Istanbul

Hagia Sophia

Attractions

★★★★★

A cathedral for 900 years, a mosque for 500, and the most extraordinary dome in the world for all of them.

Grand Bazaar

Shopping

★★★★★

Sixty-one covered streets and 4,000 shops trading since 1461. Haggling is expected; tea while you decide is tradition.

Çiya Sofrası

Food

★★★★★

Anatolian home cooking on the Kadıköy side — dishes you won’t find anywhere else in the city. The ferry ride over is half the joy.

Karaköy Güllüoğlu

Dessert

★★★★★

Istanbul’s benchmark baklava since 1949. Order the pistachio with a glass of tea and eat it standing at the marble counters.

Mandabatmaz

Coffee

★★★★★

A tiny alley shop off İstiklal pouring the thickest Turkish coffee in the city. The name means “a buffalo wouldn’t sink in it.”

Gülhane Park

Outdoors

★★★★★

The old outer garden of Topkapı Palace, blanketed in tulips each April. Climb to the tea garden terrace for Bosphorus views.

Mikla

Drinks

★★★★★

A rooftop bar above the Marmara Pera hotel with a 360-degree sweep of the old city. Come for sunset over the Golden Horn.