A trip to Turkey has been on my bucket list since college. I actually spent (way too much) money on a degree in history (that I’ll never use) and several of my professors told us to go to Turkey. It occured to me during my stay in Cappadocia, when I was watching everyone on the deck of my hotel take the same picture looking at hot air balloons in front of a fake breakfast, (which there’s nothing wrong with that, I was admittedly right there with them you’ll soon see), that I decided I wanted to go in a more specific direction with my blog (the few times a year I write one) inspired by my passion for this long awaited trip to the region. We had even booked tickets a couple years ago and the US and Turkey had a few weeks they weren’t issuing visas to each other and we had to cancel our flights and reservations.
Like I said in my New York blog last year, I’ve had a lot of travel blogs let me down in recommendations since a lot of bloggers write a list of what they did versus having been able to make the determination from a variety. of experiences. Understandably it’s the inherent challenge of travel blogging unless you visit a place several times or live there. I typically have to take multiple trips to see if I get a consistent experience with dining or accommodations, unless I’m looking for something specific (like mulled wine in New York). We stayed at the Hotel Arcadia Blue at the recommendation of other bloggers, and it was lovely. We had a great experience and great service, but to be honest, there are tons of hotels in that area that look equally nice. The thing I’ve learned about Istanbul is there is a rooftop experience and view almost everywhere because it truly is a city on several hills. I can’t say we had a bad meal or beverage anywhere and even food stands in the tourist areas slayed.
Unfortunately, a lot has happened in the last few years in Turkey that travelers should be aware of that you can read about here and here, and there’s some contention in the region regarding both neighboring countries and their allies, that you can read about here, here, here and here. These are just random articles or wikipedia pages I grabbed on the topics to give you a starting point with search terms for your own research, since there’s always a variety of viewpoints when it comes to international current events. I don’t endorse any of these journalistic or website view points.
This blog is going to be focused on some of the history behind the attractions and some of the materials I consumed before our trip that I highly recommend to enhance your experience. From sultan’s harems, to the Roman Empire and early Christendom, to its foreign occupation that led to the birth of its republic, Istanbul is truly one of the most diverse and fascinating cities in the world and a pillar of both western and eastern history.
At the end of the blog I separate the locations, in no particular order, by the different sides of the Golden Horn on the Europe side, to make it a little easier for planning your stay if you’d like to pin it.
1.) Blue Mosque: The Blue Mosque deserves to be on this list and I’m starting it at number one because we had a great view from our hotel room, but it was undergoing extensive renovations during our trip so we’ll have to visit on our next trip.
2.) Sirkeci Railway Station: The famed Orient Express used to carry passengers from Europe, departing Paris all the way to Constantinople (modern day Istanbul). The likes of Ernest Hemingway and Agatha Christie came through here. According to an information pillar near the station, the sea used to be a great deal closer and people could walk to the water easily from covered verandas. We did visit during the pandemic so the small museum attached was closed. We heard there was a restaurant there, and this might be an old recommendation or again, pandemic related, but we didn’t see one and it looks like there hasn’t been one for awhile. I’ve also read they have whirling dervish shows there as well but also cancelled because of the pandemic. They are renovating the facade of the station and clock towers so that could be part of it. Today the station is attached to an actively working mass transit station for the city.
3.) Hagia Sophia: The Hagia Sophia was once the world’s largest Christian church and cathedral for 916 years until the city fell to the Ottoman Empire when it was converted into a mosque for 482 years. During the conversion, the Christian imagery was destroyed or plastered over and it was replaced with Islamic features and scripts still visible today. The Turkish Republic opted to convert it into a museum in the thirties as a sort of a neutral compromise and part of the secularism that characterized the republic. Now it’s been recently converted back into a mosque this year in a decision that has been rather controversial. If you visit the Hagia Sophia today, a dress code applies and you’ll find the floor covered with a green carpet covering. The grounds outside the Hagia Sophia have chestnuts and grilled corn and is quite beautiful in the evenings.
4. Topkapı Palace and Harem: Topkapı is a stone’s throw from the Hagia Sophia in the Sultanahmet; you could probably hit them in a day. You don’t really need the audio guide they charge you for because most of the information on the audio device is on plaques on the museum grounds. However, the map is a must. Make sure to pick up one of those. The palace is also well known for its imperial harem, which boasts of over 400 rooms.
The museum also has lots of artifacts from both the sultans and the palace, as well as Christian/ Islamic history. There’s some weird stuff in there, to include teeth and body parts of religious figures. If you’re a person who likes to look at everything and read all the information, I’d probably give the palace and harem a full day. If you’re not terribly thorough, maybe 3-4 hours which is what we had but we were disappointed that we had to speed through the harem before closing, which is unfortunate because the huge draw to this palace is the harem part of the museum. The sheer size of the palace is incredible. From a massive gold throne in the throne room to the railings on the veranda, it’s the stuff from which epic novels are inspired.
5.) The Basilica Cistern: I’m a sucker for infrastructure in general. It’s incredible. Ancient infrastructure is even more incredible and fascinating to me considering there are some places in the world that still don’t have the ability to manage water well. Water management and the freedom it gives society actually blows my mind, and some of that is well evident in western history with Roman infrastructure still standing today.
The Basilica Cistern is the largest of many subterranean reservoirs in Istanbul and located underneath what was once a large public square with gardens and a collonade facing the Hagia Sophia. It’s amazing to think that a structure so large and complex could be built in a time before electricity but theoretically I guess 7000 slaves is a heck of an energy source.
There are tears carved into some columns that ancient texts attribute to have been made for slaves who died building the thing. There are a couple creepy massive Medusa heads at the base of the columns that historians aren’t quite sure on all the details of. Total time to walk the cistern, snap a photo and stare at the notable features without a huge wait is probably a 15-20 minute total experience. Other trip tidbit, we’re big into walking and we walked randomly to Balat from the Fatih district and we ran into some ancient ruins outside of a strip mall (gotta love Turkey) on the side of the road that had busted Roman columns with similar tears.
6.) The Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar: One of the first shopping malls in the world and constructed shortly after the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Empire filled with all kinds of cool things from lamps to tea sets, and is a couple of minutes from the Spice Bazaar filled with Turkish Delight, spices, and teas. We stayed in the Fatih district at the beginning of our trip but if we could do it again, we would have ended our trip with shopping to make more purchases. The streets leading up to the covered bazaars had everything from alleys with nothing but lingerie to alleys full of shops with all speciality evening gowns. We’ve been told about lots of kinds of shopping in other destinations we’ve been to only to be disappointed, but that’s not the case with Istanbul. I might just go to with a totally empty suitcase next trip. I did walk away with a ton of Turkish delight. One thing worth noting, the goods we saw everywhere in every category were high quality and well made.
7.) Balat and Saint Stephen-Bulgarian Orthodox Church Combining Neo-Gothic and Neo-Baroque influences, the church is famously known for being made of pre-cast iron and is one of the few surviving pre-cast iron churches. Pictures of the inside are not allowed but it’s beautiful. The church belongs to the local Bulgarian minority.
The church is a short walk from the colorful Balat neighborhood which has plenty of dining options. We walked to Balat from where we were staying in the Sultanahmet District because we love walking, but honestly, other than coming across interesting poorly kept ruins next to a strip mall, it was not the most scenic walk. I highly recommend just jumping there by taxi or rideshare.
8.) Dolmabahçe Palace Hands down my favorite museum. It comes with an audio tour and I’d budget enough hours to enjoy it. We gave ourselves 3 hours and we ended up fast forwarding a lot of the audio tour and it was unfortunate because it was interesting. Dolmabahçe’s exterior is full of Baroque, Rococo and Neoclassical elements blended with Ottoman style at a time when the sultan, while still living at the medieval Topkapı Palace Palace, was looking for the more contemporary style and modern comforts had by the Europeans.
The haram at Dolmabahçe was not as fascinating as the one at Topkapi, as the latter was more representative of its heyday. When you get to the Ceremonial Hall though, you’ll see where the quarter of the yearly tax revenue actually went in the construction of the building, since the building of the palace is known for contributing to the financial decline of the empire and debasement of the currency then. I noticed in the museums, that parts visitors of the palace would see, like the hall or exterior, were extravagantly done, and then more private rooms didn’t even have real wood trim and only had painted on designs to look like trim. Similarly to Topkapı Palace, the museum has lots of exhibits. The clock room was pretty cool. It had the collection of clocks belonging to different sultans, many gifted.
The exterior is beautiful. The gates to the Bosphorus all over Pinterest and Instagram are here, as well as beautiful gardens on the grounds of the palace. Up the street five minutes is another palace, Çırağan Palace, built a couple decades later, which has converted into a hotel. We grabbed some drinks there and they have a selection of Cuban cigars which was a fun way to end the day.
9.) Arnavutköy Dating back to 1468, Sultan Mehmed the conqueror founded Arnavutköy, which means Albanian village for the people who lived there at the time. It’s lined with restaurants and colorful wooden Ottoman era wooden mansions of many colors. Many of the streets are steep and reminded me a little bit of San Francisco. One thing I started to understand is that Istanbul does not bustle early in the morning. Maybe it’s pandemic related but whether it was a weekday or weekend, it wasn’t busy. We probably walked the neighborhood around 9-10 in the morning and nothing was open except some local coffee shops but if we go back I’d love to do dinner in the area. The area felt less casual than Balat but still a village feel.
10.) Ortaköy Mosque You’ve seen it in photos, the seaside mosque with the Bosphorus Bridge behind it and bloggers jumping through birds. A ferry lands right next to where I’m standing and the horn sends the seabirds in every direction. We got here in the early morning, and there was a lot of pressure washing going on. I actually would love to come here later in the day as well because there are lots of crepe stands and other food stalls, that were closed in the morning, and it seems like a cool spot to grab dessert.
11.) Taksim Square and Beyoğlu: Taksim square features historic trolleys you might have seen on Instagram. Beyoğlu is the neighborhood that was once known as Pera, the Greek name for “beyond.” I actually first learned about Pera from a cheesy Turkish soap opera Kurt Seyit ve Şura. The story is about a Russian noblewoman and a Russian Crimean officer who fled to Istanbul during the Bolshevik revolution. I listened to Midnight at the Pera Palace as an audio book, and it described Russian officers setting their horses free into the hills before escaping by sea and the loyal horses followed them into the water, and drowned. (I know sad, but I gave you a crazy anecdote because it’s a book worth listening to before visiting Istanbul.)
Trip advisor had a good score for the Ataturk Cultural Center. Turns out it’s been closed for a decade. It’s not like I’m from there to know. It’s being converted into a new Arts and Culture Venue.
We had watched a short 1958 documentary about Mustafa Kamal on Amazon, who’s the founder of the Turkish Republic, and it describes what he did in Turkey to include Romanizing the Turkish language, why there isn’t Arabic script in Turkey, and improving the nation’s literacy when the majority of the country was illiterate. Kamalism/ Atatürkism, still a political party/ ideology in Turkey if you’re not terribly familiar. You’ll recognize the term from current event articles.
Beyoğlu, prior the the move of the capital to Ankara, once housed many embassies and European traders, contributing to its westernization compared to other parts of Constantinople. The chain Soho House converted the former US consulate into a hotel in an area that still has some active consulates. The neighborhood went into decline sometime in the 70s and has gone through a bit of a revival. The commercial quarter of Karaköy, modern day Galata, is pretty lively with bars and restaurants (more below).
12. Çiçek Pasajı, the Passage of Flowers: This historical covered arcade of restaurants, cafes and shops was built in the 1870s. It’s rumored to have gotten its name from Russian noble women refugees from selling flowers after being ousted by the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, however other historians challenge that it was named by flower shop owners decades later. The building was renovated in the 80s and 90s with the rest of the neighborhood, and again about 15 years ago. We stopped in for a beer, but it’s worth noting that the historic passage is bad need of repair today and was probably was one of the more disappointing places historical spots on the trip.
13. Galata Tower and Karaköy: The name Galata has several theories behind its name according to a poorly cited Wikipedia etymology section on it, but the theory I found pretty interesting is that it’s possibly named after the Galatians. If you know much about Christian history, you know that Paul in the New Testament wrote letters to the Ephesians (we also went to Ephesus on this trip) and the Galatians. The Galatians were Gaelic speaking Celtic people during the Hellenistic period (323 BC to 31 BC). The tower itself in Karaköy was the tallest building in medieval Istanbul when it was built in 1348. During the Ottoman period, it became used for spotting fires.
14. Pera Palace: The historic Pera Palace established in 1892 a couple years after the Sirkeci station, is located right next to the former United States Consulate building, which once housed American diplomats. It’s located in the fashionable Pera neighborhood on the Parisian style street, the Grand Rue. Soho House in Istanbul next to the famed Pera Palace, recently converted the historic consulate building into the hotel’s clubhouse when they bought the property a few years ago.
The Pera Palace was originally part of a hotel chain at the time, that had luxury sister hotels in Lisbon or Paris and was popular for reasons modern day travelers seek chains like the neighboring SoHo house. We had booked Soho House before I got around to listening to Midnight at the Pera Palace in its entirety and the photos online for booking didn’t do it justice compared to the trendy neighboring hotel.
The Pera Palace once had so many foreign spies in its bar, a sign had to be put out for them to make space for customers. Agatha Christie’s rumored writing of the Murder on the Orient Express here during her stay and you can book her room. If you’re a fan of Midnight in Paris , the “belle epoch” charm the hotel boasts of on its website will be a familiar description. The hotel also hosted this familiar guest and character from the movie, a young reporter by the name of Hemingway in 1922, at a time when travelers made their way out east from European city centers by way of transcontinental railroad and drank cocktails in the red velvet chairs at the Orient Bar.
The hotel saw the reign of three sultans, the declining Ottoman Empire, foreign occupation brought by the end of WWI, and the birthplace of the new secular republic. It was the first modern hotel to have electricity in Istanbul, the second building to the Ottoman palaces to have it, provide hot running water to its guests, and I’m standing in front of the historic electric elevator/ lift. This was a big deal in Istanbul’s modernity, considering the Eiffel tower is known for its historic electric elevators in 1889. A small museum is at the hotel for Mustafa Kamal Atatürk as he frequented the hotel many times.
When we stopped in there was a live piano music for an hour and the hospitality was so great we’d love to come back and probably book at least a night.
15. Turkish Jazz and a Bosphorus Cruise: Lastly, a couple things worth noting even though we didn’t get to it our trip and it’s not entirely specific. We would have liked to take a cruise on the Bosphorus because Istanbul is known historically for being amazing to see from being approached by water, compared to by land. Our museum days ran too long for us to get to it. Near where the cruises depart and return, there are also quite a few dining options.
Also, this is worth looking into. Many people aren’t aware that Turkey had a huge jazz scene decades ago. I think we would have liked to explore more related to that on our next trip. The founders of Atlantic records were two Turkish brothers and were responsible for discovering many American jazz, R &B and soul musician greats to include Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles. I went on Youtube and searched Turkish Jazz and it was a real treat!
