5 Days In Istanbul, Turkey, Mostly Ferries And Baklava

I spent five days in Istanbul on a first visit, moving between the two sides of the Bosphorus by ferry, staying on my feet more than I usually would, and eating enough baklava to notice. This is the itinerary that came out of it. It is not the shortest version. It is the one that let me see the classic monuments in Sultanahmet, spend proper time on the Asian side around Kadıköy, and drift up the Bosphorus for a couple of days without rushing.

I wrote it as five days that build on each other. Sultanahmet in the middle, the Asian side and the upper Bosphorus at either end. Every place is somewhere I actually went, and every note is drawn from what I saw and ate there. A little bit dreamy, honest where I need to be.

If you take one thing from this, take the ferries. The rides between stops are where the trip really lives.

Day 1, Two Sides of the Water

The first day I wanted the balance right. Half on the Asian side, wandering Kadıköy and the little tower in the middle of the strait, then across to the peninsula in the afternoon for the two monuments everyone comes to Istanbul for. It is a lot of ground. The ferry rides give the day its rhythm.

Çiya Sofrası

I started on the Asian side, first thing, before the cafes opened, the ferry from Eminönü almost empty. Çiya Sofrası sits on Güneşlibahçe Sokak in Kadıköy and it does not put on a show from the outside. I asked one of the staff to bring me whatever was best from the day menu and he seemed genuinely happy to be asked. The menu changes every day, which is the whole point of the place. Regional Anatolian dishes you will not see elsewhere in the city.

I had a meze plate built from whatever was best that morning, and the lamb with garlic that everyone in the reviews keeps mentioning for a reason. It is not cheap anymore, that has to be said, but the depth of flavour is real. Easy to spend a couple of hours here without noticing. From the restaurant I drifted down through the market lanes toward the ferry pier.

Maiden’s Tower

The tower sits alone in the middle of the strait, small and stubborn, and no photo I had seen prepared me for it up close. You get to it by a short boat from Salacak in Üsküdar, and the ride is short enough that you barely settle in. I climbed up and read the panels about the snake and the prophecy, which is the story everyone tells, and I looked back at the peninsula from a window.

Honestly the view of the tower from the mainland is better than the view from inside it. That is worth knowing. Still, standing on the little island with the water going both ways around you is a quiet thing. I stayed until the light started shifting. From there it was the ferry back over to Kadıköy, then a short walk into the Moda side streets for the pastry shop I had been told about.

Baylan

Muvakkıthane Caddesi. A narrow door, easy to miss. Baylan has been in Kadıköy longer than most of us have been alive and it feels it in the best way. I sat inside for the Kup Griye. Vanilla ice cream, caramel, toasted almonds, pistachio, cream, and those thin cat’s tongue biscuits on the side. Everyone in the reviews says the same thing and now I understand why.

It is rich, but not in a way that punishes you. The americano tasted more like a large Turkish coffee than an americano, which I did not mind at all. The room is small and cozy and the staff let you sit. I ordered a second coffee. From there the day drifted west, back through Moda toward the waterfront path along the sea.

Moda Sahil Yolu

In that flat afternoon light, the promenade at Moda Sahil Yolu is one of the calmer stretches on the Asian side. It runs along the Marmara with benches on the inland side and a low seawall on the other, and every hundred metres or so a family or a group of students is sitting on the edge with their feet almost over the water.

The view opens toward the historic peninsula across the sea. You can see the domes of Sultanahmet floating in silhouette when the light is right. I walked for a while and then found a bench and stayed put. I lost an afternoon to this and I did not mind. It is the kind of place where you understand why locals do not always cross the bridge into the tourist part of the city. From here the ferry back across to Eminönü is easy, and Sultanahmet is a short tram ride up the hill.

Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque

By the time I got across the water and up to Sultanahmet, the crowds had thinned a little, which is the trick with this one. Hagia Sophia is undergoing dome restoration, so there is scaffolding through the centre of the space and part of the interior experience is undeniably muted by it. That has to be said. The upper gallery is where non-Muslim visitors are directed, and it is a strange perspective, looking down through the steel at the mosaics and the calligraphy.

Still, the scale of the dome does what it does. The audio guide is included in the ticket and works well enough. The ticket is expensive and the scaffolding does dim the visit. I would still not skip it. From the exit you cross the square with the fountain in the middle, and the Blue Mosque is right there, six minarets and all.

The Blue Mosque

Across the square, minarets already washed pink by the late light. The Blue Mosque is free to enter, which after the Hagia Sophia ticket feels almost like a gift, and the interior is what everyone comes for. Iznik tiles in that specific blue, cascading domes, and calligraphic bands running along the walls.

Women are given a headscarf at the entrance if they need one, and everyone leaves shoes at the door. The tourist entrance is off to the right side. Once you are inside the space is calm despite the crowd, which surprised me. I stayed until they closed off the tourist area for the next prayer, then walked out through the courtyard with the six minarets rising into the last of the sky. Back to the hotel on foot, slowly, past the tram tracks and the sesame bread carts still selling into the evening.

Day 2, Sultanahmet Proper

Day 2 stays on the historic peninsula. This is the day you build around Sultanahmet, and it works best if you start underground and move outward from there. Two of the great markets bookend the day. Give yourself more time than you think you will need for the palace in the middle.

Basilica Cistern

Day 2 started underground, first thing, before the cafes opened properly. The Basilica Cistern sits a hundred metres from the Hagia Sophia and opens at 9, which is when you want to be there. Down the stairs, the air changes. Cool, damp, a soft echo of drips. Rows of columns disappear into shadows in perfect grid.

The Medusa heads at the far end, one on her side and one upside down, are the photographic moment everyone waits for. It is quick as visits go, maybe half an hour if you take your time, and the entry fee is high for that. But the atmosphere is unlike anywhere else in the city. From the cistern I drifted a short walk west, back toward Cankurtaran for lunch on a rooftop.

Seven Hills Restaurant

After a slow climb up Tevkifhane Sokak, the rooftop opened up and there it was. Hagia Sophia on one side, the Blue Mosque on the other, and the Marmara stretching out beyond. Seven Hills is unabashedly a view restaurant, and the food has to compete with that, which it mostly does.

I had the Turkish breakfast, which arrives in that small-plate constellation of eggs, sausage, potatoes, cheeses, jams, and bread, and the amount for the price felt fair. It is not the cheapest breakfast in town. It is one of the best-placed. I lingered longer than I meant to, watching the seagulls swing between the two domes. From there it was a short walk uphill through the palace gates for Topkapi.

Topkapi Palace Museum

I almost saved this for another day. I am glad I did not. Topkapi is huge, four courtyards deep, and it needs the better part of an afternoon if you want to see the Treasury and the Harem in addition to the main palace. The Harem ticket is separate and worth it. The rooms are smaller, more intimate, and the tiles are extraordinary.

Terraces open toward the Bosphorus on the far side, where the Golden Horn meets the Marmara and everything visible from up here feels like it belongs to Topkapi. Long queues form for the Treasury by mid-afternoon so I went there first. Plan an hour and a half at the very least, more if you can. I lost most of the afternoon here. From the exit gate it is a short walk down Divanyolu toward the pastry shop everyone talks about.

Hafız Mustafa

Kunefe first, then the coffee. Hafız Mustafa on Divanyolu is a well-known chain but the flagship near Sultanahmet is the one to go to. Trays of baklava in every configuration, from the classic pistachio to the wet chocolate version, plus rows of lokum in impossible colours.

I ordered the kunefe and an Ottoman coffee with the thick foam on top, which the waiter took a moment to explain is the mark of good brewing. The rooms are elegant and high-ceilinged, and the service is quick without being pushy. The prices are on the higher end for dessert but it is very good dessert. From the door I drifted west down the tram line toward Beyazıt and the Grand Bazaar entrance.

Grand Bazaar

You go in and immediately you are lost. That is the point of the Grand Bazaar, and I mean that kindly. Four thousand shops under vaulted ceilings, and every second one wants to sell you a carpet, a lamp, a set of ceramics. The pushiness is milder than I expected. Bargaining is expected, and if you are not comfortable with it, look for the fixed-price shops, which do exist and are worth finding.

I liked the hand-painted ceramic quarter more than the gold quarter. Colours everywhere, even the light coming through the vaulted skylights is warm. Do not come here to buy anything specific, come to wander. I wandered for maybe an hour and a half. From one of the north gates it is a short walk downhill toward Eminönü and the spice market.

Egyptian Bazaar

By the time I reached the Spice Bazaar the light was going flat over the Golden Horn. The Egyptian Bazaar sits inside the outer arasta of the Yeni Cami, and the smell hits you first. Cinnamon, cumin, cardamom, and the sweetness of trays of Turkish delight in every corner. Everyone tries to hand you a sample as you pass. Say yes to the mulberry tea.

I bought spices and a small bag of dried figs and let myself get carried around by the crowd. It is more manageable than the Grand Bazaar, tighter, easier to navigate. Outside, the ferries were pulling into Eminönü with their evening horns. I sat on the seawall for a while with a fish sandwich from the boat stalls, watching the Galata Bridge fill with fishermen for the night.

Day 3, Fatih to Beyoğlu

The third day is the longest walk. Start in Eminönü for lunch, taxi west to the frescoes in Edirnekapı, then cross the Horn for the tower and the boulevard in Beyoğlu. It ends up on a rooftop with a view for the sunset. Sensible shoes are the whole story.

Hamdi Restaurant, Eminönü

Day 3 opened with a proper Turkish lunch, which meant Hamdi in Eminönü, up on the top floor by a window with the Golden Horn spread out beneath. The building is on Kalçın Sokak, a narrow lane behind the spice market, and the entrance is easy to walk past.

I went for lahmacun to start, then the Ali Nazik kebab, which is smoked eggplant pureed with yogurt and topped with cubes of lamb. The bread is excellent. The view from the top floor is what people talk about, and it deserves the talk, though the service pushed slightly harder than I would have liked. Reviews are mixed on this place and I understand why. I still enjoyed the meal, and the lahmacun in particular. From the exit I hopped a short taxi west across Fatih to the mosque in Edirnekapı.

Kariye Mosque

Kariye sits in a residential neighborhood in Derviş Ali, and the walk from the taxi drop to the door is quiet in a way that Sultanahmet never is. Inside, the Byzantine mosaics and frescoes from the fourteenth century are the reason you make the trip. They cover the ceilings and the vaults in gold and deep colour, layered figures and scenes I could not name but could not stop looking at.

The mosque is small, so the visit is short, maybe thirty minutes if you linger. The ticket price is steep for the time you spend, that has to be said. But the art is extraordinary, and there is a small tea house just outside with a view of the exterior worth the sit. From there I made my way back east toward Karaköy for the tower everyone goes to.

Galata Tower

Late afternoon, the queue already ninety minutes long. Galata Tower is the postcard shot of Beyoğlu, cylindrical and stubby and dead centre of a maze of café-lined streets. I had prebooked, which cut the wait, and I would suggest doing the same.

The elevator gets you almost to the top, then a short set of stairs. The observation balcony is narrow and everyone is jostling for the same angle, which is a fair trade for the view. The Golden Horn on one side, the Bosphorus and the Asian side beyond, the historic peninsula with Hagia Sophia and Süleymaniye south of you. I stayed until the sun started tilting toward the horizon. The neighborhood at the base is worth a wander after. From there I drifted downhill toward the water and Galataport.

Istanbul Museum of Modern Art

Down on the waterfront at Tophane, Istanbul Modern feels almost European from the outside, all glass and clean lines. Inside, the permanent collection of twentieth and twenty-first century Turkish art gave me a version of the country I had not really seen in the older monuments. Painters I did not know, sculptures rooted in specific parts of Anatolia, video work responding to more recent history.

The rooftop terrace looks out over the Bosphorus and is one of the better free views on this stretch of coast. There is a museum shop that surprised me. I bought a small print. Easy to spend a couple of hours here if the exhibitions catch you. From the museum I walked uphill toward Beyoğlu and İstiklal.

İstiklal Caddesi

A slow uphill walk from Tophane and suddenly you are on İstiklal, the pedestrian boulevard that runs from Tünel up to Taksim. Red vintage tram, sesame bread carts, buskers, boutiques inside old shophouses, and a specific kind of Istanbul energy that intensifies as the sun goes down.

I walked the whole length of it, slowly, dipping into a couple of side streets when they looked promising. Some of the passages off the main street lead into old fish restaurant lanes and hidden courtyards. The boulevard gets crowded, especially near Galatasaray Square, and it stays crowded well into the night. It is one of those streets you keep looping back to on a trip like this. From İstiklal I turned into Meşrutiyet Caddesi for dinner up on the rooftop.

Mikla

Just before the sky started turning, I took the elevator up to the rooftop at the Marmara Pera. Mikla sits on the top floor and it is the kind of place I usually would not have booked on a first trip, but the tasting menu was written up in ways that made me curious. The dining room is small and understated. The terrace opens onto a 360 view of the city with mosques glowing gold in the last light.

The kitchen leans into Anatolian ingredients treated with a very modern hand. I had the three-course, which is generous for fine dining, and the porcini dishes stayed with me. It is expensive, no way around that. It was worth it for this trip. Walked back to the hotel slow, İstiklal still awake at eleven.

Day 4, Along the Bosphorus

Day 4 traces the Bosphorus. A morning walk across the bridge, then the palace on the water, the great mosque up on the hill, a short ride to the little pink mosque under the bridge in Ortaköy, and eventually the fortress at the far north. Ferries and trams do most of the work. The rhythm is easier than it sounds.

Galata Bridge

I started early, walking down to the Golden Horn before the traffic really began, and the Galata Bridge in the morning is another creature entirely from the Galata Bridge at night. Fishermen already lined up along the railings, poles bristling out toward the water. Ferries pulling in and out with slow horns.

From the pedestrian walkway you can see Süleymaniye on the hill to one side and Beyoğlu with the tower on the other, and the seagulls arc constantly overhead. Under the deck there is a row of fish restaurants but they are quiet in the morning. I walked across slowly, stopped for a simit from a cart at the Karaköy end, and stood at the railing for a while. From there I caught the tram up toward Kabataş for the palace.

Dolmabahçe Palace

Booked ahead. That is the single best decision for this one. Dolmabahçe sits right on the water in Beşiktaş, all late-Ottoman European excess, and the entry line stretches long by mid-morning. The Selamlık and Harem tickets together are the way, and the audio guide is worth the extra.

The ceremonial hall alone stops you. The chandeliers are on a scale I had not encountered in a room before, and the crystal balustrade on the main staircase is one of those things you have to see rather than have described to you. Photos are not allowed inside, which forces you to actually look. Plan two hours, more if you want to sit in the gardens after. From the palace it was back on the tram at Kabataş, a short ride to the base of the hill, and then a walk up the slope for the mosque on the rise.

Süleymaniye Mosque

The climb up to Süleymaniye rewards you the moment you crest it. The mosque sits at the top of one of the seven hills, and from the terrace behind the courtyard the Golden Horn opens up under you with the domes of the old city arranged below. Sinan’s masterpiece, from the sixteenth century, and it is the mosque that stays with me more than any other on the peninsula.

The interior is calm and generously scaled, with clear light coming through the windows and the great dome floating overhead. Entry is free. The gardens are peaceful even when the interior gets busy, and there is a small tea house on the terrace where you can sit with a çay and just look. Easy to spend a couple of hours here without trying. From the terrace I made my way back down to Eminönü and caught the ferry north along the Bosphorus toward Ortaköy.

Büyük Mecidiye Mosque, Ortaköy

The Ortaköy Mosque sits on the very edge of the Bosphorus, small and pale pink and impossibly photogenic, with the great bridge arching just behind it. Coming in by boat is the way to see it first. The mosque is nineteenth century Ottoman Baroque, elegant rather than monumental, with tall windows letting light flood the interior. Entry is free.

Around the square, cafés and kumpir stalls and jewellery vendors and a low constant buzz of people taking photos. Try the kumpir if you have not, a stuffed baked potato that is the local Ortaköy street food. I sat on the steps by the water for a while with mine, watching the ferries and the tankers pass under the bridge. From Ortaköy I doubled back south along the coast to Karaköy for the baklava everyone tells you not to skip.

Karaköy Güllüoğlu

Two pieces of the pistachio wrap baklava. One soğuk baklava. One small çay. Karaköy Güllüoğlu on Kemankeş Caddesi is the pilgrimage stop, and every review that says it is worth the pilgrimage is right.

The room is spacious and always full, the display case runs the length of the wall, and the pistachio-to-butter-to-syrup ratio is dialled in a way that other places imitate but do not quite match. The soğuk baklava is a cold version served in milk, sort of a hybrid dessert, and once you have tried it you understand why people keep coming back specifically for it. The staff move fast. Prices are fair for what you get. From Güllüoğlu I caught a taxi north up the Bosphorus for the last stop of the day at Rumeli Hisarı.

Rumeli Fortress

The fortress sits at the narrowest point of the Bosphorus, on Yahya Kemal Caddesi up in Sarıyer, and by the time I got there the light was already going soft. Rumeli Hisarı has been under long restoration, so the walls and towers are closed to visitors, which changes what the visit really is.

What you get is the interior courtyards, the small mosque, the cannons, and the views out over the water toward Anadolu Hisarı on the opposite bank. It is quiet. Thirty minutes tops if you are just walking through. Honestly the views from the shore road are almost as good as the views from inside, and you can stop at one of the cafés along the coast for tea. I sat at a small table by the water until it started to cool. Back to the hotel by taxi down the long shore road, the whole strait lit up on both sides.

Day 5, Slow Circles

The last day I let it drift. A morning back on the Asian side for the market, dinner in Beyoğlu at a proper meze place, and then up the shore road for the last of the light and one final ride on the water. It ends with the whole city lit up from a boat.

Kadıköy Market

On the last day I went back to the Asian side, first thing, before the cafes opened. The Kadıköy market lanes off Yavuztürk Sokak are less about the tourist bazaar experience and more about how the neighborhood actually shops. Fishmongers with the day’s catch on ice, cheese stalls with wheels of tulum and kaşar, olives in every colour of green and black, and the small pickle shops with rows of jars catching the light.

I walked slowly, tasting bits of things handed to me by vendors, and drank a çay standing up at one of the counter cafés. This is where you buy things to take home if you are cooking. Easy to lose an hour without noticing. From Kadıköy the ferry back to Karaköy takes about twenty minutes, and from there it is a walk up into Beyoğlu for the evening.

Çukur Meyhane

Turnacıbaşı Caddesi at the Galatasaray corner, on a small side street off the main flow. Çukur Meyhane is a proper local meze place, the kind where the tables spill onto the pavement and the mezes come one after another for as long as you keep ordering.

I had the balik manti, small fish dumplings under yogurt, the halep kofte cold bulgur meatballs, an aubergine salad, and a glass of rakı with water. Everything at fair prices, and the bread was warmed before it came out, which is a small thing that matters. Locals eat here, which is the tell. Nothing pretentious. From the meyhane I drifted west along the side streets back down toward the coast road for the drive up the Bosphorus.

Sunset Grill and Bar

Up the shore road, past Ortaköy, into the Ulus hill above Kuruçeşme. Sunset Grill sits high on the slope with a wide open view down to the water and the second bridge, and the timing was, well, exactly as advertised.

The room is polished, the terrace opens right onto the view, and the food leans international with a proper sushi section, which is not what I had expected. I had the octopus and the seafood pasta. Portions generous, presentation careful. It is expensive, and the service can be uneven depending on who you get, so the mixed reviews are mixed for a reason. But for a sunset over the Bosphorus it does what it says. From Sunset it was a short taxi back down to Bebek.

Bebek Kahve

Bebek Kahve sits right on the water in Bebek Parkı, wooden tables under the shade of the trees, and it is one of those very old-school coffee spots that trades entirely on where it is. I ordered a Turkish coffee and a small piece of brownie, and I sat at a table by the edge with my feet almost over the water.

Boats moving up and down the strait, the second bridge visible upstream. The service is fast and impersonal, it is cash only, and everything is overpriced for what it is. That is the deal. You are not paying for the coffee, you are paying for the seat. And the seat is worth the seat. I stayed until the light on the water turned copper. From here I made my way slowly back down toward the pier for the cruise.

Bosphorus Cruise and Turkish Night Show

By the time I boarded at the pier in Cibali, the sky was already softening. The Bosphorus Cruise and Turkish Night Show is a set-menu evening on the water with folk dancing and a violinist and a whirling dervish sequence, and I will say upfront it is not subtle. It is the tourist-facing version of the city and it knows it is. Set that expectation and it works.

The ride itself is the reason to go, the palaces and mosques and fortresses all lit up on both banks as you glide past. Dinner is fine, drinks are included on some tickets, and the show is charming if you take it in the spirit intended. I stayed on deck as much as possible, watching the second bridge come into view. It was the right way to close out five days here. Back to the hotel late, tired in the best way, already thinking about which parts I would come back for.

Five days felt like the right amount to see the layers without exhausting them. There is more of the city I did not touch. The Prince’s Islands, the walls of the old city, a proper day just for the Balat and Fener neighborhoods along the Horn. Save something for next time is my rule anyway.

If you have a favourite stop I missed here, I would love to hear it. Tell me which ones you would swap in.