Sogukcesme Street is a two-hundred-metre lane that connects the area behind Hagia Sophia with the gate of Topkapi Palace. If you are walking between the two, taking this route instead of the main road costs nothing and is considerably more pleasant. The wooden houses along it were built in the nineteenth century for palace employees […]

The Basilica Cistern is one of the few sights in the old city that works well in the middle of the day. It is underground, the temperature stays around fifteen degrees, and the visit takes under an hour. Built in the sixth century to supply the Great Palace, it holds three hundred and thirty-six columns […]

Topkapi Palace covers a large site, and knowing that in advance changes how you plan the visit. Four courtyards run one after another, with the Harem branching off the second; seeing everything without hurrying takes about four hours. Practical points: tickets for the palace and the Harem are separate, queues are shortest in the first […]

Gulhane Park was once the outer garden of Topkapi Palace, closed to everyone but the court. Today it is a public park, and it remains the easiest place in the old city to step out of the crowd without leaving it. The main avenue runs under old plane trees from the Sultanahmet end down towards […]

Hagia Sophia has stood for almost fifteen centuries, and in that time it has been a cathedral, a mosque, a museum, and a mosque again. Few buildings anywhere carry that many lives in one structure, and the layers are visible the moment you step inside: Byzantine mosaics on one wall, Ottoman calligraphy medallions on the […]

Dolmabahce Palace is on the European shore of the Bosphorus at Besiktas, and unlike most sights near the hotel it needs a journey rather than a walk. Practical details: visits are guided only and follow a fixed route. Two ticket types exist — the Selamlik, the state apartments, or a combined ticket including the Harem. […]

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque, built between 1609 and 1617, stands opposite Hagia Sophia across a public square. It is an active mosque, not a museum, and it is free to enter. Practical points. Visitors use the dedicated entrance on the south side rather than the main courtyard gate. Shoes come off and are carried in […]

Sultanahmet Square occupies the ground of the Byzantine Hippodrome, between Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. It functions today as a public park and is the natural starting point for a day in the old city. Three ancient monuments stand along it, all free to see and all outdoors: the Obelisk of Theodosius, Egyptian and […]

The Istanbul Archaeological Museums are next to Topkapi Palace, entered from the Gulhane side. Three buildings share one ticket: the main museum, the Museum of the Ancient Orient, and the Tiled Kiosk of 1472. Practical notes: closed Mondays, open roughly 09:00 to 18:30 in summer and until 17:00 in winter. The collection exceeds a million […]

The Tomb of Sultan Ahmed I is at the northern corner of the Blue Mosque complex, on the Sultanahmet Square side. Ahmed I commissioned the mosque and was buried here in 1617. Practical details: entry is free, the visit takes about ten minutes, and the building is closed on Mondays. Shoes are removed at the […]

The Fountain of Ahmed III stands in the square between Hagia Sophia and the main gate of Topkapi Palace, so you pass it on the way to both. It dates from 1728. It is an outdoor monument: no ticket, no opening hours, nothing to queue for. Four facades each carry a fountain niche, the corners […]