{"id":74,"date":"2026-07-27T10:54:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T10:54:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.touriza.org\/?touriza_city=istanbul"},"modified":"2026-09-17T14:19:38","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T14:19:38","slug":"istanbul","status":"publish","type":"touriza_city","link":"https:\/\/www.touriza.org\/?touriza_city=istanbul","title":{"rendered":"Istanbul"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Why go<\/h2>\n<p>Istanbul&#39;s geography does the work: a strait through the middle, ferries as commuter transport, and a skyline of domes and minarets that reads much as it did in prints from 1650. The Asian side is where locals live and eat best.<\/p>\n<h2>Five things to do<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"rule-list\">\n<li>\n<div style=\"display:flex;gap:14px\"><span class=\"n\">01<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<h4>Bosphorus ferry to Anadolu Kava\u011f\u0131<\/h4>\n<p class=\"small muted\" style=\"margin-top:4px\">Ninety minutes each way.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div style=\"display:flex;gap:14px\"><span class=\"n\">02<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<h4>Hagia Sophia and the Basilica Cistern<\/h4>\n<p class=\"small muted\" style=\"margin-top:4px\">Booked slots, early.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div style=\"display:flex;gap:14px\"><span class=\"n\">03<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<h4>A Turkish breakfast in Kad\u0131k\u00f6y<\/h4>\n<p class=\"small muted\" style=\"margin-top:4px\">Twenty small plates, two hours.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div style=\"display:flex;gap:14px\"><span class=\"n\">04<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<h4>S\u00fcleymaniye Mosque terrace<\/h4>\n<p class=\"small muted\" style=\"margin-top:4px\">The best free view in the city.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div style=\"display:flex;gap:14px\"><span class=\"n\">05<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<h4>Grand Bazaar, then the Spice Bazaar<\/h4>\n<p class=\"small muted\" style=\"margin-top:4px\">Trade first, then eat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Neighbourhoods<\/h2>\n<div class=\"grid g2\">\n<div class=\"panel\">\n<h4 style=\"border:0;padding:0;margin-bottom:6px\">Sultanahmet<\/h4>\n<p class=\"small muted\">Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the cisterns.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"panel\">\n<h4 style=\"border:0;padding:0;margin-bottom:6px\">Karak\u00f6y &amp; Galata<\/h4>\n<p class=\"small muted\">Coffee, design shops, the tower.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"panel\">\n<h4 style=\"border:0;padding:0;margin-bottom:6px\">Kad\u0131k\u00f6y<\/h4>\n<p class=\"small muted\">The Asian side&#39;s market and bar quarter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"panel\">\n<h4 style=\"border:0;padding:0;margin-bottom:6px\">Balat<\/h4>\n<p class=\"small muted\">Coloured houses, antique shops, Sunday quiet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Getting around<\/h2>\n<p>Buy the transport card on arrival \u2014 every city on this list has one, and it is cheaper than single fares within about four journeys. Walking covers more than the map suggests: most of the districts above are within thirty minutes of each other on foot.<\/p>\n<p>Taxis and ride apps are worth it late at night and when you are carrying luggage. Everything else is faster on the metro, the tram or the ferry, in that order.<\/p>\n<h2>Where to eat<\/h2>\n<p>The rule that holds in Istanbul is the rule that holds everywhere: eat at the busy place, at the hour the locals eat, and order the thing the kitchen makes most of. Reserve for dinner in the districts above; lunch rarely needs it.<\/p>\n<h2>Two days here<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Morning: Bosphorus ferry to Anadolu Kava\u011f\u0131<\/li>\n<li>Afternoon: walk Sultanahmet<\/li>\n<li>Evening: A Turkish breakfast in Kad\u0131k\u00f6y<\/li>\n<li>Day two: Grand Bazaar, then the Spice Bazaar<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The only city on two continents, and it uses both.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":121,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"touriza_continent":[2],"touriza_theme":[],"class_list":["post-74","touriza_city","type-touriza_city","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","touriza_continent-asia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touriza.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/touriza_city\/74","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touriza.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/touriza_city"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touriza.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/touriza_city"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touriza.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touriza.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=74"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.touriza.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/touriza_city\/74\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":205,"href":"https:\/\/www.touriza.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/touriza_city\/74\/revisions\/205"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touriza.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touriza.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=74"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"touriza_continent","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touriza.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftouriza_continent&post=74"},{"taxonomy":"touriza_theme","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touriza.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftouriza_theme&post=74"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}