Are you coming to Istanbul, but only on a 24-hour layover and you still don't know what places you can cover in that time? Don't worry! We got you! This itinerary will help you during your stay in this wonderful city.
You can adapt this itinerary according to your schedules.
This guide is for every type of travelers (solo, couple, family, group) and it has options for ALL BUDGETS. 💸
You’ll have it for life and can access it any time!
Is a mobile-friendly guide, meaning that you can use it in real time while exploring the city! 🎉
The day will begin in one of the best-known areas of the city, Sultanahmet, where some of the most important monuments of Istanbul are located.
1. HAGIA SOPHIA
This is one of the main monuments of Istanbul. Hagia Sophia was built between the years 532 and 537, during the Byzantine Empire. Almost a thousand years after its construction, the ancient city of Constantinople was conquered by the Ottomans, changing its name to Istanbul and turning Hagia Sophia into the imperial mosque of the Ottomans.
In 1934, it was declared with the status of a museum which was revoked in July 2020, returning to have the status of a mosque.
As of January 15th, 2024, new rules for visitors have been implemented:
Here are the new rules for all visitors as of January 15th, 2024 ⬇️
-ENTRANCE FEE: €25 for all visitors including foreign residents with a valid Turkish residence permit and Turkish citizens. Entrance is FREE for kids under 8 years old.⚠️Museum Pass Türkiye and Museum Pass Istanbul are not valid⚠️
-The entrance to the gallery area is now only through the gate located in front of Topkapi Palace’s main gate and the fountain.
-Hagia Sophia is still a mosque, therefore, even to visit the gallery all visitors must follow every mosque’s dress code, women must cover the hair and dress modestly.You can also buy a headscarf for 30 TL and a body cover for 75 TL at the ticket office.
-The gallery is not wheelchair accessible, therefore, for these visitors only the first floor (praying area) can be accessed.
-Tourists can only access the gallery on the second floor, now the prayer area (first floor) won’t be open to tourists, is only for worshippers.
-Muslim tourists who desire to pray at Hagia Sophia can access the prayer area free of charge ONLY at praying times. The gate is located in front of Sultanahmet Square (old gate), however, if you also want to visit the gallery on the second floor, then you have to pay €25.
-Information about the Hagia Sophia is available in 23 languages through a headset system that may be accessed through a QR code application from mobile phones. In this way, tourists can learn about the monument quietly, without disturbing the worshippers.
The visit to Hagia Sophia takes between 30 minutes to 1 hour.
First floor is only open for worshippers and is free of charge. Second floor, where the mosaic gallery is, everybody has to pay 25 euros including Turkish citizens.
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2. SULTANAHMET MOSQUE (BLUE MOSQUE)
When you finish touring Hagia Sophia, go see the Sultanahmet Mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque for its thousands of tiles in different shades of blue that adorn its wonderful interior.
This marvelous place was built between 1609-1616, during the sultanate of Sultan Ahmet I.
The visit to the blue mosque takes between 30 minutes to 1 hour and is free to enter.
FREE TO ENTER. On Fridays the mosque opens AFTER 2:30 pm.
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3. BASILICA CISTERN
The Basilica Cistern located next to Hagia Sophia on the other side of the tram line, is another of the sites that should be visited in the city.
Built during the Byzantine empire between the years 527-565 for water reservoirs, it is famous for its impressive marble columns and the heads of Medusa.
The visit to the Basilica Cistern takes between 25-35 minutes.
Other cistern recommendations are the Serefiye or Binbirdirek cisterns located a few meters from Sultanahmet square.
The ticket costs 900 TL per person to visit between 9 am- 7 pm and 1,400 TL per person to visit between 7:30 pm-10 pm. Museum Pass Istanbul&Museum Pass Türkiye are not accepted.
Next to the Blue Mosque we can admire the area where the famous Hippodrome of Constantinople was once located, which was the center of fun and entertainment in the ancient capital city of the Byzantine Empire. Today we can still see some of the monuments that were part of this structure such as the obelisks of Theodosius and Constantine and the serpent column.
This site is public, therefore there is no fee to visit it. You can explore it in just 15 minutes.
Now the day will start in one of the largest and oldest covered bazaars in the world. This bazaar has almost 4 thousand stores along 61 streets, it opened to the public in 1456.
This place is quite colorful and very frequented especially among tourists, whether you want to buy or just walk through its streets, it is a place that you must visit. The visit does not take long, it all depends on whether you want to buy or not. The entrance to the bazaar is totally FREE.
The visit to the Grand Bazaar takes a maximum of 1 hour, depending on whether you want to make purchases.
✅PRO TIP: One of the best currency exchange rates are found INSIDE the Grand Bazaar, so make sure to exchange to the local currency (Turkish Lira) here.
🚫Avoid the currency exchange offices along Sultanahmet tram line, Istiklal street, Taksim and of course aiports.
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6. TAKSIM SQUARE, ISTIKLAL STREET AND GALATA TOWER
This area is one of the most active in the city, where you can find hundreds of shops, cafes, and restaurants to enjoy the day.
In case you have enough time, start from Taksim Square and continue to Istiklal Street, a street of approximately 6 km that is only for pedestrians, visit the largest and most important Catholic church in Istanbul, Saint Anthony of Padua.
Entrance fee is 30 euros per person. Museum Pass Istanbul&Museum Pass Türkiye are accepted.
In high season, we suggest either going as soon as it opens or almost at the closing time since the lines can be quite long.
This hotel is on the shores of the Bosphorus in Beşiktaş district in the European side. Is next to Four Seasons. In the past, it used to be one Ottoman Palace.
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For more than other 60 options for hotels in the city for all budgets in places such as Sultanahmet, Beyoğlu, Kadıköy or any by the Bosphorus and which are the areas that we recommend to stay at with pros and cons of each, check out this other guide:
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You may want to check out this amazing CAPPADOCIA FULL GUIDE that we have prepared! everything you need to know is included here ⬇️
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If you are interested in taking daily private tours in Istanbul, Ephesus, Cappadocia, Antalya or Pamukkale, transportation service airport-city center-airport, foodie tours, or even Bosphorus tours on a yacht in Istanbul, you can check out our travel agency Reminder Tour, we collaborate with official guides. Also customized circuits are provided.
Do you want to explore Türkiye (Turkey) LIKE A LOCAL? Then you're in the correct place!
I'm a Mexican living in Istanbul for the past 8 years. Me and my husband who was born and raised in Istanbul and is a licensed tour guide in Turkiye we both love exploring the country and share everything through our social media and guides with our amazing audience.
What makes us way different is that you’ll never see us recommending ultra popular spots that have become “trendy” thanks to TikTok or Instagram because more likely they are just tourist traps and you’ll end up dissapointed either for the bad quality of the services, prices, etc, instead, we show you the city and country in a much more authentic way, from a LOCAL eye, in a way that surely you’ll remember forever.
In addition to that, we also give you our little secrets that most don’t know about, we go deeper into detail and that I, of course, have learnt throughout these years of living here and experiencing every corner of the city, and tricks that also my Istanbulite husband have thought me.
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