Istanbul Travel Guide: Top Things to Do & Best Photo Spots

Andrew leaning on a column in the courtyard of the Blue Mosque

Melody in a blue headscarf inside the softly lit Blue Mosque

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The Blue Mosque

📍 Sultan Ahmed Mosque · Sultanahmet

The one that put Istanbul on our list, and it didn't disappoint — six minarets outside, and a hushed sea of hand-painted blue İznik tiles under the domes inside. It's a working mosque and free to enter, so go outside prayer times, dress modestly (women cover their hair — scarves are provided at the door), and expect to slip your shoes off. There's a photo of the ceiling further down that still doesn't do it justice.

Free entryDress modestly

Us by the fountain in Sultanahmet Square with Hagia Sophia behind

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Hagia Sophia & Sultanahmet Square

📍 Hagia Sophia · Sultanahmet Square

Almost 1,500 years old, a cathedral then a mosque then a museum and now a mosque again — there's nowhere else with a story quite like it. The park between Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, with its fountain and tulip beds, is the heart of the old city and where you'll want your classic Istanbul photo. Just across the square is the Basilica Cistern, the eerie underground Roman water palace of columns and carved Medusa heads — we pre-booked a skip-the-line ticket so we walked straight in.

Old-city heartBook the cistern ahead

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Istanbul: Basilica Cistern Fast-Track Entry & Audio Guide

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Us in a Sultanahmet garden with tulip beds and the Blue Mosque behind

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Sultanahmet in tulip season

📍 Sultanahmet Park & the Hippodrome

People forget the tulip is Turkish before it's Dutch, and every spring Istanbul plants millions of them. In March the beds around Sultanahmet were already coming into colour, framing the mosques perfectly. It's also the loveliest area to just sit — we had our first Turkish teas and a big mezze breakfast at a garden café right by the old Hippodrome obelisk (both in the gallery below).

Tulips from late MarchTea in the garden

Melody among hundreds of glowing mosaic lamps in the Grand Bazaar

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The Grand Bazaar & a lamp workshop

📍 Grand Bazaar (Kapalıçarşı) · Old City

One of the oldest and biggest covered markets in the world — thousands of stalls of carpets, spices, ceramics and those glowing mosaic lamps you'll want to fill a suitcase with. Haggling is expected and half the fun. The best souvenir we came home with wasn't bought, though — it was one we made ourselves at a Turkish mosaic lamp workshop in the old town, gluing the coloured glass by hand. Such a fun couple's afternoon, and you take your lamp home.

Haggle politelyMake your own lamp

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Istanbul: Turkish Mosaic Lamp Workshop in Old Town

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Us under the striped marble arcades of Çamlıca Mosque

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Çamlıca Mosque

📍 Büyük Çamlıca Camii · Asian side (Üsküdar)

The largest mosque in Turkey, up on a hill on the Asian side, and nothing like as crowded as the old-city ones. The scale is unreal — acres of pale marble, striped arcades and a courtyard so big you can get that clean, people-free shot. Getting here is a great excuse to cross to the Asian side, and the views back over the city are worth the trip alone.

Asian sideHuge & uncrowded

Andrew on the waterfront by Ortaköy Mosque with the Bosphorus bridge behind

Andrew inside the ornate chandelier-lit Ortaköy Mosque

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Ortaköy & its little mosque

📍 Ortaköy Mosque · under the Bosphorus Bridge

A jewel-box baroque mosque sitting right at the water's edge, with the great Bosphorus Bridge soaring behind it — probably the most photogenic corner in the city. The square around it is full of cafés and stalls selling kumpir (loaded baked potatoes) and waffles. Go for late-afternoon light, wander in to see the chandeliers, then grab a snack by the water.

Golden-hour spotTry the kumpir

Melody by the Turkish flag on a ferry crossing the Bosphorus

Us on the water at sunset on the Bosphorus

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A cruise between two continents

📍 The Bosphorus · Europe ↔ Asia

Istanbul is the only city that straddles two continents, and the best way to feel that is from the water. By day the public ferries are dirt-cheap and a joy — palaces, fortresses and waterfront mansions gliding past on both banks. For a special night we did a proper Bosphorus dinner cruise with a private table and a show, watching the skyline light up. There's a clip of the sunset over the old city just below.

Ferries are cheapCruise for a big night

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Istanbul: Bosphorus Dinner Cruise & Show with Private Table

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Melody on a waterfront lined with colourful wooden Ottoman houses in Arnavutköy

Us sharing a kiss on the Bosphorus promenade beside a grand waterfront mansion

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The painted Bosphorus villages

📍 Arnavutköy & Bebek · European shore

Away from the big sights, the old villages strung along the Bosphorus are pure charm — rows of pastel wooden Ottoman houses (yalıs) leaning over the water, quiet promenades and waterside cafés. We spent a slow morning walking Arnavutköy into Bebek and it was one of our favourite, most local-feeling parts of the whole trip.

Slow morning walkWaterside cafés