Why are the attractions in Istanbul so damn expensive?

I have been around the world and I have yet to visit a place in the last 3 years as expensive as Istanbul. Yes, prices do chill out a bit when getting out of the tourist zone of Istanbul, but you have to walk for an hour or two to get out of that area, whereas other cities I've been to I can usually find something cheap within a 5 minute walk. Even the cheap restaurants I've found have been more expensive than some of the cheap ones in Greece. On top of that all the different monuments are stupidly expensive, frequently charging $20-30 admission fees. I went to one monument that was in and out in 15 minutes and it was $15! Not to mention all the scamming that goes on, and merchants that I've been literally grabbed by to get into their stores or restaurants, and in one case angrily yelled at when I wouldn't pay a tour operator any mind as he was literally shoving a guide at me. I've wanted to go to Istanbul for so long but I'm really not a fan of the way people treat you here. I probably won't come back for quite a long time. But seriously why is it so expensive to visit the landmarks?!? --- **Post Details:** - **Subreddit:** r/travel - **Author:** u/ComradePruski - **Score:** 38 upvotes - **Upvote Ratio:** 77.0% - **Comments:** 53 - **Posted:** 7/9/2025 - **URL:** https://reddit.com/r/travel/comments/1lveujd/why_are_the_attractions_in_istanbul_so_damn/