Istanbul – City of Majesty (Nov 25)
I’ve always wanted to visit this city but hadn’t got around to it…
Why did I leave it so long?
It’s an extraordinarily vibrant and bustling city, spanning both sides of the Bosphorus Strait. Unique in many ways: continental Europe on one side, Asia on the other.
Emma had been here before, 30 years ago but I wasn’t sure what to expect, perhaps a city less developed, a bit more edgy, and maybe a little dirtier. I was pleasantly surprised by what we found. I’ve visited quite a few northern European cities, including some in the UK, that don’t feel as safe, clean, or tidy.
Wandering the backstreets, it isn’t hard to find the best of European culture:- swanky restaurants, tiny cafés, cobblestone streets and fine architecture.
Turn another corner and you’ll find the exotic sights, wonderful smells, and sounds of this region: labyrinthine alleyways, bustling markets, and plenty of life and noise.
It’s an incredibly cosmopolitan place too — the best of both worlds, and, as we were to discover later in our trip, home to architecture that rivals anywhere in Europe.
Of course, the skyline is dominated by huge mosques, the very first thing we noticed (and expected). But Turkey is a country built on tolerance; it has been an independent secular republic since 1928, when the government introduced strict separation between religion and the affairs of state.
There are Christian places of worship too, and plenty of visible evidence of its Roman and Christian past, much of which is celebrated.
For thousands of years Istanbul, or Constantinople as it was previously known, has been at the crossroads of humanity. Rome, Christendom, and Islam have all laid claim to this remarkable and strategically important city. We didn’t have to look far to find examples of them all.
Neither of us are religious, but we do find their history fascinating.
It’s nice to see the tolerance here for different cultures, and the celebration of history — wherever it’s from.
Sadly, on this relatively short trip, we were only able to sample a tiny slice of its past. We’ll just have to come back!
Luxury Sunset Cruise on the Bosphorus
Our hotel manager suggested this trip and given the glorious weather, it was a bit of a no-brainer. That said, we almost felt duty-bound to book it once he’d recommended it. The hotel had been amazing, having refunded us a night’s accommodation without quibble (we’d mistakenly booked an extra night thanks to a flight mix-up, 10/10 for service; see Hints and Tips section later). The refund even hit our account the day we checked out!
So, at 15:15 sharp, we were met at the hotel by the tour rep from Velena Travel (details in ‘Hints and Tips’ section below), who led us to our boat near Dolmabahçe Palace on the other side of the city.
The weather couldn’t have been better as our vessel headed up towards the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, roughly halfway to the Black Sea. We hugged the European shoreline on the way up, and the Asian shore on the way down. A bottle of wine, good food, and a guide narrating the history of palaces and mansions along the route — it was a perfect evening.
As the sun dipped, so did the temperature, so it was time to pull on our jackets and jumpers. The sunset over the city was spectacular. The final bridge of the three was the Galata Köprüsü, at the mouth of the Golden Horn.
The Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque
We visited this with our guide, Eyup. He joined us at 9:00 a.m. at the hotel, and we spent over seven hours with him touring various sights across the city.
This mosque was the closest to our accommodation – and by close, I mean open the window and there it is! Day and night it looked imposing, and five times a day the call to prayer reverberated across the city.
It’s an alarm call that Emma (even with earplugs firmly inserted) slept through only once. No such luck for me – every morning, just before dawn, I was inducted into the wide-awake club. The only thing more intrusive would have been a Turk in a kaftan bursting through the door with a bucket of cold water! But when in Rome, as they say… We knew this would happen. The local adhan here isn’t recorded but performed live by the muezzin, and thankfully the early morning calls were a little gentler than those later in the day. I got used to it quickly.
This building has a complex history. Originally built in 360 AD, it served as an Eastern Orthodox cathedral for over a thousand years (apart from a brief period during the Crusades when it was switched to Catholicism). Then, after the fall of Constantinople in the 1400s, it became a mosque and remained so for nearly 500 years. It briefly became a museum after the Turkish Republic was established in the 1930s, but reverted to a place of worship in 2020.
Luckily, the structure has remained largely intact — a real fusion of design. Many of the old Christian and Roman mosaics and murals remain alongside Islamic art. It’s a fascinating structure with a layered and complex past.
Topkapi Palace
Opulence and majesty are the two words that immediately spring to mind when wandering through the palace. What an existence its rulers must have led!
I’m not even going to try to summarise the history here – it’s somewhere you simply have to see. There are four courtyards, and we spent a few hours exploring them, but honestly, you could spend two full days here and still not see it all.
An absolutely amazing palace and worth every lira of the (high) entrance fee. The more corners you turned, the more you realised this place operated on a completely different level to most of the rest of the world – at the time.
Jaw-droppingly beautiful, I felt I’d had my money’s worth even without the museums crammed full of artefacts from its rich past.
I risked neck ache every time I looked up – the artwork on the inside of the domes was breathtaking!
Hidden among the thousands of artefacts on display was an Order of the Garter presented by Queen Victoria 150 years ago.
The Grand Bazaar
Wow – this place is absolutely HUGE.
Originally built in 1455, it’s one of the oldest and largest covered markets in the world, covering almost 60,000 square metres. There are dozens of entrances, and it’s very easy to get lost or disorientated.
We spent a few hours wandering around, browsing, and trying our best to avoid eye contact with the traders. That said, we couldn’t resist buying something, so we ducked into a few stalls to practise our haggling skills and make a few small purchases.
The bazaar is divided into sections – gold, leather, pottery, carpets, dresses, antiques, books, calligraphy… I could go on!
The labyrinth of alleys seems to go on forever, both inside and spilling into the surrounding streets. It’s a place best enjoyed slowly – exploring, getting a bit lost, and “testing” prices to make sure you’ve got your bargaining pitch just right. One thing we both noticed was how clean everything was. Nice to see.
The Blue Mosque
Now this is one of the big draws, and somewhere that really must be seen, but at the right time. It’s free to enter and attracts huge crowds, so we went early in the morning rather than in the heat of the day.
The large, imposing domes (fourteen in total) are flanked by six tall minarets. Inside, a vast external courtyard leads to the mosque’s interior, which is stunning. Over 21,000 handmade tiles adorn the walls, with intricate artwork covering the ceilings. It really is breathtaking.
Our guide was keen to explain the history of the site and talk a little about Islam, its connections with Christianity, Moses, Jesus, and plenty of other Old Testament figures. The tour was a mix of history and theology – my guess is that, come Judgement Day, our guide wants to be able to say he tried to introduce us to his faith! We even walked away with our own copy of the Quran. Fair play!
Night-time and evenings..
We just LOVE the food here – fresh, full of goodness, and packed with flavour. Lots of vegetables, salads, and huge hits of spice in almost everything.
One evening, as we strolled along the road beside the Bosphorus, we spotted a long queue forming around a tiny street stall. Most of the people waiting looked like locals (although I suspect many were curious tourists from elsewhere in Turkey). We joined them.
Wow. For 250₺ (about £4.50), we got a large fish wrap – absolutely stuffed with salad and spices. The seller made them in batches, and they flew off the counter as fast as he could roll them. I’m sure plenty of other places sell similar food, but on this occasion, I was happy to go with the crowd.
Other nights, we went a bit more upmarket – like our visit to the Four Seasons Hotel for a glass of good wine and a mocktail.
In truth, everywhere we ate was top drawer: delicious food, reasonably priced, and good-quality local wine. At one restaurant we noticed different priced menus, one for locals and another for tourists. Naturally, we found and used the local one… but we did leave a generous tip!
Sad to leave
With our return flight being so late (22:40), we were able to spend our final day simply wandering the city and soaking up the atmosphere. It’s a place full of contrasts -ancient and modern, European and Asian – and we left wanting to discover much more of it.
We genuinely felt we’d only scratched the surface, but even in a few short days, we got a real sense of the place and felt incredibly comfortable.
The pictures on this blog don’t do Istanbul justice. If these words or images inspire you, just book the flight – you won’t be disappointed. It’s a real gem..
Hints, Tips and Recommendations
This really was a bargain trip.
Flights
£30.50 per person per flight with WizzAir – usual trick of booking via their App!
Accommodation
We stayed in a place called the BOUTIQUE HOTEL SAINT SOPHIA. It was quite possibly one of the best value hotels we’ve found in recent times.
The price was only £45 per person per night, which included a great Turkish breakfast, along with afternoon tea/coffee and cake – gratis. The breakfast was huge, I mean huge and really great quality and came with bottomless coffee and fruit drinks.
The service was excellent, I’d seriously rate it 10/10.
We completely lucked out here. That said, I did spend hours researching hotels, looking for one in the centre of Istanbul.
The location of the hotel was genuinely only a few metres from the main Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque, that’s the view out of our bedroom window below!.
It is also a stone’s throw away from all the key tourist spots and the tram stop a mere 2 minute walk.
The bed was incredibly comfortable, the room quiet and the bathroom perfect.
But what set this aside was the customer service – which was excellent. I mentioned earlier that the hotel staff helped us with our itinerary and also refunded us a night which we’d already paid for, on account of a mix up with the airline travel date. The hotel was not contractually bound to offer the refund as we’d gone well beyond the free cancellation deadline – but they did it anyway – great service!
Transport
You can pick up the Istanbul public transport card at the airport train station for about 130 ₺ (which is around £2.30). This is a “top up” card (a bit like an Oyster card in London) which provides access to buses, trains and trams. Buy the card and then add around 200 ₺ to start off.
Most individual journeys are around 35 ₺
It’s all quite straight forward. You scan the card on the machines ahead of travel, and jump on the train/bus/tram. If you don’t have enough credit it can be topped up at the machine by most entrances.
We arrived early enough to travel to the city by train and tram, as opposed the taxi, which would have set us back around £25 – £30. It meant we could also use the card during the rest of our trip, for journeys across the city, and on our return to the airport.
The only downside on public transport here is that their maps are not entirely accurate, and signage isn’t as clear as it could be. For example the M11 train line on the map included a few stations that haven’t been built yet! so we had to wing it on the way to the city, which could have been stressful had it been later in the day. But on the plus side, we managed to realise what was happening quickly and took an alternate route.
Guide
You can book a registered guide via your hotel (that’ll ensure it arrives on time), or any tourist info spot. If you go to Saint Sophia ask for Eyüp – he speaks Spanish and English and is a fully registered guide.
He picked us up at 09:00 and our tour finished at 16:00
Luxury Boat Trip
Courtesy of the hotel, we used a travel firm called “Velenatravel.com“. Book via the hotel to ensure it arrives on time and at the right place.
Well done. Lawrence , blogs are fab