Istanbul: where to stay, when to go, and how to get around

Overview

Istanbul is split by water, and the water is the thing to understand before anything else. The Bosphorus divides the European side from the Asian side; the Golden Horn, a curling inlet, then splits the European side again into the old imperial city on its southern peninsula and the newer, hillier districts to the north. So there is no single centre you can walk from end to end — the map is a set of neighbourhoods separated by strait, inlet and steep hills, stitched together by trams, a rail tunnel and a constant traffic of ferries. Choosing where to stay here is a real logistical decision, not just a question of atmosphere, because crossing the city can eat an hour.

It is also enormous — fifteen million people — dense, loud and steep, and it will tire you out. The reward is a city that has been the capital of two empires and still eats, prays and trades like one. Come for the mosques and the markets and the meze, but plan your days around the geography rather than fighting it.

Where to stay

Pick your side of the water first, then your neighbourhood. Sultanahmet puts you among the monuments; Beyoğlu puts you in the modern city’s food and nightlife; Kadıköy, across the Bosphorus, puts you where locals actually live. All three are well connected, but hopping between them is a journey, so base yourself near what you came to do.

Sultanahmet and the old city

The historic peninsula holds the headline sights — Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapı Palace, the Basilica Cistern and the Grand Bazaar — clustered close enough to walk between. Stay here if it is your first visit and you want to be out of the door and at a mosque before the coach tours arrive. The T1 tram runs straight through it, connecting to the ferries at Eminönü and the funicular up to Beyoğlu.

The trade-off is stark: this is the most tourist-saturated quarter in the city, the restaurants on the main drags are mostly mediocre and overpriced, and after the sights close the streets go quiet and a little dead. You sleep next to the monuments and eat badly for it unless you walk out to Fatih or down toward the water.

Beyoğlu — Galata, Karaköy, Cihangir and Taksim

North of the Golden Horn, reached by the Galata Bridge or the tunnel funicular, this is the city’s contemporary heart: the pedestrian boulevard İstiklal running from the Galata Tower up to Taksim Square, with a web of side streets full of meyhanes (meze-and-rakı taverns), bars, galleries and coffee. Karaköy by the water and Cihangir on the hill are the more characterful, quieter pockets; Taksim is the transport knot and the busiest, blandest end. Stay here if you want to eat and drink well and be among the living city rather than the museum one.

The trade-offs are noise and hills. İstiklal and the streets off it are loud late into the night, and Beyoğlu is genuinely steep — you will climb. It is also further from the Sultanahmet monuments, though the tram-plus-funicular link is quick.

Kadıköy, on the Asian side

A twenty-minute ferry across the Bosphorus and a different mood: Kadıköy is where Istanbullus go out, a dense grid of fish markets, bars, bookshops and some of the best casual eating in the city, with almost none of the tourist machinery of the European peninsula. Stay here if you have been before, or if you want your evenings to feel local and your money to go further.

The cost is obvious — you are across the water from most of the classic sights, so every sightseeing day starts with a ferry. That ferry is a pleasure rather than a chore, but it is a commitment of time each morning, and the last boats back are not late.

Beşiktaş

Back on the European shore, north of Beyoğlu along the Bosphorus, Beşiktaş is a lively, young, unpretentious district around a bustling market and a ferry pier, with the Dolmabahçe Palace on its waterfront. It suits travellers who want a local, energetic base that is still on the tram-and-ferry network and close to the Bosphorus. The trade-off is that it is neither in the old city nor in the thick of Beyoğlu’s nightlife — you are a short hop from both rather than in either, and football match days turn it chaotic.

When to go

April to early June and September to October are the clear best windows: warm, mostly dry, and comfortable for the walking and climbing the city demands. April brings the tulip plantings across the parks. Summer is hot, humid and crowded, and the sun on the treeless squares of the old city is punishing by midday. Winter is mild but grey and wet, with cold winds funnelling down the Bosphorus and the occasional snowfall that briefly makes the mosques spectacular; it is the low season, quieter and cheaper, and many Bosphorus-front and rooftop places wind down.

One thing to plan around: Ramadan shifts each year, and during it daytime eating is more subdued and evenings around the mosques fill with families breaking the fast — worth knowing whether you want to be part of it or avoid it. The two religious holidays that end and follow the fasting month see much of the country travelling, and transport and hotels tighten accordingly.

Getting there & around

The main international gateway is Istanbul Airport (IST), far to the north on the European side; the M11 metro runs into the city and connects to the wider network, while airport shuttle buses reach Taksim and Sultanahmet directly and a taxi is a long, expensive haul in traffic. The second airport, Sabiha Gökçen (SAW), sits on the Asian side and is convenient only if you are staying in Kadıköy or nearby; the M4 metro links it in, otherwise budget a lot of time for the crossing.

Within the city, get an Istanbulkart — the single rechargeable card works on trams, metros, buses, funiculars, the Marmaray and the ferries. The T1 tram threads the old city and crosses to Karaköy; the Marmaray rail tunnel runs under the Bosphorus and is the fast way between the European and Asian shores; and the ferries across the strait and up the Golden Horn are both transport and the best cheap sightseeing in Istanbul. Do not drive. Traffic is relentless, parking is impossible, and the hills and one-way tangles defeat visitors. Taxis are cheap but stuck in the same jams — for cross-city trips the Marmaray or a ferry will usually beat them.

Practicalities

Istanbul is broadly safe, with normal big-city caution needed around the crowded tourist lanes for pickpockets and around the pushier touts near the Grand Bazaar and Sultanahmet. Cards are accepted widely, but keep cash for markets, ferries’ snack stands and small eateries. Mosques are working places of worship: dress modestly, women cover their hair, everyone removes shoes, and avoid visiting during the five daily prayers, especially the main one at Friday midday.

On food, the things to actually seek out: a proper multi-plate Turkish breakfast (kahvaltı), taken slowly; balık ekmek, the grilled-fish sandwich sold from boats at Eminönü by the Galata Bridge; meze and grilled meats washed down with rakı in a meyhane; simit and tea for a street breakfast; and lahmacun and pide for a cheap lunch. Turkish tea (çay) arrives constantly and is part of every transaction; Turkish coffee is a separate, thicker ritual, drunk small and slow. Tipping in restaurants is customary but modest, rounding up or roughly a tenth of the bill.