photo by marfis75
Christmas is not widely celebrated in Istanbul although you will see Christmas decorations around the main streets in a humble way. These are for New Year and have nothing to do with Christmas in fact! One should not be surprised considering Christians are very few in Istanbul's vast population. Church services are regularly done and this is correct for Christmas eve as well.
So, Istanbul might provide a good opportunity to be a bit away from fuss of Christmas time whilst not missing it completely.
It’s easy to mistake festive light-designs of Ataturk for Father Christmas…!