Contents
Welcome to stanbul
In stanbul, extraordinary experiences are found around every corner. Here, dervishes whirl, mezzins calll from minarets, and people move between continents multiple times a day. Home to millennia-old monuments and cutting-edge art galleries (sometimes in the same block), it's a destination where eating, drinking and dancing are local priorities, and where everyone is welcome to join the party.
Food stalls near the New Mosque Matt Munro/Lonely Planet
stanbulTop Sights
Aya Sofya
History resonates when you visit this majestic basilica. Built in the 6th century AD, its remarkable features include a massive dome and a stunning collection of Byzantine mosaic portraits.
Aya Sofya Eric Teissedre/Getty Images
stanbul Top Sights
Topkap Palace
A series of mad, sad and downright bad sultans lived in this pavilion-style palace during the glory days of the Ottoman Empire. Reminders of their privileged lifestyles are everywhere to be seen.
Topkap Palace Mark Horn /Getty Images
stanbul Top Sights
The Bosphorus
A ferry trip down the mighty Bosphorus strait showcases a passing parade of mosques, palaces and mansions on both the Asian and European shores.
The Bosphorus Grant Faint/Getty Images
stanbul Top Sights
Grand Bazaar
Sometimes described as the world's oldest and most evocative shopping mall, this colourful and chaotic covered market is the heart of stanbul's Old City and one of its most atmospheric destinations.
Grand Bazaar Siegfried Layda/Getty Images
stanbul Top Sights
Kariye Museum (Chora Church)
Proving that great things can indeed come in small packages, this diminutive Byzantine church is made extraordinary by virtue of its interior, which is crammed with exquisite mosaics and frescoes.
Kariye Museum (Chora Church) Emilie Chaix/Getty Images
stanbul Top Sights
stanbul Archaeology Museums
An eclectic and exhilarating collection of antiquities, classical sculpture, Ottoman tilework and Byzantine artefacts is showcased at this museum complex next to Topkap Palace.
stanbul Archaeology Museums John Sones Singing Bowl Media/Getty Images
stanbul Top Sights
Sleymaniye Mosque
Truly deserving the tag 'living history', this imperial mosque atop the city's fourth hill is one of few that has retained, restored and creatively reused its original outbuildings.
Sleymaniye Mosque Neil Farrin/Getty Images
stanbul Top Sights
stiklal Caddesi
A promenade down this pedestrianised 19th-century boulevard is the quintessential stanbul experience, offering a colourful snapshot of local life.
stiklal Caddesi Gardel Bertrand/Hemis.FR/Getty Images
stanbul Top Sights
stanbul Modern
stanbul has one of the most exciting contemporary art scenes in the world, and this gallery housed in a converted shipping warehouse on the Bosphorus is its pre-eminent venue.
stanbul Modern Murat Germen/Istanbul Modern
stanbul Top Sights
Dolmabahe Palace
This ornate palace on the Bosphorus shore built as the Ottoman Empire's power waned but making no concessions to this fact gives a fascinating glimpse into the artificial lives and ostentatious taste of the sultans.
Dolmabahe Palace Salvator Barki/Getty Images
stanbul Top Sights
Basilica Cistern
Both architectural tour de force and virtuosic engineering feat, this evocatively lit underground cistern is one of stanbul's most mysterious and magnificent Byzantine monuments.
Basilica Cistern Danita Delimont/Getty Images
stanbul Top Sights
Blue Mosque
Beloved of tourists and locals alike, the most photogenic of stanbul's imperial mosques is also one of the busiest places of worship in the city.