One day in a city, done properly
I am Mike Whitefield. I write guides for the trip most people actually take: one day, sometimes one layover, and a list that is too long for it.
Every price on this site came off a receipt in my pocket. Every closure and every wrong turn cost me something the first time. Nothing here is compiled from other people's blog posts, and where I have not been somewhere, I say so.
Start here
Istanbul Airport to Sultanahmet: bus, metro or taxi?
The metro is eight times cheaper than the bus and cost me two extra hours. All three routes with 2026 prices.
Is Hagia Sophia open on Friday?
No visitors from noon to 2:30pm. And the hall under the dome is free, through a door most people walk past.
Baku Airport to the centre: taxi or the H1 bus?
25 km and 30 to 40 minutes. What the 20 AZN difference actually buys you.
What is closed in Baku on Monday?
Two of the four stops on a one day route, including the one you fly there for.
The guides
Each city gets a free edition of five pages and a full guide. The free edition is not a teaser: it contains the route, the four things that wreck the day, and one complete chapter from the paid guide, uncut and unblurred. If the free pages are not useful, the paid ones would not have been either.
| City | Free edition | Full guide |
|---|---|---|
| Istanbul | 5 pages, get it here | 31 pages, $9 |
| Baku | 5 pages, get it here | 33 pages, $9 |
What is inside a full guide
- The day hour by hour, with the stops in the order the light and the queues want them
- Where I ate, what it cost, and the street to avoid
- The budget line by line, from real receipts, with a lean total and a comfortable one
- Six Plan B scenarios for when something is shut
- Cards, cash, tipping and eSIM, for an American traveller
- Every stop in one tappable list
Who this is for
People with a layover long enough to leave the airport. People adding a city to the end of a work trip. People who have one Saturday and do not want to spend the morning of it reading forum threads from 2019.
It is not for slow travel. If you have a week somewhere, you do not need me.
Questions before you buy?
Message me on Instagram. I answer, and I will tell you honestly if the guide does not cover what you need.
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