The best of Istanbul
Experience a slice of the Middle East with a trip to Turkey’s cultural epicentre – Istanbul.
Istanbul is a city between two continents with a long and turbulent history and a diverse culture, making it an ideal holiday destination for any traveller. The city has become a favourite with visitors looking for a place that offers a variety of activities and experiences, with an over-abundance of important historical sites, world-class shopping, beautiful cruises and island hopping, cultural events and restaurants that’ll make your tastebuds positively tingle.
The best bit? After a long day of sightseeing and shopping, you can experience one of the things Turkey is best known for – a Turkish bath. With plenty to see and do, what are you waiting for? Here’s a look at where to go, what to see and what to do.
A city straddling two continents
Istanbul is cut in two by the great Bosphorus Strait, which joins the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. It also separates the continents of Europe and Asia, so that’s why you’ll hear people refer to Asian Istanbul or European Istanbul. One of the best things you can do in the city is to either take a hop on/hop off bus or walk one of the bridges that connect the Asian and European sides of Istanbul.
Here, you’ll see Turkish fishermen lined along the jetty on either side plying the waters for fish. Afterwards, re-energise for more exploring and taste one of their fresh catches with a fish burger served by one of the small stalls on either side of the strait.
Discover a different time
Istanbul, like many cities in the Middle East, has a rich and diverse history. It’s been conquered and inhabited by a number of the world’s greatest civilisations, from Greek colonists and the Romans (who named it Constantinople) to the Ottoman Turks. Wandering around the city you can still see many of the relics of its past, with the remains of buildings and fortifications along the strait still visible despite the ravages of time.
The first stop on any new visitor’s itinerary has to be the Old City or Sultanahmet, where you’ll discover most of the city’s historical sites. These include the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia and Topkapi Palace. The Blue Mosque is simply stunning and if you plan on visiting it, remember that you’ll need to remove your shoes and women will need to cover their hair since it’s still an active mosque. It’s best to allocate a full day of exploring these sites or longer if you’d like to take in the surrounding lanes, sweet shops and markets.
Step into another world
If you love visiting grand palaces, you can’t go past Dolmabahce Palace. This sprawling palace makes for a grand vision on the water’s edge of the Bosphorus and is a great place to fill up your digital camera’s memory card. The stunning rooms and manicured gardens offer an ideal backdrop for anyone who loves to experience a bygone world of opulence and luxury.
The building served as the administrative heart of the Ottoman Empire and is probably best known as the presidential residence of the founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Beloved and revered everywhere you go in Turkey, Ataturk spent the last days of his life in the palace, where he eventually passed away on November 10, 1938 at 9:05am. The clocks in the palace are all stopped at this time.
Base for other adventures
Turkey is a large and diverse land so what makes Istanbul even better is that many visitors use it as an entry and exit point for journeying to other parts of the country. Travel to Gallipoli, a destination many Australians visit each year, or to the ancient Greek city of Ephesus, or to the magical landscape of Cappadocia, a historical region characterised by fairy chimneys.
When to go
If you don’t like the cold, avoid going to Istanbul from mid-December through to mid-March since chilly winds from the Black Sea will make leaving your hotel difficult. For the rest of the year, the city is perfect.
Whatever you decide to do or to see, Istanbul is a city that will stay with you long after you depart.
Image: Getty Images