The old part of Istanbul is the Sirkeci area, which conveniently contains the best examples of architectural wonders stretching from the Byzantine era through to the Ottoman empire.  In the space of a few miles there is such an abundance of interesting scenery from different eras that one feels like a time traveller.

Copyright DIY Travel Expert

There are several decent hotels in Sirkeci and if you stay there then all of the attractions mentioned are accessible by walking.

Sirkeci Station

If you head south, towards the Bosphorus, you will see the Sirkeci Railway Station.  It has marvellous frontage and was used as the authentic backdrop for the movie of The Orient Express.  It is the terminus of the only rail link to Europe from the city.

At the time the author visited, there was a crowd of dubious-looking men in the area which lead to the conclusion that taking out ones camera might not be a good thing to do.  Most other travellers have not reported this.

The Istanbul Railway Museum is inside the station.  Entrance is free.

If you walk to the west from the hotel area of Sirkeci you will find it a short walk to the old centre.  The curio and trinket shops along the way offer better value than we were able to find at most other places.  Needless to say, they do a roaring trade.

Within a short distance are the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Hippodrome, the cistern, the Istanbul Archaeology Museum and the Topkapi Palace.  We decided to skip the Archaeology Museum, the cistern and the Hippodrome for our one-day venture.

Hagia Sophia

Still a breathtaking spectacle and a monument to Byzantine architecture, this grand edifice was for nearly a 1000 years the largest cathedral in Christendom.  It has been a museum since 1935 and no religion is practiced there nowadays.  The elegance of its external lines was somewhat spoiled by buttresses added by the Ottomans, but then again they saved the dome from falling down, which it had previously had a habit of doing.

Hagia Sophia - copyright DIY Travel Expert

It is a marvellous building and well worth exploring to see the patina of history.  One surprise for us was to see that the four large Islamic medallions are merely painted on a light membrane stretched over wooden frames.

Oddly enough, the queues for people who already had tickets were much longer than those who that wanted to buy one.  (Is that your experience too?  Please comment.)  Salesmen went up and down the queues trying to sell guidebooks.  The prices were often more expensive than one can pay at the museum shop inside.  One particular con trick was to offer a book plus a ticket for a low price.  When we entered there was a large pile of tickets that had been confiscated.  They were all counterfeit!  When we spoke to the agent at the barrier he freely gave us one.  They were good-looking fakes and to the untrained eye they seemed to be the real thing.  At that point we felt just a little smug at having rebuffed the salesmen.

Blue Mosque

The Blue mosque is still a house of worship.  It was built to showcase Islamic architecture and to rival the splendour of the Hagia Sophia.  We think that they succeeded.  The Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia stare at each other across an ornamental garden with a pond, which, owing to renovations taking place in the area, sounds much better than it looked.

The honesty of a significant proportion of the salesmen plying their rather aggressive trade in the park did not seem to be affected by their proximity to places of worship.  One old lady was selling pashminas.  We found a whole pile of tags behind a small hedge that we realised she had torn off them.  The tags told the real story: 50% Viscose, 50% Acrylic.  In case you are uncertain, neither of those are traditional pashmina materials.

The park was a good training in how to avoid the schtiks used by various con-artists that work the tourist crowds in Turkey.  The shoe-shines that dirty your shoes for free, then charge to return them to their original condition; the cheap guidebooks sold for above the going rate; and handmade musical instruments of suspect hygiene.

The common greeting in Turkey is mirhaba!  (The “h” is always pronounced in Turkish.)  If you learn one word in the language, that is it.  It will help you to be friendly to those that deserve it, and some of the vendors find it off-putting, particularly if you are dressed right.  They are looking for tourists, after all, not Turks.

Topkapi Palace

The sequence of Sultans who ruled from the Topkapi each vied with their predecessors as to who could leave the most lavish legacy.  As a result, instead of re-investing into upgrading the existing buildings, they would lay out their own new palace.  As a result the area comprises a range of architectural styles any of which is not nearly as impressive as the much later Dolmabahce Palace.  Entrance to the family living quarters, the harem, requires the purchase of an additional ticket.

Topkapi Palace Main Gates - picture copyright DIY Travel Expert

The palace was not just the residence of the Sultans.  It served as the centre of government and the huge kitchens give an indication of how an entire town worked there each day.  The kitchens usually fed 4000 people on an average day though on special occasions they could cater for up to 6000.

Though the site has been a museum since the 1920s the Privy Chamber is a site of Islamic pilgrimage as it stores sacred relics of Mohammed.  The lighting there is dim, to protect the relics.  An Islamic cleric intones the Koran continuously.  Conservation measures do not appear to be implemented, in particular, the regulation of temperature and humidity.

The views over the Bosphorus from the far end of the palace complex are really quite stunning.

Image Copyright 2008, by Gryffindor, GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2

Istanbul has been around a very long time – for longer than the Turks have been in Turkey.  It swarms with people, having once been the largest city in the world, with as many as 17 million reputed to be there during its peak season.

In addition to being steeped in history and abounding with people, it is unique among all cities in being located in both Europe and Asia.

The architectural feature that predominates is the dome.  In old buildings even quite small spaces that elsewhere would be spanned by a length of flat roof will have a dome or two instead.  By the end of your stay you will be all domed-out, and with nearly 3000 active mosques in the city, you may feel within a day that you would have seen enough mosques.

If you wish to walk to most of the historical sites then you should stay in or near the Sirkeci area.  From here it is a short walk to see the Hagia Sophia and Blue mosque that face each other over an ornamental garden with a pond, the Hippodrome, the cistern.  There is the Topkapi Palace that dominates the skyline of the old city.  A little further afield is the Grand Bazaar.  A taxi ride away is the Egyptian (Spice) Bazaar.  And everywhere there are itinerant vendors plying their trade with varying degrees of honesty.

For this day we choose the touristy way: A Bosphorus cruise that includes a visit to a leatherwear fashion show, a tour of the elegant Dolmbahce Palace, a view of the city from Asia, and a tour of the Egyptian Market.

At the start of the tour you get collected from your hotel.  In my case they decided that they could not get the bus through the street the hotel was in because the double-parked cars left too narrow a lane for it to pass.  So I started off with a brisk walk of some blocks to where the bus was located.  Onboard I was assigned a sticker number that corresponded to my pre-booked tour.

The bus then hurtled to a meeting point where it was met by other buses and after much standing around the passengers where eventually sorted by tour and language.

Egyptian Bazaar

The Egyptian Market is still the chief spice market in Istanbul, and unlike the Grand Bazaar it is extensively used by the locals.  There is a heady scent of spices, which used to come via Egypt in the 17th century when the bazaar was erected.  It has ornamental entrances and is L-shaped.  It is roofed over with a series of domes.

We encountered more delicious flavours of Turkish Delight than we ever imagined existed.  There were also a surprising number of jewellery shops, which seemed to have a later start than the spice traders.

Outside, waiting for the bus the local vendors specialised in selling colognes and cheap watches.

Overshadowing the building is the Yeni Camii, a striking mosque.  The bazaar rents were intended to subsidise the maintenance costs of the mosque and as such form part of the same precinct.   The area used for ritual cleansing by congregants is between the mosque and the market.

Bosphorus cruise

From the Bazaar we were taken to the quay for the Bosphorus Cruise, from just north of the Golden Horn to just north of the Rumeli Fortress.  One got to see how the other half lives in Istanbul, with many imposing and beautiful residences along the sea.  The cruises are a major attraction and many cruise vessels jockey for prime position as one passes the sights, including a private island owned by the Galatasaray sports club.  We also caught sight of the yacht once owned by the last Sultan that was later used by Kemal Ataturk, the founding president of modern Turkey.

After a diversion to a leather showroom where a brief fashion show of modest merit was presented in order to sell lovely but very pricey leather fashionwear, we had lunch of spicy boiled chicken (altogether more delightful to taste than the rather bland description suggests, thanks to the Turkish mastery of exotic spices) at a restaurant facing the sea.

Dolmabahce Palace

This is an important part of the Turkish patrimony and is dedicated in part to the hagiography of the first Turkish president, who died there in 1938.  All the clocks in the palace were stopped and set to 9:05, the time that he died.

The palace is under military guard, the guards being selected in part for being tall.  No more than 6000 visitors are allowed on each day, who shuffle through wearing little plastic packets over their feet.  Even the handrails on the staircases are out of bounds and there are attendants who remind you of that should you put a foot wrong.

The palace is sumptuous and the grand hall most extraordinarily luxurious, while the household section (the harem) had a slightly less formal aspect to it.  One is not permitted to take photographs anywhere in the building, which is also strictly enforced.  The grand hall was designed to impress visiting dignitaries.  It doubtless succeeded.  The already large space is further expanded by trompe l’oeil effects  rising into the heavens, and the room is dominated by an immense crystal chandelier, a gift from Queen Victoria.  It was incongruously  dangling above a vase, giving the impression that the vase is there to catch it if anything was to go wrong.

Being part of a tour group was a decided advantage at this palace as one was whisked through the waiting crowds and is guaranteed entrance.

Asia

We then passed over the Bosphorus bridge, that we earlier had sailed beneath, and had a good look at the European part of the city from Camlica hill, in Asia, before returning to our hotels.

So, if a day is all you have whilst stopping over in Istanbul or there on business, our suggestion would be the Bosphorus tour as it includes the cruise, Dolmabahce Palace, lunch and a ‘step over into Asia’.  It costs around 60 Euro’s which is good value for money, being a whole day tour.

This is definitely a DIY travel destination, where unless you are doing an extended trip, you can do it with minimal agent assistance and mostly by yourself without too much hassle.  For example, the Bosphorus cruise can be booked on line.