Istanbul – A city of abundant UNESCO World Heritage listed sites, museums galore, ancient and medieval wonders.
There are so many points of interest and attractions in every corner of the city…
Overcrowded streets and waterways, neighbourhoods to be discovered, previously unknown shops, bars & nightlife, eateries specialising in foods from all over Turkey, and markets waiting for your arrival…
Street food, street traders, city noise and the tranquility of parks.
Istanbul is all of this and more!
Welcome to our Istanbul guide, where, post by post, we take you into aspects of our Istanbul experience.
You’ll have your own experience.
The city is addictive – we’re here at least once a year – so you can expect regular articles and reviews about Istanbul hotels, things to do and places to eat in Istanbul.
If you want to drill down further to explore a particular area, our articles are divided between the European side of Istanbul and the Asian side of the city.
Scroll down to eat, drink, shop and explore…
A 20 year long (and continuing) journey of visiting Istanbul and we finally made it, for the first time, to one of the city’s iconic sights; Pierre Loti Hill (Pierre Loti Tepesi). We’re in the Eyüp district on the European side of Istanbul for this little outing… And let us make the mistakes so that …
Well then, guess it was finally time we sampled the köfte at this ‘renowned,’ establishment, Filibe Köftecisi in the Sirkeci area of Istanbul… Look up the English translation of the Turkish word, ‘meşhur’ and you’ll see it means ‘renowned, famous or well known.’ Meşhur Filibe Köftecisi, Sirkeci We’d spotted Meşhur Filibe Köftecisi on a previous …
This post is about cağ kebabı – our favourite kebab – and Şehzade Cağ Kebap in the Sirkeci neighbourhood of Istanbul. As usual, with us, we have a little background tale to tell around cağ kebabı. Food that’s memorable for all the right reasons; it’s a matter of opinion, of personal experience. For us, our …
Did you know Istanbul hosts a Commonwealth War Cemetery? Haydarpaşa Cemetery. It’s the joy of cities isn’t it? We’d never pretend to be experts on Istanbul. But we like to think we have a rough idea of the lay of the land following our numerous visits over the years. But, with cities the size of …
Welcome to our massive article about one of Istanbul’s (and the world’s) most famous landmarks; the residence of the Ottoman sultans, Topkapı Palace. We’re taking you on a tour of the palace’s decadent interior, intricately designed tiles and stained glass windows. We’re taking a peek at harem life in Topkapı Palace; home to the sultans’ …
There’s a little corner of Istanbul that’s very special to us. Karaköy Fish Market (Karaköy Balık Pazarı) was not just a market but also a place to go and eat. You could eat anything from üskümrü / hamsi ekmek (mackerel or anchovy sandwich) to fish soup. Or even a full seafood platter whilst enjoying a …
We’d been meaning to revisit Istanbul’s Basilica Cistern (Yerebatan Sarnıcı) for years, but somehow hadn’t got around to it. The thing is, when you’ve visited a city so many times, you get settled into wandering streets, previously unknown shops and markets, eateries and bars. Once you’ve visited all the main sights, that’s when you start …
If you are food market enthusiasts like we are, we want to show you a little bit of Kadıköy market. In recent articles, we’ve already had the leisurely sail across the the stretch of water where the Bosphorus meets the Marmara Sea. And we’ve taken in the views from the Eminönü Kadıköy ferry. Now, we’re …
If you can’t think of any reason why you’d want to head over to the Asian side of Istanbul, the Eminönü to Kadıköy ferry is more than a decent excuse. Over the years, most of our posts about our various jaunts have covered our exploits around the European shores of Istanbul. Asian Side But, Istanbul …
In this post, we want to talk about a Turkish street food favourite: Ortaköy Kumpir. Kumpir is available in many of Turkey’s towns and cities but there is one little neighbourhood that is oh-so-famous for this slightly peculiar member of the Turkish street food family. First of all, let us set the scene for our …