Istanbul in 1 day detailed itinerary on your own. What to see in Istanbul in one day. Church of St. Anthony
Greetings! Continuing the theme of holidays in Turkey, I will tell you what to see in istanbul in one day. In the last article “Virtual tour to Istanbul”, I began my story about where it is more convenient to rent an apartment and about food in this interesting and huge city. Today we will go over the places that will help you get a general idea of Istanbul. Indeed, in one day it is simply impossible to see everything in such a metropolis.
Istanbul is modern and European. The city is growing by leaps and bounds: every year 30 new streets appear in Istanbul. There are several dozens of administrative districts on the territory of Istanbul.
Laleli and Aksaray are shopping districts, favorite places of our shuttles.
Fatih, Sultanahmet and Besiktas are historical centers, the sights of Istanbul are concentrated here.
The Taksim area is known for various fashion establishments.
Over the past twenty years, 50 shopping centers have opened in Istanbul and more are planned to be built.
As for the beach holiday. In Istanbul, you will not be able to swim in the sea waves and soak up the sand: the waters of the bay are very dirty. But there are swimming pools on the beach. Basically, all tourists go to rest on the beaches of the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas.
A very popular excursion to Istanbul is a boat trip along the Bosphorus Strait, under one of the longest bridges in the world. The Bosphorus Strait divides the city of Istanbul into European and Asian parts. This is where you can see the amazing interweaving of past and present!
Where once there were fishing villages, there are now luxurious villas and summer palaces.
The Dolmabahce Mosque is located in the Besiktas district, on the territory of the Dolmabahce palace complex. The name itself translates as "filled garden." Tourists who have been there talk about the most beautiful baroque decor. My review of the excursion to.
Even if you have allocated only one day for a sightseeing tour of Istanbul, you must see this amazing complex .... well, I think so.
In one of the descriptions, I read that the interior decoration of the Dolmabahce Palace took about 14 tons of gold and 40 tons of silver. Want to check it out? Come to Istanbul!
It was within the walls of the Dolmabahce Palace that the most revered citizen of Turkey, the first president, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, spent his last hours. In Istanbul, monuments to the Turkish leader can be seen everywhere.
And here Kemal Ataturk is immortalized in the company of Klim Voroshilov and Mikhail Frunze. The monument was erected during the lifetime of the first president of the Turkish Republic. The composition was made at the personal request of Ataturk, as a gratitude to the country that was the first to lend a helping hand during the First World War.
My attention was attracted by this building, standing on the eastern shore of the Bosphorus. Since my dear husband did not know that he photographed at such an angle, I had to look for the answer on the Internet. Haydarpasa Asian Station, so massive, more like a prison. Up close, though, it looks completely different.
The Haydarpasa station building stands on an artificial peninsula and is surrounded on three sides by the waters of the Bosphorus Strait. From the European part of Istanbul, it is very easy to get to the Asian station by water, thanks to the shuttle boats. The station square is decorated with beautiful palm trees and an old steam locomotive. Newlyweds often come to this place to be photographed.
If you do not know what to see in Istanbul in one day, know that there are many bureaus in the old part of the city where you can buy any tour of Istanbul. Just keep in mind that Russian-speaking excursions are more expensive than English-speaking ones.
Due to the huge number of historical monuments, at first glance it seems that one can easily get lost in Istanbul. Fortunately, the city is rich in guidebooks that will help you understand it. Guidebooks can be taken for free, for example, at the Blue Mosque.
Acquaintance with the city, most tourists begin with the symbol of the city - the Blue Mosque. The construction of this magnificent building began in 1609 and lasted two years, marble was used as the material. For those who see the mosque for the first time, the question arises why the Blue Mosque itself.
Everything is very simple, the mosque owes its name to its interior. Somehow I even heard such a phrase - "a nightmare of a bathroom decorator." The walls in the mosque are lined with beautiful white and blue tiles from the city of Iznik. Inside, the Blue Mosque is well lit thanks to 260 windows.
Five times a day in the Blue Mosque, Muslims perform prayer-prayer. True, instead of a muezzin calling to prayer, a loudspeaker is installed, and prayers are heard mainly in the recording.
Not far from the Blue Mosque, there is a German fountain. This is a gift to the Turkish people from King Wilhelm II of Prussia.
The second most popular tourist attraction is the Hagia Sophia. Its walls are decorated with expensive marble panels.
This is how the Selimiye camii mosque looks like, it is very similar to the Blue Mosque.
If you want to take beautiful photos of Istanbul, it is better to cross the bridge to the Galata area and climb to the observation deck of the Galata Tower, its height is 61 m.
In the photo, the Seven-Tower Castle of Istanbul or the Yedikule Fortress. Here the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror kept his treasury. After the Turkish conquest, Yedikule Fortress was a prison with places of torture. Today there is a museum here.
There are many young people among the inhabitants of Istanbul, the average age of the inhabitants is 16 years, and the population is 13 million people. Turkey is an absolutely civilized country. Unlike Egypt, it is completely safe for a woman to travel here alone. Turks are quite respectful and hospitable to tourists.
As soon as the velvet night descends on Istanbul, the city becomes a ready-made illustration for oriental tales. Bright and beautiful lights, like precious stones, adorn the huge city.
Istanbul is truly a city of contrasts. There is just enough eastern exotic here to feel like in Asia, and comfort so as not to forget that you are still in Europe.
This is how the virtual tour turned out. Now you know how much you can see in Istanbul in just one day. By clicking on the link you can find out what else you can see in. February 2014 trip report.
You read other websites and wonder - tourists are offered as part of the program Istanbul one day see so many sights that it is just right to be left without legs! Instead, I offer you my own proven itinerary for self-guided sightseeing in the eastern metropolis. I sure that one day in istanbul, carried out on your own, will leave a lot of positive impressions in your memory, and will also not deprive you of the opportunity to move around without pain in your legs at the end of the day.
You need to start this hard day with a "kahvalti" (traditional Ottoman breakfast), and at 8:45 at the gate to the Topkapi Palace. Having bought a ticket, immediately go to the second courtyard to the left, to the high tower of the harem. Here you need to buy a second ticket and be sure to buy an electronic audio guide. After a tour of the harem - a whole labyrinth of rooms and passages, you will have to stand in long lines in each of the many halls of the Topkapi Palace Museum. Finally, from the territory of the fourth courtyard, you can take photographs with views of the Golden Horn or the Bosphorus.
After spending at least 3 hours on Topkapi, when leaving the second courtyard, turn right to the Archaeological Museum, the exhibits of which cover 5000 years. The most interesting are the sarcophagus of Alexander the Great, the sculpture of a lion from Halicarnassus, the Hittite sphinx, the mosaics of the Ishtar gate and much more. Finally, visit the tiled pavilion with Iznik ceramic tiles, which illustrate the whole history of Turkish mosaics. On average, you will spend about one hour visiting the museum.
At the beginning of Divan Yolu Street, just a ten-minute walk from the Archaeological Museum, there are two locants (canteens). In "Koftecisi selim usta" they cook wonderful kyufte, and in "Baran restaurant ottoman kitchen" you can taste fragrant soft adana kebab. The cost of a snack will not exceed 25-45 TL per person. In addition, your legs, visibly tired from walking, will rest during lunch.
After lunch, we will continue to spend one day in Istanbul with maximum benefit. It is worth taking a turn in the underground cistern of the heyday of Constantinople - an unusual room; twilight reigning among hundreds of columns; flocks of fish busily scurrying about in the water; famous jellyfish - all this will undoubtedly remain in your memory for a long time. This is where the flash in your camera comes in handy! The visit will take approximately 30 minutes. Coming out again on Divan Yolu Street, you should pay attention to the pointed column or the zero mile indicator - it was from here that the length of all roads in the Second Rome was counted.
Any Russian will not deny himself an excursion to the Hagia Sophia Museum - the main temple of Constantinople and the main Orthodox shrine. Stunning architecture, incredible scale and size of the building have amazed people for more than one millennium. On the second floor of the building, you can see the beauty and splendor of the preserved mosaic icons. Thanks to the first president of Turkey, Kemal Atatürk, the Orthodox cathedral, turned into a mosque, is now a museum, which you need to allocate about 1-2 hours to visit.
At the final stage of a rich tour in Istanbul in one day, you can visit the Sultanahmed Mosque or the Blue Mosque. To do this, you need to walk along Sultanahmet Square to the west, passing three historical artifacts of the former hippodrome of Constantinople - the Egyptian obelisk, as well as two columns:
is a giant metropolis, a full acquaintance with which will take a whole week. However, if you are limited in time, then the main sights of the city can be seen in one day. Thank God, all of them are compactly concentrated in the historical district of Sultanahmet.
The center of this area is the large and green Sultanahmet Park Square, on the sides of which there are two main attractions of Istanbul: and. Near this square there is also an underground reservoir (it is located under Yerebatan Cd. Street) and the remains of an ancient hippodrome (now it is a park area "Sultanahmet Square"). Entrance to the Blue Mosque and the hippodrome is free. To get to the Basilica Cistern and Hagia Sophia, you will need to buy a ticket. Taking into account the fact that everywhere you will come across crowds of people, visiting only these four places will take about 4-5 hours of free time.
After seeing all the sights described above, you can move on. Having rounded the Hagia Sophia on the right side, you can go to the main entrance to the Sultan's. In addition to the palace itself, there is also a museum of the same name (admission is paid). Naturally, in order to get inside, you will also have to stand in line for a bit and buy a ticket. It may take 1.5-2 hours of free time to visit the palace, depending on the queue.
If, after visiting all these places, the forces still have not left you, then after leaving their palace, you can turn right and after about 100 meters you will get to the entrance to the Gülhane Parkı park, which was previously part of the Topkapi Palace complex (it was a palace garden). Now it is a public beautiful green park (entrance is free), from where interesting views of the palace itself open up.
Gulhane Park - the former Sultan's garden
You can end such a hard and eventful day on the embankment of the Golden Horn Bay (leaving the park, you will need to turn right and go down along the tram-metro tracks). In 5-7 minutes you will come to the historical Eminonu pier, located on the shores of the Golden Horn Bay. From here you get beautiful photos of the bay itself, its bridges, as well as located on the opposite coast.
Seeing all of the above attractions in Istanbul in 1 day is difficult, but quite realistic. However, besides this, the city has a huge number of other interesting places, so it is better to come here, of course, for a longer period of time.
As a rule, most tourists settle in the Sultanahmet area, so all of the above attractions are likely to be within walking distance from your hotel. If you live in another area, then it is most convenient to come here by tram-metro (it has three stops in the center: Sultanahmet, Gulhane and Sirkeci).
“Istanbul is a city of contrasts” - this is how it was stated in one of our favorite Soviet comedies, and indeed, having arrived and at least briefly visited this city, colorful and shimmering with colors like a bright gypsy sundress, you lose your head, a sense of reality and understand the meaning of the words " saturated”, “concentrated”, as well as “very welcoming” and “hospitable”. The city gathers tourists from all over the world, who come on their own, and with children, and in addition to shopping, there is something to see and marvel at.
We have already told. Here the task is more difficult, and we only had one free day - dedicate it to Istanbul and you will not regret it! One day will not be enough to completely immerse yourself in the atmosphere of Turkish Babylon, but we will tell you what to see in Istanbul in 1 day, correctly laying your route to explore the main city attractions and interesting places. In addition, this tour is quite gentle, and will allow you to avoid pain in the legs and lower back by the end of the day. So, you came to Istanbul alone or as a couple… Choose comfortable shoes and go ahead, for impressions!
Morning
Topkapi Palace
We will get up early and then we will be in time for all the places that are worth visiting. By nine in the morning we will be at the entrance to the Topkapi Palace. Here we will spend about three hours, buy a ticket, it is quite inexpensive. We recommend that you immediately go to the high tower of the harem, the path to which lies in the second courtyard on the left, where you need to purchase another entrance ticket and an electronic guide that will tell you a lot of interesting things about the life of local concubines and tell you many secrets and terrible conspiracies that were born within these walls.
Walking through the harem is a touch of something sacred and intimate. It is a whole labyrinth, and after you get out of here, your path lies in the palace museum. There you will have to stand in line, but believe that you will not regret the time spent. The final chord is photographs with views of the Bosphorus and local environs, which have the best angle if they are taken from the fourth courtyard.
Noon
Archaeological Museum
The time is about noon, we say goodbye to Topkapi and leave it through the second courtyard. Now we have to go to view the almost five-century collection of the Archaeological Museum of the city. We'll need an hour to see it. Here, the sarcophagus of Alexander the Great, the sculpture of a lion from Halicarnassus, the Hittite sphinx, as well as the most beautiful Turkish mosaics of the Ishtar Gate and the tiled pavilion with Iznik ceramic tiles deserve your attention.
Dinner
Fatigue takes its toll, and it's time for lunch, we recommend that you make the final spurt and 10 minutes of walking from the museum along Divan Yolu Street will lead you to the local canteens - "locants". There are two of them, but your appetite has broken out in earnest! The first will treat you to a wonderful kufta, and the second will drive you crazy adana kebab. Relax and eat, you will spend no more than 10-15 Turkish liras, which is almost free by Russian standards.
Second half of the trip
Dinner is over, let's go for new adventures! We hope you have charged your camera, because the most interesting is ahead! We will lead the next half an hour in ... the Cistern! We take a turn in the "Underground Museum", built in the best times of Constantinople. It is notable for its gloomy atmosphere, hundreds of columns, thousands of fish and hundreds of jellyfish. Take a photo and don't forget the flash!
We go out into the light of God on Divan Yolu Street, and then our route lies past a pointed column. It actually represents the “zero kilometer”, and it was from here that the countdown and length of all the roads of the Byzantine Empire were carried out!
Archaeological Museum
To arrive in Istanbul and not visit an Orthodox church for a Russian person would be somehow ... godless, so we are on our way to the Hagia Sophia Museum, which at one time was the main temple of Constantinople. Here we will spend about an hour and a half, but they will fly by unnoticed, because admiration for the wonderful architecture and the scale that inspires respect and awe will make time intangible. Dedicate the second floor to viewing the mosaic icons, the splendor of which does not fade even one iota over time. Today it is a mosque, and the museum status was given to it by the first president of Turkey, Kemal Ataturk.
Saint Sophie Cathedral
Evening has imperceptibly rolled down on the cities, but there is still time for the last pearl of Istanbul. And it will be the mosque "Sultanahmed" or in other words "Blue Mosque". In order to get to it, you need to cross the Sultanahmet Square, keep to the west, and along the way you can take a photo of the former hippodrome of the city of Constantinople, the Egyptian obelisk, as well as the snake and stone columns. And here it is, Sultanahmet, great in size and significance. It seems like one big diamond thanks to the radiance emanating from its twenty thousand tiles, intricately painted with patterns of unusual colors and geometric shapes. Keep in mind that during the call for obligatory prayer, the mosque may be temporarily closed.
Sultanahmet Mosque
Evening in Istanbul
Tired? Let's go to a restaurant, but where to go? Food is an oriental passion! The famous Turkish institution Albura-Kathisma will treat you with national dishes, it takes only five minutes to walk from the Blue Mosque, and you will get an indescribable pleasure from the national cuisine! You can also visit one of the fish restaurants, you need to ride a tram to the piers of Eminenu Square, at the same time you will see the Galata Bridge. There is another local dish that cannot be ignored - grilled fish sandwiches, which include fresh fish and many delicious vegetables.
Farewell, but goodbye!
After dinner or a snack, you can go to Ataturk Airport or to the hotel, our busy Istanbul day is left behind, and to be honest, everyone will want to come back here again and with the whole family. If you have the opportunity, come to once again breathe its air and plunge into the most interesting oriental tale.
This Istanbul walking itinerary will help you navigate the city and see the maximum number of attractions in 1 day. In the post, I did not describe in detail, because. Before that, we talked about them in a separate post.
1. If you are in Istanbul for the first time and do not know where to go, then start your walk from the European part of Istanbul from Sultanahmet Square, where the main sights of the city are located, such as Hagia Sophia, the beautiful Blue Mosque, the German Fountain, the obelisk of the Byzantine emperors Constantine Porphyrogenitus and the Egyptian obelisk.
You can look into the Blue Mosque - it will not take you much time, the main thing is not to get to the time of prayer.
2. The next point of your walk will be the Topkapi Palace, which was the main palace of the Ottoman Empire. The palace impresses with its size and the number of rooms. Currently, there is a museum in the palace, but within one day you will not have enough time for it. Therefore, admire the view of the Asian part of Istanbul, which opens from the observation decks of the palace, take a walk in the neighboring Gulhane Park, which is especially beautiful in spring during the flowering of trees and tulips.
3. From the Gulhane Park we go to the famous Sirkeci Station, where the world-famous Orient Express train used to come. You can just walk around the station, or you can look into the museum that tells about the famous train. The museum is small and doesn't take much time. If you are already hungry, then on the numerous streets around the station there are many cafes, restaurants, coffee shops where you can have a tasty, inexpensive and quick bite to eat.
4. Within one day, you are unlikely to have time to visit the 2 main markets of Istanbul, so instead of the Grand Bazaar, along the way of our route, stop by the Egyptian Bazaar, which is also called the Egyptian Spice Market. In this market, you can buy interesting handmade items: oriental-style candlesticks, mugs, lamps, as well as the famous Turkish sweets or Turkish tea.
5. After visiting the market, go to, from which you can see another important object of the city - the Galata Tower. Cross the Golden Horn Bay on the bridge, admire the fishermen and seagulls on the bridge and go to the Karakoy area.
6. Take the Tunel F2 funicular to the Beyoglu station, where we change to a retro tram that will take you to Taksim Square. Inspect Taksim Square and go back along Istiklal Street, on the way look at the Flower Passage (Çiçek Pasajı), take a photo at the Galata Tower and on.
I consider this area the most interesting, because. it is here that a large number of interesting places, graffiti, authentic cafes are hidden, and Istiklal Street is considered the center of Istanbul's nightlife.
The length of the entire route turns out to be a little more than 8 km, but I assure you that you will still wind up extra 5 kilometers through the market, through parks and back streets of Istanbul.
