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Istanbul is a city that spans great bodies of water, joining the continents of Europe and Asia across the Bosphorus.

Although to most people "Old Istanbul" means the historic European peninsula with Topkapı Palace, Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and Byzantine Hippodrome, the first known settlement in this area was actually at Chalcedon (Kadıköy) on the Asian shore.

Today the Asian districts of Istanbul, including Üsküdar (Scutari), Haydarpaşa, Kadıköy and other districts along the eastern Sea of Marmara shore, are more than just residential suburbs.

Much of the city's growth is eastward on the Asian side. The burgeoning business center at Kozyatağı, the Istanbul Park auto racetrack and Sabiha Gökçen Airport at Kurtköy, are important Istanbul destinations in their own right.

For most visitors to Istanbul, however, the Asian shore is a place to visit for a few hours or a day-trip.

Take a ferry from the Eminönü ferry docks to Üsküdar, visit its historic mosques and its lively shopping districts for a few hours, then float back to the European side, having taken an intercontinental cruise in a day!

Go north from Üsküdar by bus or taxi to Beylerbeyi to visit the gem of an Ottoman palace of that name. More...

Go south from Üsküdar to the Asian railroad terminus at Haydarpaşa Station and, across the bay from the station, the bustling suburb of Kadıköy. (Haydarpaşa and Kadıköy have their own ferry service to Karaköy, by the way.)

Farther southeast along the Sea of Marmara shore are some of Istanbul's nicest garden suburbs: Fenerbahçe, Suadiye, Bostancı, and Pendik, reachable by suburban train (banliyö treni) from Haydarpaşa Station, or by fast seabus catamaran ferry from Kabataş or Yenikapı.

The Princes Islands in the Sea of Marmara are also reachable from Bostancı, and from Pendik a car ferry sails to Yalova on the Marmara's southeastern shore.