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Sultan's Inn, Istanbul, Turkey

 

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ISTANBUL'S TOP SIGHTS

These are the sights you should be sure to see, ranked in order of importance and ease of access. (Here are daily itineraries for the top sites.) Luckily, the first six are close together near Sultanahmet Square. You can visit them on your own, or on Backpackers Travel's value-for-money Old Istanbul Guided Walking Tour. Sites farther out (Kariye mosaics, City Walls, Tekfur Saray, Ecumenical Patriarchate) can easily be visited on a Kariye & City Walls tour.)

I've also made up self-guided walking tours.

1. Topkapı Palace: home (and Harem!) of the sultans

2. Ayasofya (Hagia Sophia): changed the course of Western architecture; greatest church in Christendom for 1000 years

3. Sultanahmet (Blue) Mosque: Islam's elegant answer to Ayasofya, with six minarets and blue interior tiles

4. Byzantine Hippodrome: the political and recreational heart of Byzantine Constantinople and Ottoman Istanbul

5. Turkish & Islamic Arts Museum: facing the Blue Mosque on the Hippodrome, a treasure-house of 1000 years of fine art

6. Basilica Cistern (Yerebatan Sarnıçı): an eerie subterranean "sunken palace" of 336 marble columns which could hold 80,000 cubic feet of water in case of drought or siege

7. Grand Bazaar: the ultimate medieval "shopping center," with 4000 shops, fun whether you buy or just browse

8. Egyptian (Spice) Market: food, spices, coffee, snacks and some touristy stuff

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9. Beyoğlu: the romance of 19th-century Istanbul

10. Dolmabahçe Palace: the sultan's sumptuous new (1856) European-style palace on the Bosphorus

11. Bosphorus Cruise: the perfect 90-minute, half-day or full-day Istanbul excursion, up toward the Black Sea past castles, palaces and Ottoman-Victorian villages

12. Princes' Islands: get away to islands with Victorian-era towns free of motor vehicles: walk, bicycle, or take a horse-drawn carriage tour

MORE ISTANBUL SIGHTS
These sights are also important but more difficult to get to, or of narrower appeal. More...

EXCURSIONS FROM ISTANBUL
Want to get out of the city? Here are the best one-day and overnight destinations. More...

ITINERARIES & TOURS:

Istanbul in 1 Day

Weekend in Istanbul

Excursions from Istanbul

Turkey in 2 to 5 Days

Top Sights in 6 Days

Best Itineraries

Best Guided Tours


Istanbul Hotels

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Ortakoy Mosque, Bosphorus, Istanbul, Turkey Ortaköy Mosque on the Bosphorus in Istanbul.
 
Blue Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey
Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Camii), Istanbul.

Turkey: Bright Sun, Strong Tea, by Tom Brosnahan
Get more out of your trip: read all about Istanbul and Turkey before you go, on the plane, at bedtime. More...