Best Things to Do in Istanbul

Most of the famous sights are packed into Sultanahmet, within ten minutes' walk of each other. The trick is not to spend your whole trip there. This list moves from the obvious out into the rest of the city.

1. Hagia Sophia. Almost 1,500 years old and still astonishing. Foreign visitors now see it from the upper galleries with a ticket, as our Hagia Sophia guide explains.
2. The Blue Mosque. Officially the Sultanahmet Mosque, finished in 1616, with six minarets and a blue haze of İznik tiles inside. Free to enter outside prayer times. A long restoration ended in 2023, so the interior is brighter than it's been for decades.
3. Topkapı Palace. The sultans' palace for nearly four centuries: courtyards, pavilions over the water, the Treasury with the Spoonmaker's Diamond, and the Harem, which is included in some tickets and not others. Allow three hours. Closed on Tuesdays.
4. The Basilica Cistern. A 6th-century underground reservoir held up by 336 columns, two of them resting on carved Medusa heads. Since its restoration it has walkways and moody lighting, and it's the best place in Sultanahmet on a hot afternoon.
5. Süleymaniye Mosque. Built by the architect Sinan for Süleyman the Magnificent. Calmer than the Blue Mosque, with a terrace behind it looking over the Golden Horn. Our favourite mosque in the city.
6. The Grand Bazaar. A maze of covered streets, jewellers and carpet shops, closed on Sundays. We suggest a route in our Grand Bazaar guide.
7. The Spice Bazaar and Eminönü. The Mısır Çarşısı is smaller and sweeter-smelling. Walk the streets around it too, where locals buy coffee, cheese and cured beef (pastırma).
8. A Bosphorus ferry. The single thing we'd never skip. Options are in our Bosphorus guide.
9. Istanbul Archaeology Museums. In the grounds just below Topkapı, and overlooked by most visitors. The Alexander Sarcophagus alone is extraordinary.
10. Kadıköy. Take the ferry to the Asian side, eat your way through the market streets, then walk down to the seafront at Moda for sunset.
11. Balat and Fener. Steep lanes of painted wooden and brick houses on the Golden Horn, old Greek and Jewish quarters, and the cast-iron Bulgarian church of St Stephen.
12. A hamam. The Çemberlitaş Hamamı has been running since 1584. Lie on the heated marble, then get scrubbed with a rough mitt (kese) until you're pink.
13. Galata and İstiklal Avenue. The Galata Tower's queue is long, and the view of the tower from the lanes around it is almost as satisfying. Then walk up İstiklal to Taksim beside the red nostalgic tram.
14. Dolmabahçe Palace. The 19th-century palace on the Bosphorus, all crystal chandeliers and gilt. Atatürk died here in 1938, and the clocks are stopped at 9:05. Closed on Mondays.