3 Day Istanbul Itinerary 🇹🇷
Day 1 - Marvellous Mosques & Old Town Tour
📍Sultanahmet
🗒️ Today, you’ll be marvelling at the city’s main mosques and exploring the old town.
🕌 Start your day bright and early with a visit to Hagia Sofia (Küçük Ayasofya Camii), then continue on to the Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmet Camii). If you want to see one more gorgeous mosque in the old town, take a trip to the Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Mosque (Pertevniyal Valide Camisi). I guarantee you’ll be the only tourist there and the artwork inside is jaw-dropping.
🚶♀️ Spend the afternoon wandering around Sultanahmet (or take yourself on a self-guided tour here https://www.gpsmycity.com/tours/istanbul-old-city-walking-tour-3020.html). There’s plenty of old town itineraries online, but my favourite way to discover the city is to just get lost in the winding streets.
Day 2 - Bazaar Hopping & Hammam Healing
📍Sultanahmet
🗒️ Get ready to brace the hustle and bustle of the Grand Bazaar, Spice Bazaar and Egyptian Bazaar today. My rules for bazaar browsing are:
1. Always haggle (if you’re actually intending to buy the product)
2. Eat all the Turkish Delight samples offered to you (there’s hundreds of identical stores throughout the city who will practically beg you to sample their wares)
3. Don’t be afraid to walk away (millions of people visit Istanbul each year and no matter what shopkeepers tell you, you won’t breaks their hearts by simply walking away from their stall if you ain’t keen)
🧼 You’ll need a good scrub after all that walking, so take yourself straight to Kadırga Hamamı. This no-frills hammam will only set you back ₺400 (€14) for a sauna + scrub + bubble bath experience like no other. They provide towels and locker cabins to store your stuff, just bring your own bathing essentials if you want to continue your own ritual after.
Day 3 - Beautiful Balat and Beyoğlu
📍Balat and Beyoğlu
🗒️ Take in the colourful buildings of Istanbul’s old Jewish Quarter Balat and visit thrift stores in Beyoğlu.
🌈 In the morning, take a taxi (❗️Tourist Tip: use the BiTaski app, never hail one from the road) to Balat. Located just 40 minutes outside of Sultanahmet, Istanbul’s old Jewish quarter is adorned with antique shops and buildings in every colour of the rainbow. There’s plenty of places to get a tea and watch insta-boyfriends work overtime to help their boos get that perfect snap.
🛍️ If you’re looking to get your mainstream shopping fix, Istikal street in Beyoğlu has your name written all over it. But if thrift shopping is more your style, this district is abound with vintage stores. Just a street over, you’ll find Petra Vintage which had a massive underground collection of retro ‘fits.
I hope this itinerary inspires you to add a trip to Istanbul to your bucket list! It’s a mere drop in the ocean of activities to do and I’m more than happy to answer any q’s you have; just send me a message on my IG @ka.tea.ah 🫶
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