to cope with the ever rising volume.
The Istanbul Insider
So, at the start of 2015, Tuncel and myself sat together and decided it was time for the website to leave the nest. Since the site is no longer affiliated with Witt Istanbul Hotel we rebranded it as The Istanbul Insider. A perfect name for the site given the fact that it continues to show visitors the inside track on how to tackle the best sightseeing spots and venues in Istanbul — often off the beaten tourist track.
Yet, The Istanbul Insider is more than just a name or design change. We subscribe to the idea that information should be free. So, visitors will still have free access to the high quality posts that they are used to, and they can expect many more to come. These posts are filled with information allowing you to experience the city just like the locals do.
We truly hope you’ll enjoy our new website and its extra services at your fingertips.