I want to visit Istanbul but have no idea where to start looking for flights/hotels. Anyone have any suggestions or tips for where I can start looking? The plan is to stay for a week from May 1st to the 7th in a hotel that's within walking distance of Taksim Square. I've never traveled for pleasure before so I'm very inexperienced at this.
Someone suggested that I should look for flight + hotel packages as that'll give me a cheaper flight with the hotel that I want. Having a nice hotel in the desired location is more important for me, but avoiding long layovers is also important since I only have a week off.
I am flying from Toronto, Canada.
pedrotheterror replied:
We stayed at the [Witt](http://www.wittistanbul.com) recently and it was fantastic. Walking distance to Taksim, not sure why you would want to make that your central point, as well as to the tram to take you to the central tourist location.