Istanbul

One of the greatest architectural achievements in human history — a vast 6th-century Byzantine cathedral converted to a mosque under Mehmet II in 1453, reconverted again in 2020. The colossal dome, 55 metres above the marble floor, appears to float on a ring of light from its 40 windows. Byzantine mosaics of Christ and the Virgin Mary survive alongside enormous Ottoman calligraphy roundels.

Istanbul's most iconic skyline element — six slender minarets and a cascade of domes rising above the ancient hippodrome. The interior is tiled with over 20,000 hand-painted İznik tiles in deep blues and greens, giving the mosque its popular name. Built between 1609 and 1616 under Sultan Ahmed I, it remains an active place of worship and one of the most beautiful mosques on earth.

The nerve centre of the Ottoman Empire for 400 years — a vast hilltop palace complex of pavilions, courtyards, and gardens overlooking the Bosphorus and Golden Horn. The Treasury contains Topkapı's most famous treasures: the Spoonmaker's Diamond (86 carats), the Topkapı Dagger, and the Emerald Throne. The Imperial Harem (separate ticket) is one of the most atmospheric complexes of rooms in the world.

A 67-metre Genoese watchtower built in 1348, rising dramatically above the Karaköy neighbourhood with a cone-capped crown that dominates the northern Istanbul skyline. The observation deck at the top delivers a 360-degree panorama of the Golden Horn, Bosphorus, Sea of Marmara, and the minarets of the old city — one of the finest views of Istanbul available.

A much-loved, beautifully designed lokanta (traditional Turkish lunch restaurant) in a restored 1900s building in Karaköy, just minutes from Galataport. The handwritten daily menu showcases seasonal Turkish home cooking — slow-braised lamb shank, stuffed courgette flowers, lentil soup with crispy onion, and walnut-stuffed peppers in olive oil. Packed with Istanbul's creative class every lunchtime.

A celebrated five-storey kebab restaurant at the edge of the Grand Bazaar district, famous across Istanbul for its Gaziantep-style kebabs — especially the raw köfte (çiğ köfte) and the lamb beyti wrapped in flatbread. The top-floor terrace has a panoramic view across the Golden Horn to the old city mosques, making it one of the most atmospheric places to eat in Istanbul.

Istanbul's most iconic street food — grilled mackerel fillets stuffed into a crusty white bread roll with lettuce, onion, and a squeeze of lemon, sold from brightly painted wooden boats moored below the Galata Bridge at Eminönü. A meal for under €3 that locals and tourists alike have eaten for generations, eaten standing on the waterfront with a view of the Bosphorus.

Asmalımescit is Istanbul's most atmospheric meyhane (traditional tavern) street — a cobblestone alley off İstiklal lined with lantern-lit restaurants where Turks spend entire evenings drinking rakı, picking at meze, and listening to live fasıl music. The ritual is to order a large meze spread (cold and hot) and share across the table, letting the rakı flow slowly with ice and water.

The original and most celebrated baklava shop in Istanbul — a Karaköy institution since 1949, supplying the city's finest pistachio baklava, kadaif, and şöbiyet directly from their Gaziantep production. The flaky, butter-rich pastry layers are separated by freshly ground Antep pistachios and soaked in a light sugar syrup rather than honey, producing a distinctly crisp rather than cloying result.

A celebrated rooftop restaurant-bar atop the Marmara Pera Hotel with one of the most dramatic views in Istanbul — the full panorama of the Golden Horn, Bosphorus, and the silhouette of the old city mosques at sunset. The bar serves sophisticated Turkish-Scandinavian cocktails and an extensive wine list focused on Anatolian producers. One of Istanbul's defining evening experiences.

A relaxed and characterful bar in a converted 19th-century Pera townhouse, beloved by Istanbul's creative community for its unpretentious atmosphere, affordable rakı-based cocktails, and occasional live Turkish indie music. The exposed brick interior and candlelit tables create one of the more intimate bar atmospheres in the Beyoğlu neighbourhood.

A tiny, legendary hole-in-the-wall Turkish coffee shop off İstiklal Avenue — the name means 'the buffalo won't sink' referring to the coffee's thick, almost spoonable consistency. The oldest and most authentic Turkish coffee experience in the Beyoğlu district, roasting and grinding their own beans to order and serving coffee in the traditional thick copper cezve method with a complimentary piece of Turkish delight.

One of the oldest and largest covered markets in the world — 61 covered streets and over 4,000 shops within a single labyrinthine complex dating from 1461. Selling carpets, ceramics, jewellery, leather goods, spices, and lanterns across dozens of specialised hans (caravanserais). Even without buying anything, wandering the interior streets — each with a different trade — is an extraordinary sensory experience.

The magnificent 17th-century Egyptian Bazaar — an L-shaped vaulted market where towers of saffron, mountains of dried chillies, sacks of rose petals, and rows of Turkish delight create one of the most vivid sensory experiences in Istanbul. Vendors sell spices, herbal teas, olive oil soaps, and lokum (Turkish delight) in every variety imaginable.

A graceful, arcaded Ottoman market street behind the Blue Mosque — far less crowded and more upmarket than the Grand Bazaar, specialising in quality İznik ceramics, hand-painted tiles, fine silk scarves, and museum-quality carpets. Built in 1609 alongside the Blue Mosque and forming part of the same kulliye (mosque complex), the bazaar still retains the atmosphere of a high-quality Ottoman shopping street.

A public ferry cruise up the European and Asian shores of the Bosphorus Strait — the narrow waterway dividing two continents, lined with Ottoman palaces, wooden yalı mansions, medieval fortresses, and fishing villages. The city's most spectacular perspective is only available from the water, revealing the full drama of the Bosphorus crossing and the distant silhouette of Istanbul's hills and minarets.

The lavish 19th-century European-style palace where the Ottoman sultans lived in their final decades of power — a staggering 285-room marble complex on the Bosphorus waterfront with a 4.5-tonne crystal chandelier (the largest in the world) in its 36-metre-high ceremonial hall. Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey, died here on 10 November 1938; all the clocks in the palace are stopped at 9:05am.

A chain of nine car-free islands in the Sea of Marmara — the largest, Büyükada, is a Victorian resort of wooden Ottoman mansions, horse-drawn carriages, pine forests, and rocky swimming coves with views back to the Istanbul skyline. A perfect half-day escape from the city's intensity, ferrying through the Marmara with seagulls overhead and arriving at a quieter, greener Istanbul.

One of Istanbul's oldest and most beautiful Ottoman bathhouses, built in 1584 by the architect Sinan — a stunning domed marble hall with star-shaped skylights filtering light onto the central heated marble platform (göbektaşı). The full kese (exfoliation) and köpük (foam massage) treatment is a profound cultural immersion and leaves your skin feeling completely renewed.