Istanbul
One city on two continents, and the ferry crossing is the best cheap thing to do in it.
Sultanahmet is the postcard and it earns it — go, once. The city people actually live in is across the water on the Anatolian side, where the crowds thin out and the kitchens stop cooking for tour groups.
Neighbourhoods in Istanbul
Logged in Istanbul
Araf İstanbul
Istanbul, TurkeyA chef couple's open kitchen in a quiet Kadıköy apartment block, working through offal most menus skip.
Cağaloğlu Hamam
Istanbul, TurkeyA marble Ottoman hammam built in 1741, still washing visitors under the same vaulted domes.
Çırağan Palace Kempinski
Istanbul, TurkeySultan Abdülaziz's Bosphorus palace, rebuilt after a 1910 fire and now the only hotel in Istanbul with its own stretch of the strait.
Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet
Istanbul, TurkeyA neoclassical Ottoman prison two minutes from Hagia Sophia, converted into a hotel with the original cell block layout still traceable in its courtyard.
Hürrem Sultan Hamamı
Istanbul, TurkeyA 16th-century Mimar Sinan hammam beside Hagia Sophia, restored to twin-domed marble symmetry.
Pandeli
Istanbul, TurkeyA blue-tiled Ottoman dining room above the Spice Bazaar, serving since 1901.
Where to stay in Istanbul
Stays shown via Stay22 — booking through the map supports the log.
Mentioned in
Araf İstanbul
Istanbul, TurkeyA chef couple's open kitchen in a quiet Kadıköy apartment block, working through offal most menus skip.
Hürrem Sultan Hamamı
Istanbul, TurkeyA 16th-century Mimar Sinan hammam beside Hagia Sophia, restored to twin-domed marble symmetry.
Pandeli
Istanbul, TurkeyA blue-tiled Ottoman dining room above the Spice Bazaar, serving since 1901.
Kadıköy
Ferries, fish markets and apartment blocks — the Anatolian side neighbourhood locals actually live in.
Turkey
A country split across two continents, and the better half of Istanbul is the one tour buses skip.