The Eminönü waterfront with the New Mosque and the Süleymaniye at sunset, seen from the Galata Bridge
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Istanbul in 3 days

  • 3 days
  • 7.6 km on foot
  • 17 stops
  • Audio guide

Three days is the sweet spot: it fits all three routes, the big museums of the old city and a morning away from the busiest streets to discover Balat. It's a trip to take slowly, with time to sit down for tea, cross the Galata Bridge twice and have dinner without checking the clock.

Day 1Mosques and bazaars

Kick off with “From the Blue Mosque to Galata Tower”: Grand Bazaar, Süleymaniye, Spice Bazaar and the Galata Bridge with its anglers. Finish at the tower and tram down to Sultanahmet for köfte on Divanyolu. In the afternoon, the Archaeology Museums and Gülhane Park make a calm pause after so many slopes. Take your time over a tea in the park before heading back to your hotel.

  1. Morning

    From the Blue Mosque to Galata Tower

    Mixed · 3.9 km · 2 h 30 min

    1. The Blue MosqueSix minarets, more than twenty thousand tiles and the ambition of a twenty-year-old sultan.
    2. The Grand BazaarMore than sixty covered streets and thousands of shops: the market Mehmed II founded after the conquest is still haggling.
    3. The Süleymaniye MosqueSinan's masterpiece crowns Istanbul's third hill and holds the tombs of Suleiman, Hürrem and the architect himself.
    4. The Spice BazaarA market paid for with Egypt's taxes, still smelling of cumin, coffee and pistachio three and a half centuries on.
    5. The Galata BridgeAnglers above, restaurants below, and a Leonardo da Vinci design that was never built.
    6. Galata TowerA Genoese tower from 1348, an Ottoman fire lookout and the setting for a legendary flight over the Bosphorus.

    Start the audio guide See the route

  2. Lunch

    Try Sultanahmet köfte at Tarihi Sultanahmet Köftecisi Selim Usta. Divanyolu Caddesi, 12, Sultanahmet

  3. Afternoon

    Istanbul Archaeology Museums

    Three museums beside Topkapı Palace, with sarcophagi such as the Alexander Sarcophagus, sculpture and clay tablets from ancient Mesopotamia. The ideal follow-up to the morning: it explains what you saw from the outside. Check the closing day.

    Directions

    Gülhane Park

    The former outer garden of Topkapı Palace, now the quietest park in Sultanahmet. Old trees, shade and benches for a rest after the museum. The lower end looks over the Bosphorus, and the tram stop is close.

    Directions

Day 2Sultans and the Bosphorus

Begin at the Hippodrome with “From Byzantium to the Sublime Porte”: the Milion, Hagia Sophia, the Imperial Gate and the Sublime Porte, ending at Sirkeci station. Then cross to Karaköy for a sweet lunch of pistachio baklava at Güllüoğlu. In the afternoon, go back up to Topkapı through the Imperial Gate you've already seen, and finish with a boat trip on the Bosphorus from Eminönü in the soft light of late afternoon.

  1. Morning

    From Byzantium to the Sublime Porte: fifteen centuries of power

    History · 2 km · 1 h 45 min

    1. The Hippodrome and the Obelisk of TheodosiusWhere families now stroll and simit sellers call out, a hundred thousand spectators once roared for their charioteers, and one day a massacre took place.
    2. The Milion, the empire's mile zeroAn almost invisible stump of stone marks the point from which every distance in the Byzantine Empire was measured.
    3. Hagia Sophia, from basilica to mosqueFifteen centuries under one dome: imperial church, sultan's mosque, museum and mosque once more.
    4. The Imperial Gate and the Fountain of Ahmed IIIThe entrance to Topkapı Palace, built by the Conqueror, and the most elegant fountain of Istanbul's Tulip Era.
    5. The Sublime PorteA gate with a sweeping canopy that gave its name to an entire government and witnessed the coup of 1913.
    6. Sirkeci StationThe end of the line for the Orient Express, an 1890 building that imagined the East through European eyes.

    Start the audio guide See the route

  2. Lunch

    Try Pistachio baklava at Karaköy Güllüoğlu. Kemankeş Caddesi, Karaköy

  3. Afternoon

    Topkapı Palace

    Home of the sultans for almost four hundred years: courtyards, pavilions, treasury and views of the Bosphorus. Set aside at least two hours, and check the closing day and whether the Harem is ticketed separately. Enter through the Imperial Gate.

    Directions

    Bosphorus boat trip

    Boats leave the Eminönü piers to sail the strait between Europe and Asia, past palaces, fortresses and wooden mansions on both shores. A relaxed way to understand how the city is laid out.

    Directions

Day 3Balat, Chora and a last sunset

Spend the morning in the other Istanbul: take a taxi or bus to Balat, with its colourful houses and steep lanes, then walk on to the Chora church, a treasure of Byzantine mosaics. Come back to Eminönü for a Turkish coffee at Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi. At dusk, follow “Talismans, Medusas and weeping columns”: Serpent Column, Basilica Cistern and Hagia Sophia's sweating column. End the trip with lokum at Ali Muhiddin Hacı Bekir.

  1. Morning

    Balat

    A neighbourhood of colourful houses, steep streets, antique shops and cafés on the Golden Horn, with Greek, Jewish and Armenian traces. Wander without a map, close to Fener and its Bulgarian iron church.

    Directions

    Chora Church (Kariye)

    A fourteenth-century Byzantine church famous for its mosaics and frescoes of the lives of Christ and the Virgin. It now works as a mosque, so check opening times and visiting rules before you go.

    Directions

  2. Lunch

    Try Turkish coffee at Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi. Tahmis Sokak, 66, Eminönü

  3. Early evening

    Talismans, Medusas and weeping columns

    Mysteries & legends · 1.7 km · 1 h 35 min

    1. The Serpent ColumnThree intertwined bronze serpents that celebrated a Greek victory and ended up as a charm against snakebites.
    2. The Binbirdirek CisternThe "cistern of a thousand and one columns" spent centuries forgotten beneath a neighbourhood that had no idea what lay underfoot.
    3. The Burnt Column (Çemberlitaş)A porphyry pillar clasped by iron hoops, beneath which, tradition says, Constantine hid the holiest relics of the ancient world.
    4. The Basilica Cistern and its MedusasA sunken palace of 336 columns, two Medusa heads set the wrong way round and a column that, so they say, weeps.
    5. Hagia Sophia and the sweating columnA damp column credited with cures, and a priest who, legend says, walked into the wall in 1453 and will one day return.

    Start the audio guide See the route

  4. Dinner

    Try Lokum (Turkish delight) at Ali Muhiddin Hacı Bekir. Hamidiye Caddesi, 33, Eminönü

The map

Istanbul in 3 days, on the map

Each route’s stops are numbered in order; the stars are the extra sights.

Mixed History Mysteries & legends Extra sight

Loading the map…

Before you go

Tips for Istanbul in 3 days

  • Keep day three for leaving Sultanahmet: Balat and Chora are far from the tram, so go by taxi or bus and walk back along the Golden Horn if you feel like it.
  • If you plan to use a transport card, load it on day one: it works on trams, buses, the metro and the Bosphorus ferries.
  • Mosques, Chora included, call for clothing that covers shoulders and knees and, for women, a headscarf; avoid prayer times.

Questions

Istanbul in 3 days: your questions

Are three days enough in Istanbul?

Yes, for a relaxed first visit. You'll see the big monuments, the palace, the Bosphorus and one neighbourhood off the beaten track. If you want to cross to the Asian side or visit the islands, you'll need a fourth day.

How far do you walk in the 3-day plan?

The three routes add up to about 7.6 km: 3.9 essential, 2.0 history and 1.7 mysteries. With museums, the palace and the Balat stroll, count on 6 to 9 km a day, always at an easy pace.

Is it worth going to Balat and Chora?

Yes, once you've seen the main sights. Balat shows an everyday, photogenic Istanbul, and Chora has some of the best-preserved Byzantine mosaics anywhere. It's the calmest day of the trip and the best for strolling.

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