Melissa Abache

A must visit museum in Istanbul that is great for the whole family. It is next to the Golden Horn so gives amazing views at water level, has a very good restaurant and the museum itself never ceases to surprise me with new things despite having gone there several times. Perfect for kids as they will find boats, trains, cars, airplanes and every other possible mode of transportation that has ever existed in there. This is a great place to learn about the Industrial Revolution, about the automotive industry, about how olive oil used to be made, and just so much more. One review really does not do it justice, you have to go there and enjoy it. It can be busy on weekends but even then it is big that it never feels cramped. The pictures I uploaded are from the side of the museum that are located across the street from the main building as it is often forgotten by visitors and I only discovered it existed a few months ago!

This is a great activity for families with children of all ages including toddlers. You should book in advance (it is free but they have limited capacity for the guided tour) and it is worth doing the guided tour to learn about very useful fire and safety information. The museum has several antique firetrucks, tools, displays and the guided tour finishes with a short animated movie for kids. It is only available in Spanish but still worth the visit if your toddler is obsessed with firefighters. To get there you should get down at the “Buenos Aires” metro stop on line 10 and then walk for about 7-8 min to the Museum. You will see a tall building with red letters that says MBM and that is it. Very friendly firefighters guide the tour and answer all questions. There is nowhere to have a drink or snack so come prepared but it has restrooms.