Tailor made holidays: Music-lovers should plan a trip to Istanbul in July

Istanbul is a perfect destination for people planning to take luxury tailor made holidays, but music-lovers may kick themselves if they book a trip in a month other than July.

That is because two diverse music festivals are to be held in the Turkish city in that month. Firstly, from the first day of the month until the 19th, the annual International Istanbul Jazz Festival will be held.

Running concurrently with the jazz festival will be the International Istanbul Opera Festival, which will run for a few extra days, finishing on July 21st.

Famous institutions from across Turkey and Europe will be appearing at the celebration of opera, while in the past, the jazz festival has welcomed such luminaries of the genre as Ray Charles, Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie.

Travellers planning tailor made holidays to Istanbul may like to see a lot of the area on foot, as - according to a poll by travel guide company Lonely Planet - it is one of the best cities in the world to walk around.