İstanbul, Turkey
Three empires' capital, still behaving like one
Istanbul was the seat of the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires and is now the largest city in Europe, with around 16 million people on two continents. Ankara has the government; Istanbul has everything else.
Byzantium was a Greek colony on the point where the Golden Horn meets the Bosphorus; Constantine refounded it as his capital in 330, and for eleven centuries Constantinople was the largest and richest city in Christendom. Mehmed II took it in 1453 and the Ottomans ruled from here until the empire collapsed after the First World War. Atatürk moved the capital to Ankara in 1923 and the city, officially Istanbul from 1930, spent some decades as a faded giant of under a million people. Migration from Anatolia after the 1950s changed that completely: the population has grown roughly fifteenfold in seventy years, most of it in concrete districts no visitor sees. It is now the largest city in Europe by most counts, the economic capital of Turkey and, in temperament, still a city that thinks of itself as an empire's capital rather than a republic's second city.
The Bosphorus divides the European side from the Asian, and the Golden Horn divides the European side again. South of the Horn is the historic peninsula — Sultanahmet with Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapı and the Grand Bazaar — which is where the tourists are and where few Istanbullus live. North of the Horn, across the Galata Bridge, is Beyoğlu: Galata, İstiklal Caddesi, Taksim Square and the bars of Karaköy and Cihangir, the nineteenth-century European quarter and still the city's nightlife. Up the Bosphorus are Beşiktaş, Ortaköy and the old fishing villages turned wealthy suburbs. Across the water, Kadıköy and Üsküdar on the Asian side are where a good share of the city actually lives, with the best food markets and a calmer temper. Beyond all this stretch the outer districts, ringed by two motorways and a third bridge, where most of the sixteen million are.
The food alone justifies the trip: kebab and köfte, meze and rakı in a meyhane, fish from the Bosphorus, simit from a cart, a breakfast that runs to twenty small plates, and a tea and coffee culture that structures the whole day. Football is the religion and it is a three-way schism — Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş — with derbies that stop the city. There is a serious contemporary art scene around Beyoğlu and the Istanbul Biennial, a film and music industry that supplies the whole Turkish-speaking world, and the hammams, mosques and cisterns of the old city, which reward slowness. The city is loud, dense, generous and exhausting; the ferry across the Bosphorus, with a glass of tea and a seagull for company, is the one reliable moment of calm and costs about the price of a simit.
The hard parts are real. Traffic is among the worst in the world and the bridges jam for hours; the lira has lost most of its value in a decade and inflation has made rents in the central districts punishing for locals; the city sits near the North Anatolian Fault and the 2023 earthquakes further east were a reminder of what is owed. Politics is intense — the city government and the national one are on opposite sides, and the mayor's arrest in 2025 brought the largest protests in years — and the summer heat and winter damp both take getting used to. What it offers is a city with more layers than any other in Europe, a working waterfront, a food culture unbeatable at every price, and a population that is younger, more curious and more hospitable than the headlines suggest.
Where People Live
Sultanahmet & the Old City
The historic peninsula: Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapı Palace, the Basilica Cistern and the Grand Bazaar within a short walk of each other. Almost nobody lives here; everybody visits.
Beyoğlu & Galata
The nineteenth-century European quarter across the Golden Horn — the Galata Tower, İstiklal Caddesi's tram and arcades, Taksim Square — with the city's galleries, bars and meyhanes on the side streets.
Karaköy & Cihangir
The waterfront and the hillside below Beyoğlu: Karaköy's cafés and the Istanbul Modern, Cihangir's antique shops and expat flats. Where the creative and the foreign live.
Beşiktaş & the Bosphorus villages
Dolmabahçe Palace, the Beşiktaş fish market and ferry pier, then Ortaköy's mosque under the bridge and the wealthy waterfront villages of Arnavutköy and Bebek running north.
Kadıköy
The Asian side's heart: a ferry ride from Eminönü to the best food market in the city, the bars of Moda, Fenerbahçe's stadium and a younger, more relaxed Istanbul.
Üsküdar
The older, more conservative Asian-side district facing the old city across the water — Ottoman mosques on the shore, the Maiden's Tower offshore, and the view back at sunset.
Balat & Fener
The old Jewish and Greek quarters along the Golden Horn, with the Ecumenical Patriarchate, painted wooden houses and a wave of cafés and antique dealers. Steep and photogenic.
Nişantaşı
The city's uptown — designer shops, brunch places and the apartments of old Istanbul money, north of Taksim. Quiet by Istanbul standards.
Must-see attractions
The Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Camii)
Cankurtaran, At Meydanı Cd No:7, 34122 Fatih/İstanbul, Türkiye
Restaurants & places to go
Airports
Istanbul Atatürk Airport (IST) 34 km to the centre
Istanbul, 34, TR — You board from the indoor waiting area — no need to plan for the weather. ✈ 68 airlines (Turkish Airlines, Maldivian Air Taxi, Atlasjet, US Airways…) · direct flights to 227 destinations incl. Tehran, Izmir, Kiev, Munich, Odessa… (OpenFlights route data).
✈ Airlines & flight paths — 68 airlines, 227 direct destinations
- Turkish Airlines TK (737-800, A321, A320, A319, 737-900, 330…) · 218 routes: Aalborg, Abu Dhabi, Accra, Adana, Addis Ababa, Adiyaman, Agri, Alexandria, Algier, Alma-ata, Amman, Amsterdam, Ankara, Antalya, Aqaba, Ashkhabad, Athens, Baghdad, Bahrain, Bakhtaran, Baku, Bangkok, Barcelona, Basrah, Batman, Batumi, Beijing, Beirut, Belgrade, Benghazi, Berlin, Bilbao, Billund, Bingol, Birmingham, Bishkek, Bodrum, Bologna, Bremen, Brussels … +178 more
- Maldivian Air Taxi 8Q (A320) · 16 routes: Adana, Alanya, Antalya, Bodrum, Dalaman, Diyabakir, Elazig, Erzurum, Gaziantep, Izmir, Malatya, Nicosia, Odessa, Paris, Sanliurfa, Trabzon
- Atlasjet KK (A320) · 12 routes: Adana, Antalya, Bodrum, Erbil, Gaziantep, Izmir, London, Nicosia, Nizhnekamsk, Sulaymaniyah, Tbilisi, Tehran
- US Airways US (330, A321, 777-300ER, A320, 737-800, A330-200…) · 8 routes: Chicago*, Frankfurt*, Houston, Los Angeles*, Munich*, New York*, Washington*, Zurich*
- Scandinavian Airlines System SK (A321, 737-800, A319, 737-900) · 6 routes: Aalborg, Copenhagen, Gothenborg, Helsinki, Oslo, Stockholm
- Asiana Airlines OZ (A321, A320, A330-300, 737-800) · 5 routes: Munich, Nairobi*, Seoul, Vienna, Zurich
- Egyptair MS (737-800, A319, A320, A321, 737-700, Embraer 170) · 5 routes: Alexandria*, Cairo, Hurghada, Kiev, Sharm El Sheikh
- Aeroflot Russian Airlines SU (A319, A320) · 4 routes: Moscow, Rostov, Sochi, St. Petersburg
- Air Algerie AH (737-800, 736) · 4 routes: Algier, Annaba, Constantine, Oran
- Air Astana KC (A320, 737-800) · 4 routes: Aktau, Alma-ata, Atyrau, Tselinograd
- Saudi Arabian Airlines SV (A320, A330-300) · 4 routes: Dammam, Jeddah, Madinah, Riyadh
- Ukraine International Airlines PS (737-800, A320, 734, 735, 73R) · 4 routes: Dnepropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kiev, Odessa
- Afriqiyah Airways 8U (A320, A319, A330-200) · 3 routes: Benghazi, MRA, Tripoli
- Air China CA (777-300ER, 330, A340-300) · 3 routes: Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai
- AlMasria Universal Airlines UJ (A320) · 3 routes: Donetsk, Kiev, Odessa
- Air Florida QH (A319, 737-800) · 2 routes: Bishkek, Osh
- Air France AF (A320, A319, A321) · 2 routes: Marseille, Paris
- Air India Limited AI (330) · 2 routes: Delhi*, Mumbai*
- All Nippon Airways NH (A330-200, 777-300ER) · 2 routes: Osaka*, Tokyo*
- Libyan Arab Airlines LN (A320, 330) · 2 routes: Benghazi, Tripoli
- Lufthansa Cargo LH (A321, A320) · 2 routes: Frankfurt, Munich
- Adria Airways JP (A319, CRJ-900) · 1 route: Ljubljana
- Aegean Airlines A3 (A320) · 1 route: Athens
- Air Bosna JA (ATR 72) · 1 route: Sarajevo
- Air Canada AC (767-300, 777-300ER) · 1 route: Toronto
- Air Malta KM (A319, 737) · 1 route: Malta
- Air Moldova 9U (A320, Embraer 190) · 1 route: Chisinau
- Alitalia AZ (A320, A321, 32S) · 1 route: Rome
- American Airlines AA (A320) · 1 route: London*
- Austrian Airlines OS (Fokker 100, A319, A320) · 1 route: Vienna*
- Azerbaijan Airlines J2 (767) · 1 route: Baku
- Belavia Belarusian Airlines B2 (737-300, Embraer 175) · 1 route: Minsk 2
- British Airways BA (A320, 767) · 1 route: London
- China Southern Airlines CZ (330) · 1 route: Urumqi
- Croatia Airlines OU (A319) · 1 route: Zagreb
- Emirates EK (777-300ER) · 1 route: Dubai
- Etihad Airways EY (A320, A330-200, A330-300, 737) · 1 route: Abu Dhabi
- Garuda Indonesia GA (A330-300) · 1 route: Singapore*
- Gulf Air Bahrain GF (A320) · 1 route: Bahrain
- Iran Air IR (A320) · 1 route: Tehran
- Iran Aseman Airlines EP (340) · 1 route: Tehran
- KLM Royal Dutch Airlines KL (737) · 1 route: Amsterdam
- Korean Air KE (777-200) · 1 route: Seoul
- Kuwait Airways KU (A321) · 1 route: Kuwait
- LOT Polish Airlines LO (734, Embraer 195) · 1 route: Warsaw
- Mahan Air W5 (AB6) · 1 route: Tehran
- Malaysia Airlines MH (330, 777-200) · 1 route: Kuala Lumpur
- Middle East Airlines ME (A320, A321, A330-200) · 1 route: Beirut
- Olympic Airlines OA (A320) · 1 route: Athens
- Oman Air WY (A321) · 1 route: Muscat
- Pegasus Airlines PC (737-800) · 1 route: Izmir
- Qantas QF (777-300ER) · 1 route: Dubai*
- Qatar Airways QR (A330-200, A330-300) · 1 route: Doha
- Royal Air Maroc AT (737-800) · 1 route: Casablanca
- Royal Jordanian RJ (A319, A320, Embraer 175, Embraer 195) · 1 route: Amman
- Rwandair Express WB (737-900) · 1 route: Kigali
- Salzburg arrows SZ (737) · 1 route: Dushanbe
- Singapore Airlines Cargo SQ (777-200) · 1 route: Singapore
- Swiss International Air Lines LX (A320, A320) · 1 route: Zurich
- Tajik Air 7J (735) · 1 route: Dushanbe
- TAP Portugal TP (A321) · 1 route: Lisbon
- Tarom RO (318) · 1 route: Bucharest
- Thai Airways International TG (330, 777-300ER) · 1 route: Bangkok*
- Transaero Airlines UN (737-800, 737-700) · 1 route: Moscow
- Tunisair TU (A320, 736, A320) · 1 route: Tunis
- Turkmenistan Airlines T5 (737-800, 757-200) · 1 route: Ashkhabad
- Uzbekistan Airways HY (767) · 1 route: Tashkent
- ZABAIKAL AIRLINES Z6 (ERJ-145) · 1 route: Dnepropetrovsk*
Routes and aircraft from OpenFlights (open data; a point-in-time snapshot). * = codeshare. Linked destinations open their own guidebook. Flight numbers are not in the open data — they come from the airline or a paid schedule feed.
Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (SAW) 31 km to the centre
Pendik, Istanbul, 34, TR — You board from the indoor waiting area — no need to plan for the weather. ✈ 20 airlines (Pegasus Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Air Berlin, Germanwings…) · direct flights to 98 destinations incl. Kuwait, Amsterdam, Antalya, Cologne, Duesseldorf… (OpenFlights route data).
✈ Airlines & flight paths — 20 airlines, 98 direct destinations
- Pegasus Airlines PC (737-800, A320) · 75 routes: Adana, Alanya, Alma-ata, Amsterdam, Ankara, Antalya, Athens, Baku, Balikesir Korfez, Barcelona, Batman, Beirut, Belgrade, Bergamo, Berlin, Bishkek, Bodrum, Bologna, Bucharest, Charleroi, Cologne, Copenhagen, Dalaman, Denizli, Diyabakir, Doha, Donetsk, Dubai, Duesseldorf, Elazig, Erzincan, Erzurum, Frankfurt, Gaziantep, Hatay, Izmir, Kahramanmaras, Kayseri, Kharkov, Konya … +35 more
- Turkish Airlines TK (737-800, 737-700, A320, 737-700) · 36 routes: Adana*, Amsterdam, Ankara, Antalya, Astrakhan, Bodrum, Brussels, Diyabakir*, Duesseldorf, Elazig*, Erzurum*, Frankfurt, Gaziantep*, Hatay*, Izmir, Kars*, Kayseri*, Kiev, Konya*, Kuwait, London, Malta*, Mardin*, Milano, Munich, Nicosia, Paris, Sarajevo, Sivas*, Stavropol, Tbilisi, Tehran, Tel-aviv, Trabzon*, Van*, Vienna
- Air Berlin AB (737-800, A320) · 6 routes: Berlin, Cologne, Duesseldorf, Munich, Nuernberg, Stuttgart
- Germanwings 4U (A319, A320) · 6 routes: Berlin, Cologne, Dortmund, Hamburg, Hannover, Stuttgart
- Nas Air XY (A320) · 3 routes: Jeddah, Madinah, Riyadh
- SunExpress XQ (737-800) · 3 routes: Antalya, Dortmund, Izmir
- Transavia Holland HV (737-800, 737-700) · 3 routes: Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Rotterdam
- Air Arabia G9 (A320) · 1 route: Sharjah
- Air Arabia Maroc 3O (A320) · 1 route: Casablanca
- Air Baltic BT (735) · 1 route: Riga
- Air Malta KM (A320) · 1 route: Malta
- Air Serbia JU (737-300) · 1 route: Belgrade
- Azerbaijan Airlines J2 (A319) · 1 route: Baku
- Fly Dubai FZ (737-800) · 1 route: Dubai
- Jazeera Airways J9 (A320) · 1 route: Kuwait
- Kuwait Airways KU (737-800) · 1 route: Kuwait
- Svyaz Rossiya 7R (CRJ-200) · 1 route: Mineralnye Vody
- Transavia France TO (737-800) · 1 route: Paris
- Ukraine International Airlines PS (737-800) · 1 route: Kiev
- Wizz Air W6 (A320) · 1 route: Budapest
Routes and aircraft from OpenFlights (open data; a point-in-time snapshot). * = codeshare. Linked destinations open their own guidebook. Flight numbers are not in the open data — they come from the airline or a paid schedule feed.
İstanbul Atatürk Airport (ISL) 17 km to the centre
Istanbul(Bakırköy), 34, TR — You board from the indoor waiting area — no need to plan for the weather.
Tekirdağ Çorlu Airport (TEQ) 91 km to the centre
Çorlu, 59, TR — Indoor waiting areas, but some gates board by bus or on foot across the apron — plan for the weather on the day. ✈ 1 airline (Turkish Airlines) · direct flights to 1 destination incl. Ankara (OpenFlights route data).
✈ Airlines & flight paths — 1 airline, 1 direct destination
- Turkish Airlines TK (737-700) · 1 route: Ankara*
Routes and aircraft from OpenFlights (open data; a point-in-time snapshot). * = codeshare. Linked destinations open their own guidebook. Flight numbers are not in the open data — they come from the airline or a paid schedule feed.
İstanbul Hezarfen Airfield 38 km to the centre
Çatalca, 34, TR
Getting there by ferry
Besiktas
Ferry terminal · 0.8 km from the centre
Beşiktaş
Ferry terminal · 0.8 km from the centre · Şehir Hatları
Beşiktaş Motor İskelesi
Ferry terminal · 0.8 km from the centre · Turyol, Avrasya Dentur
Kabataş
Ferry terminal · 1 km from the centre · Dentur Avrasya
Kabatas - Kadıkoy Boat Port
Ferry terminal · 1 km from the centre
BUDO
Ferry terminal · 1.3 km from the centre
Kabataş - Beşiktaş
Ferry route
Üsküdar - Beşiktaş (Dentur Avrasya)
Ferry route · Dentur
Beşiktaş - Ortaköy
Ferry route · Şehir Hatları
Kuzguncuk - Beşiktaş (Boğaz Hattı)
Ferry route · Şehir Hatları
Üsküdar - Kabataş (Dentur Avrasya)
Ferry route · Dentur
Kabataş-Üsküdar
Ferry route
Üsküdar - Ortaköy
Ferry route · Şehir Hatları
Eminönü - Üsküdar
Ferry route · Şehir Hatları
Local transit
IETT
Bus, Metrobüs · Istanbul's buses and the Metrobüs; Metro Istanbul runs the rail lines. · Fares: Istanbulkart · Airport: Havaist buses and the M11 metro from Istanbul
Metro Istanbul
Metro, tram, funicular · The metro, tram and funicular lines on both sides of the Bosphorus. · Fares: Istanbulkart · Airport: M11 metro from Istanbul Airport
Trains & rail
TCDD Taşımacılık
National rail
Private aviation
On-demand charter, jet cards and the semi-private scheduled carriers that serve this city.
Air Charter Service
Broker · Any aircraft via operators worldwide · Global charter broker with 30+ offices; private jets, group charters and cargo.
ExecuJet
FBO, charter, management · Managed fleet · FBO network and management across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific.
Flexjet
Fractional, jet card · Embraer Praetor, Bombardier Challenger & Global, Gulfstream · Fractional ownership and jet cards in North America and Europe.
Global Jet
Charter, management · Large-cabin & VIP airliners · Geneva-based operator known for large-cabin and VIP airliner charters.
Jet Aviation
Charter, management, FBO, MRO · Managed fleet worldwide · General Dynamics company: charter, completions and FBOs in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the US.
Tours & experiences
ISTANBUL TOUR GUIDE
Sightseeing
Ebm. Tuor Kabataş Bosphorus Tour Point
Sightseeing
Pub Crawl Istanbul
Food & Wine
Living Here
Getting about
- An Istanbulkart works on the metro, the tram, the Marmaray rail tunnel under the Bosphorus, the Metrobüs, the buses, the funiculars and the ferries; buy one at any station kiosk and top it up at the machines. The ferries are the best transport in the city and among the cheapest.
- Istanbul Airport (IST) is on the European side, about 40 kilometres out, with the M11 metro to Gayrettepe and Havaist buses to the centre — allow an hour or more. Sabiha Gökçen (SAW) on the Asian side is reached by the M4 metro or Havabus.
- Traffic is chronic and the bridges can take an hour to cross at the wrong time; taxis are cheap by European standards but use an app (BiTaksi) to avoid arguments. Walking is the way to do the old city and Beyoğlu, though the hills are steep.
- Marmaray and the high-speed train run to Ankara in about four and a half hours from Söğütlüçeşme; ferries and buses cover the Marmara coast and the Princes' Islands.
Health
- Dial 112 for all emergencies. Private hospitals — Acıbadem, Memorial, the American Hospital in Nişantaşı — are excellent, English-speaking and used to foreigners; the university hospitals at Çapa and Cerrahpaşa are the big public teaching hospitals.
- Pharmacies (eczane) are plentiful and pharmacists will advise; a duty rota (nöbetçi eczane) keeps one open in each district overnight, posted in every pharmacy window.
- Residents with a permit join the state SGK insurance scheme; visitors should carry travel insurance, as private hospitals bill in full and up front.
Work & study
- Istanbul University is the oldest and largest; Boğaziçi, on the Bosphorus, is the most selective, with Istanbul Technical, Koç, Sabancı and Bilgi alongside. The student population is enormous and keeps Beyoğlu and Kadıköy cheap.
- Finance and the stock exchange, textiles and garment manufacturing, shipping and logistics through the Bosphorus and the new airport, tourism, media and a startup scene (Trendyol, Getir) all run from the city — it produces roughly a third of Turkey's GDP.
- Foreigners need a residence permit and, for most employment, a work permit sponsored by the employer; the paperwork is slow. Turkish is essential outside the international firms and the tourist trade.
Money & manners
- Turkish lira, and prices move with inflation, so check before assuming. Cards are accepted almost everywhere; carry cash for markets, small restaurants and taxis. Tip around 10% in restaurants and round up taxi fares; VAT (KDV) is included in the price.
- Mosques are working places of worship: shoes off, shoulders and knees covered, a headscarf for women, and stay out of the prayer rows at prayer time. Tea is offered constantly and accepting it costs nothing.
- Summers are hot and humid, winters cold, wet and occasionally snowy; spring and autumn are the reason to come. The city is noisy at all hours and the call to prayer is part of the soundtrack.