Istanbul ·
Ferries, simit and old streets
Travellers have been filling journals with Istanbul for centuries: a city split by the Bosphorus, where the oldest ferry company traces its roots to 1851. Begin with a sesame simit from a street vendor. Then let old quarters, quiet museums and long-established cafés carry you from Europe to Asia and back.
Places
Balat
On the western shore of the Golden Horn, Balat was once the heart of Istanbul's Jewish community, alongside Greek, Armenian and Bulgarian neighbours. Its colourful repainted houses lie within UNESCO's Historic Areas of Istanbul.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Cihangir
A hillside Beyoğlu neighbourhood of narrow streets and street cafés, long known for its artists, writers and many street cats. Its mosque, rebuilt in 1889, looks out across the Bosphorus.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Kadıköy
On the Asian shore, on the site of ancient Chalcedon, Kadıköy is the liberal cultural centre of the Anatolian side, with bookshops, cinemas, a large food market and the creative Moda quarter.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Food and drink
Simit
Istanbul has made this sesame-crusted bread ring since at least 1525. Vendors still sell it from carts or trays carried on their heads, and it is traditionally eaten with tea, often at breakfast (kahvaltı).
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org
Turkish coffee
Brewed slowly in a small pot and served with a glass of water, Turkish coffee is a ritual of conversation. UNESCO inscribed its culture and tradition as intangible heritage in 2013.
Sources: ich.unesco.org
Vefa Bozacısı
Founded in 1876 in the old Vefa quarter, it is the city's oldest shop still selling boza, a grain drink usually topped with chickpeas. A cup Atatürk drank from is kept in a glass case.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Culture
Pera Museum
Opened in 2005 in the former Bristol Hotel (1893). Its Orientalist collection includes Osman Hamdi Bey's The Tortoise Trainer, alongside Kütahya ceramics and Anatolian weights and measures.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Istanbul Modern
Turkey's first museum of modern and contemporary art opened in 2004. Since 2023 it has occupied a Renzo Piano-designed building on the Karaköy shore of the Bosphorus.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
The Museum of Innocence
Novelist Orhan Pamuk created this museum, a companion to his novel of the same name, in a 19th-century wooden house in Çukurcuma. It opened in 2012 and was named European Museum of the Year in 2014.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Things to do
Cross continents by public ferry
The municipal Şehir Hatları line links Kadıköy, Karaköy and Eminönü. The operator's roots go back to the Şirket-i Hayriye, founded in 1851, so the commute doubles as a journey into the city's past.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
A Bosphorus tour
Şehir Hatları also runs long and short Bosphorus tours, a slower way to watch the waterside villages and palaces slide by.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Galata Tower
Built by Genoese settlers in 1348 as the 'Tower of Christ', this medieval watchtower is now a museum and a symbol of Beyoğlu.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Tips
Get an Istanbulkart
One contactless card covers buses, the Metrobus, trams, the metro, funiculars, Marmaray trains and ferries. Several travellers can share a card by tapping in turn.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Use ferries as everyday transport
Locals cross the Bosphorus by ferry every day, and Kadıköy is one of the city's main ferry hubs. It is often the most pleasant way to get between the two shores.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org
Mosque etiquette
Dress modestly, take off your shoes before stepping on the carpets, and women should cover their hair. Avoid prayer times and Friday from late morning to early afternoon.
Sources: turkeytravelplanner.com
