Istanbul

Istanbul: The City That Won’t Let You Leave Quickly

No other city in the world is built on two continents. No other city has served, under three different names, as the capital of three successive empires. Istanbul – Constantinople – Byzantion: a single strait, the Bosphorus, stitches Europe to Asia and one era of world history to the next. The city is 16 million people, roughly 2,500 years old, and built on a peninsula where the arguments between east and west, secular and religious, ancient and modern are conducted with a specificity that no textbook conveys. Stand on the Galata Bridge at dusk when the ezan rises from a hundred minarets simultaneously, listen to the call to prayer mix with ferry horns and the clink of tea glasses, and you understand why traders and sultans and crusaders all wanted this place.

The Essential Monuments

Hagia Sophia: Built in 537 CE by Emperor Justinian I, converted to a mosque in 1453, a museum in 1934, and a mosque again in 2020. Entry is now EUR 25. A major exterior restoration campaign began in December 2025, with scaffolding covering parts of the building – the interior remains accessible and most of the significant mosaics can still be seen. The Deesis mosaic in the upper gallery (a 13th-century image of Christ flanked by the Virgin and John the Baptist) is considered one of the finest examples of Byzantine art surviving anywhere. Go clockwise from the entrance ramp to reach it. Dress modestly; women need a head covering (available at the entrance).

Blue Mosque: Built 1609 to 1616, interior lined with more than 20,000 Iznik tiles in cobalt, turquoise, and deep red. Free entry; closed to non-worshippers during prayer times. The name comes from the tile effect in certain lights – the official name is Sultan Ahmed Camii.

Topkapi Palace: The seat of Ottoman sultans for 400 years. Four interlocking courtyards, the Harem (separate ticket, entirely worth it), the Imperial Treasury with the Topkapi dagger and the 86-carat Spoonmaker’s diamond. The combined ticket for the palace and Harem costs approximately EUR 55 as of 2026. Allow half a day minimum.

Basilica Cistern: Justinian’s subterranean reservoir, 336 columns in a hall of green-lit stone, with two Medusa heads used as column bases. Recently renovated with improved lighting. Entry around 300 TL.

Chora Church (Kariye Mosque): The best-preserved Byzantine mosaics in the world, outside the usual tourist circuit. The life of Christ and the Virgin told in late Byzantine pictorial detail that makes most European medieval church decoration look rough by comparison.

Suleymaniye Mosque: Mimar Sinan’s masterpiece for Suleyman the Magnificent, 1557. The proportions and light management inside are a lesson in what architecture does when it’s operating at its peak.

Neighbourhoods

Sultanahmet has every major monument and is tourist-heavy. Cross the Galata Bridge to Beyoglu for the 19th-century European-quarter atmosphere of Istiklal Caddesi, the antique shops of Cukurcuma, and the coffee roasters and galleries of Karakoy. Balat and Fener on the Golden Horn are the former Jewish and Greek quarters – painted wooden houses, Byzantine churches, and good brunch spots.

For the best affordable meal in Istanbul, take the Eminonu to Kadikoy ferry (better than most river cruises and a fraction of the price) and eat lunch at the Kadikoy fish market on the Asian side.

How to Eat

Turkish breakfast is a serious meal: tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, white cheese, honey with kaymak (clotted cream), eggs, menemen (egg and pepper scramble), and endless glasses of cay. Find a breakfast house in Besiktas or on the Asian side rather than ordering from a hotel menu.

Meze and raki at a Beyoglu meyhane (tavern) is the correct evening ritual: cold plates of eggplant, yoghurt, and beans followed by hot calamari and grilled octopus, finishing with grilled fish and ice-cold raki that turns milky when water is added. If you’re eating this way only once, this is the occasion.

Balik ekmek – grilled mackerel sandwich sold from boats on the Eminonu waterfront – is one of the few genuine street food institutions where the product is still excellent and the price is still fair.

Practical Notes

April, May, September, and October are the ideal months. Buy an IstanbulKart for metro, tram, bus, funicular, and ferry. The T1 tram runs through Sultanahmet across the Galata Bridge to Kabatas. Only take yellow taxis with running meters; avoid unlicensed drivers at tourist sites.

Istanbul overwhelms on purpose. The travellers who love it most allow for the slow pleasures: a second tea glass while a ferry horn sounds somewhere on the Bosphorus, an afternoon in a Cukurcuma garden. Come hungry, come curious, come with comfortable shoes.