Everything to see in Sultanahmet, from our door.

Fifteen centuries under one dome. Byzantine gold mosaics and Ottoman calligraphy share the same air, and from the upper gallery you see both layers in a single frame. One minute from our door, across the square.

Hours

Daily 09:00 to 19:00. The ground floor is a working mosque and pauses for the five daily prayers, and for Friday midday.

Tickets

The mosque floor is free. The upper gallery, where most of the mosaics are, is €25 for visitors (the Museum Pass is not valid here). Under 8 free.

Dress

Shoulders and knees covered, a headscarf for women. Covers are lent at the door.

Best time

Right at 09:00. Midday and around Friday prayers are busiest.

Our tip. The gallery ticket is the one worth having: the famous Deesis mosaic and the Empress Zoe panel are up there, not on the ground floor. The separate "History and Experience Museum" on the square is not the monument itself.

A sixth-century underground reservoir, 336 columns in a cool, dim hall. In the far corner two giant Medusa heads serve as column bases, one upside down, one on its side, and no one is quite sure why.

Hours

Day session 09:00 to 18:30, and a quieter night session 19:30 to 22:00.

Tickets

Day 1,950 TL for visitors (2,150 with audio guide), night 3,000 TL. Card or İstanbulkart only, no cash. Over 65 (Turkish) and under 7 free.

Best time

09:00 to 10:30, or late afternoon. Midday brings the tour groups.

Our tip. Buy from the official site to skip the queue, and only from there. It is cool and damp, the floor is slippery, and there are 52 steps down, so flat shoes and the handrail. The Medusa heads are at the far northwest corner, not by the entrance.

Once the Hippodrome of Byzantine Constantinople, where chariots raced. Today an open-air museum: the Egyptian Obelisk, the Serpent Column from Delphi, and the German Fountain, all in a line between Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque.

Hours

An open square, free to wander at any hour.

Tickets

Best time

Early morning or late afternoon, softer light and fewer people.

Our tip. Walk the three monuments south to north, then step straight into Hagia Sophia or the Blue Mosque on either side.

Sultan Ahmed's mosque, built between 1609 and 1617 and named for the twenty thousand blue Iznik tiles inside, its cascade of domes facing Hagia Sophia across the square. Still a living mosque.

Hours

Open daily, closing briefly for each of the five prayers. Visits usually from around 08:30, in sessions through the afternoon. Closed Friday morning, reopening around 14:30.

Tickets

Free. There is a voluntary donation box at the exit, nothing required.

Dress

Shoulders and knees covered, a headscarf for women, no shorts. Free covers at the door, shoes off into a bag.

Best time

The first opening around 08:30 is calmest. Avoid the moments just before a prayer.

Our tip. Enter from the visitor door on the Hippodrome side, not the main gate. Look up: the densest tilework is at the gallery level.

Home and seat of the Ottoman sultans for nearly 400 years, begun in 1459. Courtyards above the sea, the Imperial Treasury, the Sacred Relics, and the Harem, home to the sultan's household.

Hours

Daily 09:00 to 17:00 (last entry 16:30). Closed Tuesdays.

Tickets

The combined ticket (Palace, Harem, Hagia Irene) is about 3,000 TL for visitors. The Harem is included.

Dress

No dress code for the grounds. In the Sacred Relics room, shoulders and knees covered, hats and sunglasses off, and no photographs.

Best time

At 09:00, or after 15:00. Booking online first skips the gate queue.

Our tip. Allow three to four hours for the whole palace. The courtyards are large and the stone uneven, so comfortable shoes.

Once the outer garden of Topkapı Palace, now one of Istanbul's oldest public parks: century-old trees, shaded paths, and terraces with a view over the Golden Horn.

Hours

Open at all hours, best between 08:00 and 18:00. No gate, no ticket.

Tickets

Best time

April, for the tulips. The Istanbul Tulip Festival runs through the month, with peak bloom around the 10th to the 20th.

Our tip. Walk up to the tea garden at the top for a Golden Horn view. Free, and the tulip beds alone are worth the three minutes.

One of the oldest and largest covered markets in the world, from the fifteenth century. Sixty streets and some four thousand shops of carpets, ceramics, jewellery and copper under vaulted arcades.

Hours

Monday to Saturday 08:30 to 19:00. Closed Sundays, and for three to four days at the religious holidays.

Tickets

Free.

Best time

Early on a weekday, as the shops open. Do not plan it for a Sunday.

Our tip. Prices are open to bargaining, and haggling gently from the first figure is expected. Compare a few shops before you buy.

The L-shaped Spice Bazaar of 1664, some eighty-five shops of spice, Turkish delight, tea and dried fruit, colour and scent in one hall. Beside it, the elegant New Mosque of 1665 on the Golden Horn shore.

Hours

The bazaar is open daily 09:00 to 19:00, on Sundays too, unlike the Grand Bazaar. The New Mosque closes to visitors at prayer times and Friday until about 14:30.

Tickets

Both free.

Best time

Morning, as the bazaar opens, for the calmest tastings.

Our tip. Taste before you buy the spice and the delight, most shops offer a sample. Pair it with the Eminönü waterfront and the ferry piers.

Sinan's masterpiece of the sixteenth century, built for Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent. Four minarets on the hill above the Golden Horn, and from the courtyard terrace one of the great views of the city. Sinan's own tomb is in the complex.

Hours

Roughly 09:00 to 18:00, closing about half an hour for each prayer, and later on Fridays (from around 14:30).

Tickets

Free.

Dress

Shoulders and knees covered, a headscarf for women. Covers at the door, shoes off.

Best time

Weekday mornings, or sunset from the terrace for the skyline.

Our tip. Plan around the prayer times. The view from the back terrace over the Golden Horn is the reason to make the walk.

The bridge over the Golden Horn joining the old city to Karaköy, lined all day with anglers, the Bosphorus and the historic skyline in view, and fish restaurants below the deck.

Hours

An open public bridge, free to walk at any hour.

Tickets

Best time

Late afternoon and sunset, when the anglers are out and the light turns the minarets gold.

Our tip. On the Eminönü side, grilled mackerel balık ekmek is sold from the bobbing boats, one of the cheapest meals in Istanbul. Sit below for a Bosphorus view.