3 perfect days in Istanbul

Istanbul—a sprawling and crowded ancient city—can be overwhelming on your first trip. I've been visiting for nearly 15 years for both work and personal travel, and it remains a destination that can light up my senses like no other and also still confuse me.

I've found that the best way to explore a place of this scale (one that straddles two continents) is to focus your visit around specific neighborhoods. You explore, soak it all in, and then leave for the next district. The unexpected upside of concentrating on one area at a time is that you can avoid dealing with the exhausting traffic that Istanbul has become famous for.

Like many cities around the Mediterranean, Istanbul is rich with history. But modern-day Istanbul is as cosmopolitan and dynamic as any global metropolis.

No trip to Istanbul is complete unless you're bouncing back and forth between Europe and Asia, but also between past, present, and future. The following three-day guide will make sure you don’t miss a thing.

For visitors, the heart of Istanbul is Sultanahmet, the city's Old Town, where some of its most recognizable archaeological and cultural attractions are located. Many world-class attractions are within easy walking distance of each other, making Sultanahmet a one-stop shop for iconic sights. The Hagia Sophia, Basilica Cistern, Blue Mosque, and Topkapı Palace are all stationed around the Hippodrome, which was built in 203 AD, so you can certainly hit all four in one day.

It's not impossible to plan this on your own, but it's probably best to book a Sultanahmet tour with a knowledgeable guide who can build an efficient schedule around the venues' various opening rules.

Both the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque are working places of worship that close at certain times of the day to accommodate prayer. It's also important to note that you can't use skip-the-line benefits at mosques.

The Basilica Cistern, which only reopened to visitors in 2023 following extensive upgrades, requires advance booking; otherwise, you must wait in a very long line. It is worth it, though. Of the hundreds of Byzantine-era cisterns under Istanbul, this is the largest, and it's also been beautifully decorated with lights and art installations. About 336 marble columns are holding up the cistern; most were sourced from ancient ruins around the former empire. The most famous of these columns are the ones that feature the head of Medusa as their base. Because you are following a walkway, the visit to the cistern is fairly quick and easy; you should get through the whole thing in 30 minutes.

You also need to invest plenty of time to see all of Topkapı Palace, which was first built as the court of the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century. It's ornate, it's grand, and it's full of stories. The harem, tucked underneath the Tower of Justice, was initially created as the sultan's private chamber, where he could engage in whatever he pleased with whomever he pleased. Its 300 rooms spread across six floors require a separate ticket for entry, but it is definitely worth it.

The great thing about Sultanahmet is that it concentrates a lot of activities in a small area. Some of the tours listed above include the Grand Bazaar, which is just over a 10-minute walk from the Hagia Sophia. A guided visit through this mammoth shopping destination (there are about 4,000 stalls) can help make sense of its scale. You can likely find anything you could think of buying (from silk textiles to opulent jewelry to enormous carpets). You just have to commit to the time.

Jennifer's Hamam is located just outside the Blue Mosque if you'd prefer your shopping to be more targeted. The shop works directly with family-owned weavers to sell beautiful carpets, linens, and scarves. Fast-drying Turkish towels make for great souvenirs.

You can also use this time to visit a local hammam. They're everywhere in the city, of course, but following a big day of sightseeing, a couple of hours of relaxation at a nearby hammam is the perfect afternoon cooldown. The Sultanahmet area has plenty to choose from, but Hurrem Sultan Hammam that has been operating since the 16th century is among the best. Its marble surfaces and soaring domed ceilings evoke grandeur typical of the best hammams in the city. This was the site of Istanbul's first bathhouse before the space became a prison and then a rug store. It's since been restored into one of the prettiest spas in town. You can choose from various treatments, from traditional exfoliating scrubs to more elaborate body masks. All of it will leave your skin softer than ever.

About a 15-minute walk north of the hammam, you'll reach Hodjapasha, a cultural center in what was once a former hammam. Every night at 7 p.m., it hosts a Whirling Dervish ceremony, a mystical, meditative Sufi ritual that has been practiced for centuries. Seeing dervishes dressed in traditional full-skirt white robes spin in rhythm can evoke an almost trance-like reaction. Then, close out a full day in the neighborhood with a traditional Turkish dinner (from vine leaves stuffed with rice and minced meat to oven-baked chicken with almonds, honey, cinnamon, and lemon juice) at Matbah, located near Hagia Sophia.

You can't come to Istanbul without seeing both the European and Asian sides of the city. Most big-name attractions are on the European side, so unless you make a concerted effort to cross the Bosphorus, you might miss the Asian side altogether. And because things to see and do there aren't as well-known, exploring the neighborhoods in Asia will also be much easier if you do it with a tour guide.

To go from the European side to the Asian side you will have to cross the Bosphorus on a ferry (Beşiktaş, Karaköy, and Eminönü are the major ferry terminals, where you can purchase tickets). On the boat, you'll get fantastic skyline views, but also keep an eye out for locals fishing along the banks of the water. It's genuinely one of the most emblematic scenes of the city.

Immediately, you'll notice that the Asian side has fewer tourists. There, you get a more relaxed and local POV of what Istanbul is like away from its tourist attractions. Thriving seaside neighborhoods like Kadıköy and Moda are always bustling with restaurants, shops, wine bars, markets, and cultural centers. If you have time, the district of Üsküdar, one of the city's oldest, is farther inland but well worth the detour. This diverse neighborhood has historic palaces, mosques, churches, synagogues, and dervish houses. Here, you can see the various cultures that have helped shape Istanbul over the centuries.

Before returning to the European side, pop into Çiya Sofrası for lunch. This popular restaurant, located about a 10-minute walk from the Kadıköy ferry station, is known for its wide assortment of Anatolian cuisine. Think rich aubergine stews, many preparations of lamb offals, perfectly seasoned kebabs, and much more.

Take the ferry back to Europe's Karaköy, one of Istanbul's historic business centers that fell into disrepair over the past several decades but is now gaining popularity with tourists. Given all the development here, Karaköy has become one of the most exciting pockets of the city. Less than a 15-minute walk from the ferry terminal is one of the pioneers of the district's most recent transformation.

When the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art opened in 2004, it was touted as the first of its kind in Turkey. Exhibitions span not just disciplines (from paintings to photography to digital art) but provenance, too; artists on display are both local and foreign.

If you feel like your energy level is dropping, pop into Karaköy Güllüoğlu for a much-needed sugar hit. This iconic pastry shop sells some of the most delectable baklava. A long line that snakes outside the storefront will tell you where it is. If you can’t find it, follow the scent of butter. The business has been treating locals and foreigners alike since 1848, so you know this baklava recipe (flakey, rich with honey, and crunchy with pistachio) has withstood the test of time. Another (fancier) mid-day snack option is the afternoon tea experience at the recently opened Peninsula Istanbul. Its Bauhaus lobby—previously the customs hall of the old cruise terminal—provides the location for an hour of finger sandwiches and Turkish coffee. Seconds away from the hotel, along the water, you'll also find Galataport, the new cruise terminal. There is a mini-mall attached, where you can peruse a dozen or so boutiques selling everything from of-the-moment clothing to ornate locally made jewelry.

When the sun sets, stay in the neighborhood to get a better sense of how bustling Karaköy is. For dinner, Karaköy Lokantası has long been a popular choice. They serve dozens and dozens of perfect-for-sharing mezzes, from pillowy yogurt-soaked meat dumplings to zesty salads. Don't forget to pair your meal with the equally robust menu of Turkish wines. If you want to continue to make a night of it, take the five-minute walk to Finn Karaköy, a stylish restaurant and bar where you can pick up a potent nightcap.

Start the day with a fortifying Turkish breakfast, a meal to be taken seriously in this part of the world. The national cuisine is full of unique dishes that make the first meal of the day not just hearty but culturally relevant, too. Any of the top hotels in the city (particularly the expansive ​​Ciragan Palace Kempinski Istanbul) will offer an enormous breakfast service.

But in the hip neighborhood of Cihangir, tuck into a veritable feast at Van Kahvalti Evi, known for its seriously generous breakfast spread of herbaceous local cheese, honey from the Van region (by the border with Iran), and menemen, eggs scrambled with veggies and tomatoes. In nearby Çukurcuma, there's a more global array of breakfast options (from eggs baked with local sausages to fluffy pancakes) at Cuma, a cozy yet stylish dining room with outdoor seating and vintage furniture.

Afterward, you can spend the rest of the morning exploring these two neighborhoods (they're right next to each other), where you'll spot modern art galleries, curated vintage stores, and some of the most sought-after bars and restaurants in town. Not far from Cuma, you can visit the Museum of Innocence, a moody gallery modeled after the best-selling novel of the same name by Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk. You can also spend hours getting lost at Alaturcahouse, a four-story treasure trove of art, antique furniture, handmade rugs, and much more.

About a 10-minute walk away is one of Istanbul's busiest thoroughfares: Istiklal Caddesi, which runs from Taksim Square (the city center) to the emblematic Galata Tower. Strolling this mile-long cobblestone pedestrian street is excellent for people-watching. You can also stop to snack on simit (a circular bread crusted with sesame seeds), roasted chestnuts, and corn.

If your visit to Istanbul falls on a Sunday, take advantage of the Ferikoy Flea Market in Bomonti (a residential neighborhood about two miles north of Taksim Square.) There are 450 stalls of vendors here, so you can easily spend a whole day finding a blast from the past worth taking home, including collectible toys, mid-century modern furniture, jewelry, artworks, first-edition books, and vinyl records.

Bomonti is next to Istanbul's ritziest district, so if you'd prefer your shopping to be more high-end designer and less pre-loved, make your way over to Nişantaşı. Here, you'll find international labels (from Zara to Prada) as well as local brands that you'll struggle to source outside Turkey, like womenswear designer Arzu Kaprol, who has a gorgeous flagship in the neighborhood.

It might be the most luxurious pocket of the city now, but Nişantaşı has a colorful past. It used to be the site of 18th-century archery competitions, and you'll find inscribed target stones all over.

If you'd rather skip the shopping for more cultural exploration, you can peruse the 1,000 years of history and artifacts displayed at the Harbiye Military Museum and Cultural Site Command.

SHOPPING TOUR OPTIONS

Given the luxe atmosphere in Nişantaşı, you won't lack for upscale dining options in the neighborhood. But you should call an Uber back to Bomonti for an unforgettable tasting meal at Turk Fatih Tutak, the country's only two-Michelin-star restaurant. The intimate dining room is Chef Tutak's playground, where he pays homage to Turkish ingredients and flavors. The most exciting parts of the meal are the courses where Tutak transforms classic Turkish street food into moments of fine-dining genius. I’m a fan of his take on the dolma mussels.