Istanbul, Türkiye
Two continents, 2,500 years, and the best breakfast culture anywhere. Tulips in April; golden light in October.
Best time to visit
Weather by month
| Month | High | Low | Rain | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 9° | 4° | 90 mm | |
| Feb | 9° | 4° | 73 mm | |
| Mar | 11° | 5° | 77 mm | |
| Apr | 16° | 8° | 50 mm | prime |
| May | 21° | 13° | 38 mm | prime |
| Jun | 25° | 18° | 38 mm | prime |
| Jul | 28° | 21° | 24 mm | |
| Aug | 28° | 21° | 23 mm | |
| Sep | 24° | 18° | 49 mm | prime |
| Oct | 19° | 14° | 71 mm | prime |
| Nov | 15° | 10° | 75 mm | |
| Dec | 11° | 6° | 97 mm |
30-year averages (1995–2024) from ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo. Rain is the monthly total.
Cost
Serves travellers at Backpacker→Premium level. Typically around $80 a day on the ground.
Ranges are typical costs, not quotes. Check the real price before you book.
What's on
Tulip Festival April
Millions of tulips in Emirgan Park
Istanbul Biennial September
Contemporary art across the city
Worth knowing
Trams, metro, funiculars and above all the ferries, all on one rechargeable card. The commuter ferry between the continents is public transport that happens to be the best view in the city. A car is a mistake: the old streets are narrow, the hills are steep and the traffic is what it is.
getting around · editorial
Istanbul Airport on the European side is the main one, an hour or more into town by metro or road. Sabiha Gokcen sits on the Asian side and is further from the historic core than the map suggests. Neither transfer is quick, so build it in.
getting there · editorial
Working mosques have a dress code and enforce it: shoulders and knees covered, hair covered for women, shoes off and carried. They close to visitors around each prayer, so a closed door is a wait rather than a refusal. Scarves are handed out at the entrance of the big ones.
know before · editorial
Cards are taken nearly everywhere, including taxis and ferry top-ups. Keep small notes for markets, tea and the simit seller. Tipping is by rounding up, a little more in restaurants.
money · editorial
July and August are hot, humid and crowded, and the queues at the major mosques and palaces are at their longest. The city is far better in spring and in October.
when not to go · editorial
Sultanahmet puts the great monuments outside the door and goes quiet at night. Karakoy and Galata are steep, full of bars and design shops, and walkable to both sides. Beyoglu and Cihangir are residential streets and cafes near Istiklal. Kadikoy, on the Asian side, has the best food and the youngest crowd and a ferry to everywhere.
where to stay · editorial
Quests
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Hagia Sophia
Church, mosque, museum, mosque again. Fifteen hundred years of changing its mind.
The Blue Mosque
Six minarets, twenty thousand İznik tiles. Go in outside prayer times.
Topkapı Palace
Four courtyards, four hundred years of sultans, and a view of the Bosphorus at the end.
The Grand Bazaar
Four thousand shops in 61 covered streets, since 1461. You will get lost.
Basilica Cistern
336 columns standing in water, and two Medusa heads, one on its side and one upside down.
Galata Tower
Genoese, from 1348. The whole city at once, and both continents together.
See
Walk into Hagia Sophia at opening time
Eat
Eat a balık ekmek on the waterfront by Galata
A full-table kahvaltı
Turkish breakfast: fifteen small plates, endless tea, two hours.
Balık ekmek on the edge of the Bosphorus
A grilled fish sandwich made on the boat, eaten standing on the quay.
Turkish coffee with the grounds at the bottom
Do not drink the last mouthful. Turn the cup over on the saucer when you finish.
Moment
Cross the Bosphorus by ferry at 6pm with a tea in hand
The azan from several mosques at once
At dusk, from the top of Galata, they overlap and fall out of step.
Cross to Asia by ferry
Twenty minutes, the price of a bus ticket, and a continent.
Craft
A proper hamam
Hot stone, rough mitt, half an hour of silence. It is not a spa.