Check the spelling, or browse the hierarchy from the country page.
City guide · Türkiye
Theme: History, Up to 1 hour in Istanbul, Türkiye — page 3
Two continents, three empires and one strait that everything else is arranged around. The old capital rewards a plan: the great monuments sit within a twenty-mi...
Two continents, three empires and one strait that everything else is arranged around. The old capital rewards a plan: the great monuments sit within a twenty-minute walk of each other in Fatih, and almost everything else is a ferry ride away.
September · September in Istanbul has mean high 25.0°C, mean low 15.5°C, rainfall 44.3 mm, and 6.1 rain days. Mild temperatures and lower rainfall favour ferry rides and walking districts. September supports a full day of outdoor stops in Istanbul.
Near the Sarayburnu end of Gülhane Park, well away from the gate most visitors use, a single fluted shaft with a Corinthian capital stands among the trees carrying a Latin inscription: FORTVNAE REDVCI OB DEVICTOS GOTHOS — to Fortuna, who…
A single granite column stands in a small railed square off Kıztaşı Caddesi in Fatih, and almost everybody who has heard of Istanbul has never heard of it.
The Monument of Liberty is an Ottoman-era memorial in Şişli commemorating the officers and soldiers who died putting down the countercoup of 31 March 1909 against the Young Turk constitutional government, an episode known in Turkish as the 31 Mart…
Çiçek Pasajı is a covered arcade off İstiklal Caddesi in Beyoğlu, built in 1876 to the design of the architect Kleanthis Zannos and opened as the Cité de Péra.
The Tiled Kiosk, Çinili Köşk, is the oldest non-religious Ottoman building in Istanbul and the odd one out among the city's Ottoman monuments: it does not look Ottoman.
The Column of Arcadius is one of Constantinople's lost monuments, and what is left of it is the reason to come: a stump of imperial propaganda wedged between apartment blocks in Fatih.
The Quincentennial Foundation Museum of Turkish Jews tells the story of a community that has been in this city far longer than most of the monuments around it.
Bodrum Mosque is the church of the Myrelaion, built around 920 by Romanos I Lekapenos as the chapel of his own palace, and it is one of the very few tenth-century churches of Constantinople still standing.
Eksarhhane is a historic building in the Fener district that housed the seat of the Bulgarian Exarchate, the autocephalous Bulgarian Orthodox church established in 1870 and centred in Istanbul until the Ottoman Empire's Bulgarian population and administration shifted after the…
The German Fountain is an octagonal, neo-Byzantine gazebo fountain standing in Sultanahmet Square, a gift from German Emperor Wilhelm II to Sultan Abdul Hamid II to mark the Kaiser's 1898 state visit to Istanbul.
The Fountain of Ahmed III stands just outside the Imperial Gate of Topkapı Palace, built in 1728 by Sultan Ahmed III during the Tulip Period, the era of Ottoman architecture known for its ornate, floral Baroque-influenced style.
The New Mosque at Eminönü took sixty-six years to build, most of them spent as a ruin. Safiye Sultan — wife of Murad III and later Valide Sultan — ordered it in 1597.
Its proper name is the Büyük Mecidiye Camii, the Great Mosque of Sultan Abdülmecid, and it stands at the water's edge of the Ortaköy pier square in Beşiktaş, on the European shore of the Bosphorus.
District boundaries come from OSM administrative relations, so a district page holds exactly the places inside it — plus, for the islands and the coast, the nearest district by proximity.
South of the Horn, in Fatih, the monumental core is walkable end to end: Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Basilica Cistern and Topkapı sit inside one square kilometre.
North of the Horn, Beyoğlu climbs from Karaköy to Taksim and is where the city eats and drinks late. Across the Bosphorus, Kadıköy and Üsküdar are residential, cheaper and reached best by ferry rather than by bridge.
One contactless card covers tram, metro, funicular, bus and ferry, and it is the only ticket most visitors need.
The T1 tram threads the monumental core; the M2 metro crosses the Horn to Taksim. Ferries are the fastest way between the European and Asian sides and cost the same as a tram ride. Traffic on the bridges is unpredictable enough that a taxi is rarely faster.
Three days covers the monumental core in Fatih without rushing. Five lets you add Beyoğlu, a Bosphorus ferry and one of the Asian-side neighbourhoods.
Can visitors enter the mosques?
Yes, outside prayer times. Shoulders and knees should be covered, shoes come off at the door, and women cover their hair; scarves are lent at the larger mosques.
Is the Bosphorus cruise worth it?
The scheduled public ferry runs the same water as the tourist cruises for a fraction of the fare, and stops at neighbourhoods you can walk around before catching the next one back.
Which side should you stay on?
Fatih puts you inside walking distance of the monuments. Beyoğlu is livelier at night and still two tram stops away. The Asian side is cheaper and quieter but adds a ferry to every sightseeing day.
When is the city least crowded?
April to June and September to October are warm without the July heat or the cruise-ship peak. January and February are cold and wet but the queues disappear.
Cookie choices
Advertising is currently off. Where consent is required, optional cookies wait for your choice. Declining switches analytics off.
33 15 min
34 10 min
35 10 min
36 30 min
37 15 min
38 20 min
39 45 min
40 45 min
41 20 min
42 30 min
43 15 min
44 25 min
45 1 hour
46 20 min
47 45 min
48 45 min
49 1 hour
50 15 min
51 10 min
52 25 min
53 10 min
54 30 min
55 30 min
56 20 min
