IstanbulTravel Guide
Istanbul is the only major city on earth that straddles two continents, and it wears fifteen centuries of imperial history — Byzantine, then Ottoman — in plain sight. Between the domes of Sultanahmet, the bazaars, and the ferry-laced Bosphorus, it offers more layered city life per square kilometre than almost anywhere in the world.
Is Istanbul right for you?
April–May, September–November
It depends where you stand. There is a cheap version and an expensive one — the guides below say which is which.
No hour-by-hour route here yet — the guides below cover it by subject instead.
April–May, September–November
Mixed
Typical cost profile for visitors
- Izmir330 km
a short hop — comfortable overland · both good in April, May, September · a different price level (mid)
- Bucharest, Romania450 km
half a day's travel · both good in May, September, October · a different price level (budget)
- Antalya480 km
half a day's travel · both good in May, September, October
- Sofia, Bulgaria510 km
half a day's travel · both good in May, September, October · a different price level (budget)
Izmir
Bucharest
SofiaFinding Istanbul
Reading Istanbul
Istanbul, place by place
Everything below is named in one of our own stories about Istanbul. The line under each is the sentence that recommended it, and the link goes to the piece it came from.
Where to stay
The areas and addresses our writers put first
Leni Yuva
Karaköy
Once a gritty port strip, now the city's design-hotel and café district, steps from the Istanbul Modern museum and the ferry docks.
Nişantaşı
IstanbulUptown Istanbul: designer shopping, elegant apartment blocks, upscale international hotels.
Where to eat
Tables worth crossing the city for
Spice Bazaar
Istanbul
What to see
The things that justify the trip
Hans-Jürgen Weinhardt
Sultanahmet
Hagia Sophia, completed in 537 under Justinian, held the title of the world's largest cathedral for nearly a thousand years; its vast dome still reorganises your sense of what old buildings can do.
Nida Oral
Hagia Sophia
> Tip: See the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia first thing in the morning, then return to Sultanahmet square at dusk when the tour groups have gone and the minarets are lit — the same stones, twice the atmosphere.
Raimond Klavins
Basilica Cistern
Between visits, drop underground into the Basilica Cistern, a Byzantine water reservoir held up by a forest of 336 columns.
Viktoriia Ananeva
Topkapi Palace
Allow half a day for Topkapi Palace, the Ottoman court's sprawling home of pavilions, courtyards and treasury rooms, with terraces overlooking the meeting of the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn.
Linus Mimietz
Grand Bazaar
Then walk ten minutes uphill to the Grand Bazaar — thousands of shops under painted vaults — and downhill to the smaller, more fragrant Spice Bazaar by the waterfront at Eminönü.
Blue Mosque
IstanbulFacing it across a park stands the Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque), early 17th century, famous for its six minarets and the blue Iznik tilework that names it.
What we'd do in Istanbul
See and do
- Kadıköy and Moda's seafront
The Asian side's beating heart, Kadıköy pairs one of the city's best fresh-food markets with the laid-back seaside promenade of Moda, where locals sprawl on the grass with tea and simit as ferries cross the Marmara.
Read: The Quiet Corners of Istanbul That Locals Love - Choosing where to stay
First-timers face a genuine choice.
Read: First Time in Istanbul: Everything You Need to Know - The Bosphorus and the Asian side
The single best cheap experience in Istanbul is a public ferry.
Read: Istanbul: The Two-Continent City, from Hagia Sophia to the Bosphorus - Topkapi Palace
Home to Ottoman sultans for roughly four centuries, Topkapi is less a museum than a walled city of courtyards, kiosks and treasuries.
Read: The Finest Museums and Galleries of Istanbul - The terrace at Süleymaniye
The great mosque of Süleyman the Magnificent, crowning the third hill, draws a fraction of the Blue Mosque's visitors — and its outer courtyard terrace offers one of the finest free views in Istanbul, straight down the Golden Horn to Galata.
Read: The Quiet Corners of Istanbul That Locals Love
Practical essentials for Turkey
Turkish lira (TRY)
Turkish; English is common in the big cities and the resort towns, much less so inland
Type C/F, 230V 50Hz
An Istanbulkart covers metro, tram, bus, funicular and ferry with sharply discounted transfers; contactless bank cards work on many turnstiles but not on the Marmaray, and charge the full fare every tap.
About 10% in restaurants, in cash and handed to the server; round up taxi fares, and check whether a service charge is already on the bill.
Tap water is treated to EU standards but old building plumbing means almost everyone drinks bottled water, which is cheap and everywhere.
Right-hand side; visitors need a 1968 International Driving Permit or a notarised Turkish translation of their licence — the 1949 permit is no longer accepted.
112 (all services)
Country-level guidance, checked against official sources. Currency, fares and entry rules change — confirm anything time-critical before you travel.
Greece
Cyprus
Serbia
Montenegro