Smart Self-Managed Tours

City guide · Türkiye

Istanbul

A photograph of Istanbul
Photograph · Ben Morlok · CC BY-SA 2.0

Two continents, three empires and one strait that everything else is arranged around. The old capital rewards a plan: the great monuments sit within a twenty-minute walk of each other in Fatih, and almost everything else is a ferry ride away.

Reviewed by Elena Voss · SSMTour Travel Editor

Practical information

Language spoken
Turkish
The official language of the Republic of Turkiye
Dialling code
+90 212 · +90 216
212 on the European side, 216 on the Asian; drop the leading 0 from abroad
Currency
Turkish lira (₺, TRY)
The official currency; one lira is divided into 100 kurus
Emergency number
112
One number for ambulance, fire and police
Plug type
European two-pin · 220 V
The national living guide records 220 V and European-style two-pin plugs
Tap water
Not recorded
No verified national source in the dataset

Turn this list into a plan

Set your days, your pace and the hours you actually want to be out. The planner works around closing days and travel time, and leaves room to eat.

Plan Istanbul

Planning a visit

Suggested stay
3–5 days
Getting around
Tram, metro and ferry
  1. January: viable with meaningful trade-offs
  2. February: viable with meaningful trade-offs
  3. March: good time to visit
  4. April: best time to visit
  5. May: best time to visit
  6. June: best time to visit
  7. July: good time to visit
  8. August: good time to visit
  9. September: best time to visit — current month
  10. October: good time to visit
  11. November: viable with meaningful trade-offs
  12. December: viable with meaningful trade-offs
  • Best time
  • Good time
  • Viable with trade-offs
  • Difficult conditions

Sources

Top things to see

Ranked by importance — sitelinks, pageviews and heritage status, not editor preference.

Filter the list

125 places match

Category

Typical visit duration

Interests

  1. Bosphorus cruise from Eminönü Bosphorus cruise from Eminönü
    02 2 hours

    Bosphorus cruise from Eminönü

    The Long Bosphorus Tour is Şehir Hatları's own scenic ferry, running the full length of the strait from Eminönü, on the historic peninsula, north to Anadolu Kavağı near the mouth of the Black Sea, then back the same way.

    • Must see
    • Activity
    • Fatih
  2. Sultan Ahmed Mosque Sultan Ahmed Mosque
    03 45 min

    Sultan Ahmed Mosque

    Sultanahmet Camii

    The Blue Mosque was built for Ahmed I between 1609 and 1617, and it is the only imperial mosque in Istanbul that faces Hagia Sophia across open ground rather than standing apart from it.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Fatih
  3. Süleymaniye Mosque Süleymaniye Mosque
    04 45 min

    Süleymaniye Mosque

    Süleymaniye Camii

    The Süleymaniye is Sinan's imperial mosque for Süleyman the Magnificent, founded in 1550 and inaugurated in 1557, and it is the one to see if you only see one.

    • Must see
    • Place of worship
    • Fatih
  4. Topkapı Palace Topkapı Palace
    05 3 hours

    Topkapı Palace

    Topkapi Sarayı

    Topkapı was the seat of the Ottoman empire for nearly four centuries.

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Fatih
  5. Spice Bazaar Spice Bazaar
    06 45 min

    Spice Bazaar

    Mısır Çarşısı

    The Spice Bazaar is a covered market hall in Eminönü that was paid for by an empire's tax farm and built to keep a mosque solvent.

    • Must see
    • Market
    • Fatih
  6. Galata Tower Galata Tower
    07 45 min

    Galata Tower

    Galata Kulesi

    The Galata Tower is the Genoese watchtower on the hill across the Golden Horn, built in 1348 as the Christea Turris — the Tower of Christ — at the highest point of their walled colony.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Beyoğlu
  7. Main Building of the Istanbul Archaeological Museums Main Building of the Istanbul Archaeological Museums
    08 2 hours

    Main Building of the Istanbul Archaeological Museums

    İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzesi

    This is the main building of the Istanbul Archaeological Museums, the oldest purpose-built museum in Turkey and the one the whole complex is named after.

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Fatih
  8. Hippodrome of Constantinople Hippodrome of Constantinople
    09 30 min

    Hippodrome of Constantinople

    Sultanahmet Meydanı

    The Hippodrome was where Constantinople did its politics.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Fatih
  9. Grand Bazaar Grand Bazaar
    10 1 hr 30 min

    Grand Bazaar

    Kapalı Çarşı

    The Grand Bazaar is a covered city of shops that Mehmed II began building in the winter of 1455/56, within three years of taking Constantinople.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Fatih
  10. Dolmabahçe Palace Dolmabahçe Palace
    11 2 hours

    Dolmabahçe Palace

    Dolmabahçe Sarayı

    Dolmabahçe is what the Ottoman empire built when it decided to look European, and what that decision cost.

    • Must see
    • Nature site
    • Beşiktaş
  11. Basilica Cistern Basilica Cistern
    12 45 min

    Basilica Cistern

    Yerebatan Sarnıcı

    The Basilica Cistern is a sixth-century water store the size of a cathedral, under a street in Sultanahmet, built for Justinian I. Historical texts say 7,000 enslaved people built it.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Fatih
  12. Ferry to the Princes' Islands Ferry to the Princes' Islands
    13 5 hours

    Ferry to the Princes' Islands

    The public ferry to the Princes' Islands — Adalar, officially — nine islands in the Sea of Marmara off Istanbul's Asian shore, reachable by Şehir Hatları boat from several piers on both sides of the city.

    • Must see
    • Activity
    • Beyoğlu
  13. Taksim Square Taksim Square
    14 25 min

    Taksim Square

    Taksim Meydanı

    Taksim Square is where modern Istanbul argues with itself. It is the head of İstiklal Avenue, the terminus of the metro, the hub of the municipal buses, and the place the country's politics spills into when it spills anywhere.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Beyoğlu
  14. Maiden's Tower Maiden's Tower
    15 1 hour

    Maiden's Tower

    Kız Kulesi

    The Maiden's Tower stands on an islet in the Bosphorus, 200 m off the Üsküdar shore, and it is the one Istanbul landmark you cannot walk to.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Üsküdar
  15. Chora Church Chora Church
    16 1 hour

    Chora Church

    Kariye Camii

    The Chora holds the best late Byzantine mosaic and fresco cycle anywhere, and it is a long way from the tram, which is why the people who go are the people who came for it.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Fatih
  16. Hagia Irene Hagia Irene
    17 30 min

    Hagia Irene

    Aya İrini Kilisesi

    Hagia Irene is the Byzantine church that was never made into a mosque, and it is the reason it still looks like a Byzantine church inside.

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Fatih
  17. Walls of Constantinople Walls of Constantinople
    18 1 hour

    Walls of Constantinople

    İstanbul Surları

    The Theodosian walls kept Constantinople for a thousand years, and they are still standing across the city. They were built under Theodosius II, who reigned from 402 to 450.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Eyüpsultan
  18. Obelisk of Theodosius Obelisk of Theodosius
    19 15 min

    Obelisk of Theodosius

    Theodosius Dikilitaşı

    Older than almost everything around it by two thousand years, the Obelisk of Theodosius is a piece of pharaonic Egypt standing in the middle of a Turkish square.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Fatih
  19. Yıldız Palace Yıldız Palace
    20 1 hr 30 min

    Yıldız Palace

    Yıldız Sarayı

    Yıldız is the palace a frightened sultan built uphill.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Beşiktaş
  20. Commuter ferry between Europe and Asia Commuter ferry between Europe and Asia
    21 1 hour

    Commuter ferry between Europe and Asia

    A regular Şehir Hatları commuter ferry across the Bosphorus, the everyday version of the Long Bosphorus Tour: no sightseeing stop, no turnaround at Anadolu Kavağı, just a working boat moving Istanbul residents between the European and Asian shores on a…

    • Must see
    • Activity
    • Beyoğlu
  21. Aqueduct of Valens Aqueduct of Valens
    22 20 min

    Aqueduct of Valens

    Bozdoğan Su Kemeri

    Bozdoğan Kemeri, the Aqueduct of Valens, is the surviving bridge of the water system that made a city of a million people possible on a peninsula with almost no rivers.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Fatih
  22. Galata Mevlevihanesi Galata Mevlevihanesi
    23 1 hour

    Galata Mevlevihanesi

    Galata Mevlevihanesi Müzesi

    The Galata Mevlevihanesi is the oldest Mevlevi dervish lodge in Istanbul, established in 1491 during the reign of Bayezid II on land that had belonged to İskender Pasha, a prominent governor of the period.

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Beyoğlu
  23. Column of Constantine Column of Constantine
    24 10 min

    Column of Constantine

    Çemberlitaş Sütunu

    A single shaft of Egyptian porphyry stands in the middle of Çemberlitaş Square on Divan Yolu, banded with iron and blackened along one side.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Fatih
  24. Fatih Istanbul Mosque Fatih Istanbul Mosque
    25 30 min

    Fatih Istanbul Mosque

    Fatih Camii

    The Fatih Mosque is where Mehmed the Conqueror is buried, and it stands on the site of the Church of the Holy Apostles — the mausoleum of the Roman emperors, Constantine the Great among them.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Fatih
  25. Rumeli Hisarı Rumeli Hisarı
    26 1 hr 15 min

    Rumeli Hisarı

    Rumeli Hisarı is a fortress built to close a strait, and everything about it follows from that one job.

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Sarıyer
  26. Anadoluhisarı Anadoluhisarı
    27 1 hour

    Anadoluhisarı

    Anadolu Hisarı

    Anadoluhisarı is a siege engine in stone, built sixty years before the siege it was meant for.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Beykoz
  27. Şehzade Mosque Şehzade Mosque
    28 30 min

    Şehzade Mosque

    Şehzadebaşı Camii

    The Şehzade is the mosque Süleyman the Magnificent built for a dead son, and it is where Sinan learned to build the ones that followed.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Fatih
  28. Beylerbeyi Palace Beylerbeyi Palace
    29 1 hr 30 min

    Beylerbeyi Palace

    Beylerbeyi Sarayı

    Beylerbeyi Palace is the Ottoman court's summer address on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus, built for Sultan Abdulaziz between 1861 and 1865 by the architect Sarkis Balyan, with Hagop Balyan named alongside him.

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Üsküdar
  29. Yedikule Fortress Yedikule Fortress
    30 1 hr 15 min

    Yedikule Fortress

    Yedikule Zindanları

    Yedikule is a fortress built out of an older monument.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Fatih
  30. Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
    31 30 min

    Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople

    İstanbul Rum Ortodoks Patrikhanesi

    The Ecumenical Patriarchate is the senior see of the Eastern Orthodox world, and it occupies a walled compound in Fener on the Golden Horn.

    • Must see
    • Place of worship
    • Fatih
  31. İmrahor Mosque İmrahor Mosque
    32 15 min

    İmrahor Mosque

    İmrahor Camii

    İmrahor Camii is a small working neighbourhood mosque in Salacak, the shore quarter that runs south from Üsküdar square on Istanbul's Asian side.

    • Must see
    • Place of worship
    • Üsküdar
  32. The Museum of Innocence The Museum of Innocence
    33 1 hr 30 min

    The Museum of Innocence

    Masumiyet Müzesi

    A novel and a building made in parallel, and neither is quite the illustration of the other.

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Beyoğlu
  33. Çırağan Palace Çırağan Palace
    34 20 min

    Çırağan Palace

    Çırağan Sarayı

    Çırağan Palace is the last of the great Ottoman waterfront palaces, and the only one a visitor cannot walk into.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Beşiktaş
  34. Walled Obelisk Walled Obelisk
    35 10 min

    Walled Obelisk

    Örme Dikilitaş

    The Walled Obelisk, Örme Dikilitaş in Turkish and literally the masonry obelisk, stands 32 m tall on the spine of the old Hippodrome in what is now Sultanahmet Square, west of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Fatih
  35. Rüstem Pasha Mosque Rüstem Pasha Mosque
    36 20 min

    Rüstem Pasha Mosque

    Rüstem Paşa Camii

    Rüstem Pasha Mosque does not sit on the street.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Fatih
  36. Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum
    37 1 hr 30 min

    Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum

    Türk ve İslam Eserleri Müzesi

    The Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum is housed in the Ibrahim Pasha Palace, a stone mansion of 1524 that belonged to Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha, the second grand vizier of Suleiman the Magnificent.

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Fatih
  37. Bulgarian St. Stephen Church Bulgarian St. Stephen Church
    38 30 min

    Bulgarian St. Stephen Church

    Sveti Stefan Bulgar Kilisesi

    Bulgarian St. Stephen Church is the cast-iron Bulgarian Orthodox church on the Golden Horn shore in Balat. Istanbul’s official visitor portal dates the present building to 1898 and identifies Hovsep Aznavur as its architect.

    • Must see
    • Place of worship
    • Fatih
  38. Palace of the Porphyrogenitus Palace of the Porphyrogenitus
    39 1 hour

    Palace of the Porphyrogenitus

    Tekfur Sarayı is the last Byzantine palace in Istanbul still standing to its full height, and it survives because it was never important enough to be worth demolishing.

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Fatih
  39. Serpent Column Serpent Column
    40 10 min

    Serpent Column

    Yılanlı Sütun

    A battle trophy from 479 BC, standing in a hole in a square in Istanbul.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Fatih
  40. The Stone of Million The Stone of Million
    41 10 min

    The Stone of Million

    Milyon Taşı

    What survives is a single weathered pillar fragment standing in a sunken plot beside the street, and it is the remnant of the Milion — the point from which the Eastern Roman Empire measured itself.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Fatih
  41. Zeyrek Mosque Zeyrek Mosque
    42 30 min

    Zeyrek Mosque

    Zeyrek Molla Camii

    Zeyrek Camii was the Monastery of Christ Pantokrator, and after Hagia Sophia it is the largest Byzantine religious building still standing in Istanbul.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Fatih
  42. Nuruosmaniye Mosque Nuruosmaniye Mosque
    43 20 min

    Nuruosmaniye Mosque

    Nuruosmaniye Camisi

    The Nuruosmaniye is where Ottoman architecture stopped being Ottoman in the classical sense. Begun in 1748 under Mahmud I and finished in 1755 under his brother Osman III, it is the first monumental Ottoman baroque building.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Fatih
  43. Republic Monument Republic Monument
    44 10 min

    Republic Monument

    Cumhuriyet Anıtı

    The Republic Monument stands in the middle of Taksim Square and is the founding statement of the Turkish Republic rendered in bronze and marble.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Beyoğlu
  44. Rahmi M. Koç Museum Rahmi M. Koç Museum
    45 2 hr 30 min

    Rahmi M. Koç Museum

    Rahmi M. Koç Müzesi

    Istanbul's museum of industry, transport and communication sits on the northern shore of the Golden Horn at Hasköy, well upstream of the tourist city and reached by water more pleasantly than by road.

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Beyoğlu
  45. İstanbul Modern İstanbul Modern
    46 2 hours

    İstanbul Modern

    İstanbul Modern Sanat Müzesi

    Istanbul Modern opened on 11 December 2004 as Turkey's first museum of modern and contemporary art, installed in Entrepo No. 4, a customs warehouse from the 1950s standing on the Karaköy quay.

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Beyoğlu
  46. Pera Museum Pera Museum
    47 1 hr 30 min

    Pera Museum

    Pera Müzesi

    Pera Museum is a private art museum on the Beyoğlu ridge, established on 8 June 2005 by the Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation. Its building was not built as a museum.

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Beyoğlu
  47. Miniatürk Miniatürk
    48 2 hours

    Miniatürk

    Miniatürk Açıkhava Müzesi

    Miniatürk opened on 2 May 2003 on the northeastern shore of the Golden Horn, and the idea behind it is straightforward: shrink the architecture of Turkey and the former Ottoman world to one twenty-fifth of full size and lay it…

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Beyoğlu
  48. Theodosius Cistern Theodosius Cistern
    49 45 min

    Theodosius Cistern

    Şerefiye Sarnıcı

    Şerefiye Sarnıcı is a Roman water tank that spent most of the last three centuries with a building sitting on top of it.

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Fatih
  49. Yavuz Selim Mosque Yavuz Selim Mosque
    50 35 min

    Yavuz Selim Mosque

    Yavuz Sultan Selim Cami

    Yavuz Selim Mosque crowns the top of the fifth hill of the historic peninsula, above the Golden Horn, and it is a memorial as much as it is a mosque.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Fatih
  50. Küçüksu Pavillion Küçüksu Pavillion
    51 45 min

    Küçüksu Pavillion

    Küçüksu Kasrı

    Kucuksu is a kasir and not a saray, and the whole visit turns on that distinction.

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Beykoz
  51. Camondo stairs Camondo stairs
    52 15 min

    Camondo stairs

    Kamondo Merdivenleri

    The Camondo Stairs are a short public stairway in Galata built by a banker so that he could get to work.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Beyoğlu
  52. Column of the Goths Column of the Goths
    53 10 min

    Column of the Goths

    Gotlar Sütunu

    Near the Sarayburnu end of Gülhane Park, well away from the gate most visitors use, a single fluted shaft with a Corinthian capital stands among the trees carrying a Latin inscription: FORTVNAE REDVCI OB DEVICTOS GOTHOS — to Fortuna, who…

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Fatih
  53. Column of Marcian Column of Marcian
    54 10 min

    Column of Marcian

    Kıztaşı

    A single granite column stands in a small railed square off Kıztaşı Caddesi in Fatih, and almost everybody who has heard of Istanbul has never heard of it.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Fatih
  54. Gülhane Park Gülhane Park
    55 1 hour

    Gülhane Park

    Gülhane Parkı

    Gülhane Park is 9.7 hectares of shaded slope below Topkapı Palace, and for most of its life it was not a park at all but the palace's outer garden — ground the public did not enter.

    • Must see
    • Nature site
    • Fatih
  55. Kılıç Ali Pasha Mosque Kılıç Ali Pasha Mosque
    56 30 min

    Kılıç Ali Pasha Mosque

    Kılıç Ali Paşa Camii

    The man who paid for this mosque was born Giovanni Dionigi Galeni in Le Castella, in Calabria, around 1519.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Beyoğlu
  56. Çamlıca Tower Çamlıca Tower
    57 1 hr 30 min

    Çamlıca Tower

    Çamlıca Televizyon Kulesi

    Çamlıca Tower stands on Büyük Çamlıca Hill on the Asian side, the highest point overlooking the Bosphorus, and opened on 29 May 2021.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Üsküdar
  57. Monument of Liberty Monument of Liberty
    58 15 min

    Monument of Liberty

    Abide-i Hürriyet

    The Monument of Liberty is an Ottoman-era memorial in Şişli commemorating the officers and soldiers who died putting down the countercoup of 31 March 1909 against the Young Turk constitutional government, an episode known in Turkish as the 31 Mart…

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Şişli
  58. Çiçek Pasajı Çiçek Pasajı
    59 20 min

    Çiçek Pasajı

    Çiçek Pasajı is a covered arcade off İstiklal Caddesi in Beyoğlu, built in 1876 to the design of the architect Kleanthis Zannos and opened as the Cité de Péra.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Beyoğlu
  59. Tiled Kiosk Tiled Kiosk
    60 45 min

    Tiled Kiosk

    Çinili Köşk

    The Tiled Kiosk, Çinili Köşk, is the oldest non-religious Ottoman building in Istanbul and the odd one out among the city's Ottoman monuments: it does not look Ottoman.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Fatih
  60. Great Palace Mosaic Museum Great Palace Mosaic Museum
    61 45 min

    Great Palace Mosaic Museum

    Büyük Saray Mozaikleri Müzesi

    Beneath the Arasta Bazaar, the row of shops behind the Blue Mosque, lies a strip of floor that belonged to the Great Palace of Constantinople.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Fatih
  61. Fenari Isa Mosque Fenari Isa Mosque
    62 20 min

    Fenari Isa Mosque

    Molla Fenari İsa Camii

    Fenari Isa Mosque is two Byzantine churches joined into one building, and understanding that is most of understanding the place.

    • High
    • Place of worship
    • Fatih
  62. Cistern of Philoxenos Cistern of Philoxenos
    63 30 min

    Cistern of Philoxenos

    Binbirdirek Sarnıcı

    Turks call it Binbirdirek, "a thousand and one columns", which is a way of saying "a great many" rather than a count. The real figure is 224.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Fatih
  63. Istanbul Naval Museum Istanbul Naval Museum
    64 1 hr 30 min

    Istanbul Naval Museum

    Deniz Müzesi

    The Istanbul Naval Museum was founded in 1897 by Bozcaadali Hasan Husnu Pasha, then Ottoman Minister of the Navy, which makes it the first military museum established in Turkey.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Beşiktaş
  64. Yıldız Park Yıldız Park
    65 1 hr 30 min

    Yıldız Park

    Yıldız Parkı

    Yıldız Park is a wooded hillside of 368,751 square metres — roughly thirty-seven hectares — climbing from the Beşiktaş shoreline to the ridge behind it.

    • High
    • Nature site
    • Beşiktaş
  65. Column of Arcadius Column of Arcadius
    66 15 min

    Column of Arcadius

    Arkadyos Sütunu

    The Column of Arcadius is one of Constantinople's lost monuments, and what is left of it is the reason to come: a stump of imperial propaganda wedged between apartment blocks in Fatih.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Fatih
  66. Gezi Park Gezi Park
    67 25 min

    Gezi Park

    Taksim Gezi Parkı

    Gezi Park is a terraced park of four hectares — 9.88 acres — occupying the ground immediately north of Taksim Square in Beyoğlu.

    • High
    • Nature site
    • Beyoğlu
  67. Sakıp Sabancı Museum Sakıp Sabancı Museum
    68 2 hours

    Sakıp Sabancı Museum

    Sabancı Üniversitesi Sakıp Sabancı Müzesi

    This is a museum that used to be somebody's house, and the house has an unusually crowded guest list. From 1848 to 1884 the Emirgan mansion passed through a succession of high-ranking pasha families and Egyptian khedives.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Sarıyer
  68. Yeni Üsküdar Mosque Yeni Üsküdar Mosque
    69 25 min

    Yeni Üsküdar Mosque

    Yeni Valide Camii

    Step off the ferry at Üsküdar and this is the complex immediately in front of you, hard against the square rather than set back from it.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Üsküdar
  69. Jewish Museum of Turkey Jewish Museum of Turkey
    70 1 hour

    Jewish Museum of Turkey

    500. Yıl Vakfı Türk Musevileri Müzesi

    The Quincentennial Foundation Museum of Turkish Jews tells the story of a community that has been in this city far longer than most of the monuments around it.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Beyoğlu
  70. Bodrum Mosque Bodrum Mosque
    71 20 min

    Bodrum Mosque

    Bodrum Camii

    Bodrum Mosque is the church of the Myrelaion, built around 920 by Romanos I Lekapenos as the chapel of his own palace, and it is one of the very few tenth-century churches of Constantinople still standing.

    • High
    • Place of worship
    • Fatih
  71. Yoros Castle Yoros Castle
    72 45 min

    Yoros Castle

    Yoros Kalesi

    Yoros Castle stands on the headland where the Bosphorus opens into the Black Sea, which is the whole explanation for it.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Beykoz
  72. Atatürk Cultural Center Atatürk Cultural Center
    73 45 min

    Atatürk Cultural Center

    Atatürk Kültür Merkezi

    The Ataturk Cultural Center closes the eastern side of Taksim Square, and it is the second building of that name to do so.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Beyoğlu
  73. Ihlamur Palace Ihlamur Palace
    74 1 hour

    Ihlamur Palace

    Ihlamur Kasrı (Merasim Köşkü)

    Ihlamur is not a palace in the sense that Dolmabahçe is a palace.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Beşiktaş
  74. Haseki Hürrem Sultan Hamamı Haseki Hürrem Sultan Hamamı
    75 1 hr 30 min

    Haseki Hürrem Sultan Hamamı

    Haseki Hürrem Hamamı

    The Haseki Hürrem Sultan Hamam is a twin bathhouse commissioned by Hürrem Sultan, wife of Suleiman the Magnificent, and designed by the imperial architect Mimar Sinan, built starting in 1556 between the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Fatih
  75. Bulgarian Exarchate Bulgarian Exarchate
    76 15 min

    Bulgarian Exarchate

    Eksarhhane

    Eksarhhane is a historic building in the Fener district that housed the seat of the Bulgarian Exarchate, the autocephalous Bulgarian Orthodox church established in 1870 and centred in Istanbul until the Ottoman Empire's Bulgarian population and administration shifted after the…

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Fatih
  76. German Fountain German Fountain
    77 10 min

    German Fountain

    Alman Çeşmesi

    The German Fountain is an octagonal, neo-Byzantine gazebo fountain standing in Sultanahmet Square, a gift from German Emperor Wilhelm II to Sultan Abdul Hamid II to mark the Kaiser's 1898 state visit to Istanbul.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Fatih
  77. Kalenderhane Mosque Kalenderhane Mosque
    78 25 min

    Kalenderhane Mosque

    Kalenderhane Camii

    Kalenderhane Camii is a Byzantine church that became a mosque, standing in Fatih immediately beside the Valens Aqueduct.

    • High
    • Place of worship
    • Fatih
  78. Fountain of Ahmed III Fountain of Ahmed III
    79 10 min

    Fountain of Ahmed III

    III. Ahmet Çeşmesi

    The Fountain of Ahmed III stands just outside the Imperial Gate of Topkapı Palace, built in 1728 by Sultan Ahmed III during the Tulip Period, the era of Ottoman architecture known for its ornate, floral Baroque-influenced style.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Fatih
  79. New Mosque New Mosque
    80 30 min

    New Mosque

    Yeni Camii

    The New Mosque at Eminönü took sixty-six years to build, most of them spent as a ruin. Safiye Sultan — wife of Murad III and later Valide Sultan — ordered it in 1597.

    • Notable
    • Place of worship
    • Fatih
  80. Istanbul Aviation Museum Istanbul Aviation Museum
    81 1 hr 30 min

    Istanbul Aviation Museum

    İstanbul Havacılık Müzesi

    The Istanbul Aviation Museum is operated by the Turkish Air Force Academy in Yeşilköy, on the grounds of Istanbul's former main airport, and covers the history of Turkish military and civil aviation from the Ottoman era onward.

    • Notable
    • Museum
    • Bakırköy
  81. Ortaköy Mosque Ortaköy Mosque
    82 30 min

    Ortaköy Mosque

    Büyük Mecidiye Camii

    Its proper name is the Büyük Mecidiye Camii, the Great Mosque of Sultan Abdülmecid, and it stands at the water's edge of the Ortaköy pier square in Beşiktaş, on the European shore of the Bosphorus.

    • Notable
    • Place of worship
    • Beşiktaş
  82. Church of St. Polyeuctus Church of St. Polyeuctus
    83 20 min

    Church of St. Polyeuctus

    Ayios Polieuktos Kilisesi

    For a few years in the sixth century this was the largest church in Constantinople, and it was built by a woman making a point.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Fatih
  83. Atik Mustafa Pasha Mosque Atik Mustafa Pasha Mosque
    84 20 min

    Atik Mustafa Pasha Mosque

    Hz. Cabir Cami

    A working neighbourhood mosque in Ayvansaray that began as a Byzantine church, and nobody is entirely sure which one.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Fatih
  84. Church of St. George Church of St. George
    85 30 min

    Church of St. George

    Aya Yorgi Patrikhane Kilisesi

    The Church of St George in Fener is the cathedral of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the senior see of the Orthodox Christian world, and from the street it is deliberately unassuming.

    • Notable
    • Place of worship
    • Fatih
  85. Galatasaray Museum Galatasaray Museum
    86 40 min

    Galatasaray Museum

    Galatasaray Müzesi

    Galatasaray Museum is the official museum of Galatasaray Sports Club, one of Turkey's most prominent multi-sport organizations. Located in Istanbul, the institution preserves and displays materials related to the club's extensive history across football, basketball, and other athletic disciplines.

    • Notable
    • Museum
    • Beyoğlu
  86. Little Hagia Sophia Little Hagia Sophia
    87 30 min

    Little Hagia Sophia

    Küçük Ayasofya Camii

    The Little Hagia Sophia is the church Justinian built before the great one, and it is where the idea was tried out. It went up between 527 and 536, dedicated to Saints Sergius and Bacchus.

    • Notable
    • Place of worship
    • Fatih
  87. Istanbul Museum of the History of Science and Technology in Islam Istanbul Museum of the History of Science and Technology in Islam
    88 1 hr 30 min

    Istanbul Museum of the History of Science and Technology in Islam

    İslam bilim ve teknoloji tarihi müzesi

    The museum occupies the Has Ahırlar, the former imperial stables, a long low range on the edge of Gülhane Park below the Topkapı walls, and it opened on 25 May 2008 under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

    • Notable
    • Museum
    • Fatih
  88. Atatürk Museum Atatürk Museum
    89 45 min

    Atatürk Museum

    Atatürk Museum, Şişli

    This is a rented house on a busy Şişli avenue that happens to be where the Turkish Republic was decided upon. The building is a three-storey house put up in 1908.

    • Notable
    • Museum
    • Şişli
  89. Prison of Anemas Prison of Anemas
    90 20 min

    Prison of Anemas

    The Prison of Anemas is a historic Byzantine structure located within the walls of Istanbul, Turkey. It forms part of the larger Blachernae Palace complex in the northwestern section of the city.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Fatih
  90. Aviation Martyrs' Monument Aviation Martyrs' Monument
    91 10 min

    Aviation Martyrs' Monument

    Hava Şehitleri Anıtı

    The Aviation Martyrs' Monument, known locally as Hava Şehitleri Anıtı, stands as a memorial dedicated to aviators who lost their lives in service.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Fatih
  91. Çamlıca Mosque Çamlıca Mosque
    92 30 min

    Çamlıca Mosque

    Büyük Çamlıca Camii

    Çamlıca Mosque, known locally as Büyük Çamlıca Camii, is a major Islamic religious complex situated on Çamlıca Hill in Istanbul, Turkey. The mosque stands as one of the most prominent contemporary mosque constructions in the country.

    • Notable
    • Place of worship
    • Üsküdar
  92. Gazi Atik Ali Pasha Mosque Gazi Atik Ali Pasha Mosque
    93 20 min

    Gazi Atik Ali Pasha Mosque

    Gazi Atik Ali Paşa Camii

    Gazi Atik Ali Pasha Mosque is an Ottoman mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. Its local name is Gazi Atik Ali Paşa Camii. The structure represents historical Islamic architecture within the urban fabric of the city.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Fatih
  93. Church of St. Anthony of Padua Church of St. Anthony of Padua
    94 30 min

    Church of St. Anthony of Padua

    Sent Antuan Katolik Kilisesi

    Behind a gate on İstiklal Avenue, set back at the end of its own courtyard, stands the largest Catholic church in Istanbul.

    • Notable
    • Place of worship
    • Beyoğlu
  94. Pammakaristos Church Pammakaristos Church
    95 30 min

    Pammakaristos Church

    Fethiye Camii

    The Pammakaristos was the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate for 131 years after the fall of Constantinople, and its side chapel holds mosaics second only to the Chora's.

    • Notable
    • Place of worship
    • Fatih
  95. Yıldız Clock Tower Yıldız Clock Tower
    96 10 min

    Yıldız Clock Tower

    Yıldız Clock Tower is a historic clock tower situated in the Yıldız district of Istanbul, Turkey. The structure stands as an architectural landmark within the broader Yıldız Palace complex area, reflecting Ottoman-era design influences.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Beşiktaş
  96. Museum of the Ancient Orient Museum of the Ancient Orient
    97 1 hour

    Museum of the Ancient Orient

    Eski Şark Eserleri Müzesi

    The Museum of the Ancient Orient, known locally as Eski Şark Eserleri Müzesi, is an archaeological museum in Istanbul. It forms part of the Istanbul Archaeological Museums complex.

    • Notable
    • Museum
    • Fatih
  97. Emirgan Park Emirgan Park
    98 1 hr 30 min

    Emirgan Park

    Emirgan Korusu

    Emirgan Park is 470,000 square metres of wooded hillside above the European shore of the Bosphorus in Sarıyer, and it has been changing hands for as long as anyone has been writing things down.

    • Notable
    • Nature site
    • Sarıyer
  98. Büyükada Greek Orthodox Orphanage Büyükada Greek Orthodox Orphanage
    99 45 min

    Büyükada Greek Orthodox Orphanage

    Büyükada Eski Rum Yetimhanesi

    The Büyükada Greek Orthodox Orphanage, known locally as Büyükada Eski Rum Yetimhanesi, stands on Büyükada, the largest of Istanbul's Princes' Islands. This timber structure ranks among the world's largest wooden buildings.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Adalar
  99. Eyüp Sultan Mosque Eyüp Sultan Mosque
    100 45 min

    Eyüp Sultan Mosque

    Eyüp Sultan Camii

    This is the mosque Ottoman Istanbul built around a grave rather than around a view.

    • Notable
    • Place of worship
    • Eyüpsultan

Source: OpenStreetMap contributors, Wikidata ·

More places to explore in Istanbul

More city guides

Where to base yourself

District boundaries come from OSM administrative relations, so a district page holds exactly the places inside it — plus, for the islands and the coast, the nearest district by proximity.

  • Fatih

    Places
    848
    Across the district
    1 hr 18 min
  • Beyoğlu

    Places
    412
    Across the district
    1 hr 1 min
  • Üsküdar

    Places
    382
    Across the district
    1 hr 52 min
  • Kadıköy

    Places
    491
    Across the district
    1 hr 51 min
  • Sarıyer

    Places
    323
    Across the district
    4 hr 24 min
  • Eyüpsultan

    Places
    320
    Across the district
    6 hr 42 min
  • Çatalca

    Places
    308
    Across the district
    12 hr 53 min
  • Beşiktaş

    Places
    246
    Across the district
    1 hr 28 min
  • Pendik

    Places
    282
    Across the district
    5 hr 55 min
  • Kartal

    Places
    223
    Across the district
    2 hr 3 min
  • Bakırköy

    Places
    174
    Across the district
    2 hr 9 min
  • Ümraniye

    Places
    245
    Across the district
    2 hr 29 min
  • Beykoz

    Places
    197
    Across the district
    5 hr 14 min
  • Silivri

    Places
    181
    Across the district
    7 hr 50 min
  • Şişli

    Places
    155
    Across the district
    1 hr 15 min
  • Küçükçekmece

    Places
    207
    Across the district
    1 hr 59 min
  • Arnavutköy

    Places
    182
    Across the district
    8 hr 7 min
  • Başakşehir

    Places
    186
    Across the district
    3 hr 33 min
  • Tuzla

    Places
    172
    Across the district
    5 hr 10 min
  • Maltepe

    Places
    190
    Across the district
    2 hr 4 min
  • Sancaktepe

    Places
    157
    Across the district
    3 hr 3 min
  • Sultangazi

    Places
    151
    Across the district
    1 hr 53 min
  • Ataşehir

    Places
    182
    Across the district
    2 hr 16 min
  • Büyükçekmece

    Places
    144
    Across the district
    4 hr 15 min
  • Kâğıthane

    Places
    140
    Across the district
    1 hr 18 min
  • Gaziosmanpaşa

    Places
    140
    Across the district
    1 hr 12 min
  • Esenyurt

    Places
    164
    Across the district
    2 hr 24 min
  • Beylikdüzü

    Places
    141
    Across the district
    1 hr 47 min
  • Bayrampaşa

    Places
    113
    Across the district
    1 hr 23 min
  • Zeytinburnu

    Places
    119
    Across the district
    1 hr 16 min
  • Çekmeköy

    Places
    125
    Across the district
    4 hr 37 min
  • Bağcılar

    Places
    138
    Across the district
    1 hr 22 min
  • Sultanbeyli

    Places
    191
    Across the district
    1 hr 39 min
  • Şile

    Places
    104
    Across the district
    10 hr 57 min
  • Avcılar

    Places
    97
    Across the district
    3 hr 9 min
  • Adalar

    Places
    71
    Across the district
    3 hr 5 min
  • Bahçelievler

    Places
    93
    Across the district
    1 hr 26 min
  • Esenler

    Places
    81
    Across the district
    2 hr 8 min
  • Güngören

    Places
    58
    Across the district
    48 min

How the city is laid out

South of the Horn, in Fatih, the monumental core is walkable end to end: Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Basilica Cistern and Topkapı sit inside one square kilometre.

North of the Horn, Beyoğlu climbs from Karaköy to Taksim and is where the city eats and drinks late. Across the Bosphorus, Kadıköy and Üsküdar are residential, cheaper and reached best by ferry rather than by bridge.

Checked 2026-08-23

Getting around

One contactless card covers tram, metro, funicular, bus and ferry, and it is the only ticket most visitors need.

The T1 tram threads the monumental core; the M2 metro crosses the Horn to Taksim. Ferries are the fastest way between the European and Asian sides and cost the same as a tram ride. Traffic on the bridges is unpredictable enough that a taxi is rarely faster.

Checked 2026-08-23

Common questions

How many days does Istanbul need?

Three days covers the monumental core in Fatih without rushing. Five lets you add Beyoğlu, a Bosphorus ferry and one of the Asian-side neighbourhoods.

Can visitors enter the mosques?

Yes, outside prayer times. Shoulders and knees should be covered, shoes come off at the door, and women cover their hair; scarves are lent at the larger mosques.

Is the Bosphorus cruise worth it?

The scheduled public ferry runs the same water as the tourist cruises for a fraction of the fare, and stops at neighbourhoods you can walk around before catching the next one back.

Which side should you stay on?

Fatih puts you inside walking distance of the monuments. Beyoğlu is livelier at night and still two tram stops away. The Asian side is cheaper and quieter but adds a ferry to every sightseeing day.

When is the city least crowded?

April to June and September to October are warm without the July heat or the cruise-ship peak. January and February are cold and wet but the queues disappear.