Itineraries · 8 min read
How to plan a three-day Istanbul trip that does not exhaust you
28 February 2026
Half the city's must-sees are too close together. The other half are too far apart. Here is the order we use.
The mistake everyone makes
Day 1: Hagia Sophia. Day 2: Topkapi Palace. Day 3: Blue Mosque and Basilica Cistern. By Day 2 you are tired of marble and exhausted from queuing. The four of these are within 800 metres of each other. We do them on Day 1, in one continuous loop, with the Cistern at the end for the cool relief. Days 2 and 3 are about everything else Istanbul actually is.
Day 1: Sultanahmet (one long morning)
Start at Hagia Sophia at 9am (it is now a mosque again, modest dress, free entry). Walk 200m to the Blue Mosque (closed during prayer times, plan around). Lunch at Tarihi Sultanahmet Köftecisi (1920, no menu, only meatballs). Topkapi at 2pm (3 hours, prioritise the Harem and the Treasury). Cistern at 6pm. Sundown raki on a Sultanahmet rooftop. Done.
Day 2: Bosphorus
Take a private boat (or the public ferry from Eminonu) up the European side past Bebek and Rumeli Hisari. Lunch in Anadolu Kavagi at the mouth of the Black Sea. Back via the Asian shore — drop you in Kadikoy for the food market and dinner at Ciya.
Day 3: Modern Istanbul
Karakoy and Galata in the morning (Galata Tower at 9am before queues). Across the Galata Bridge to the Spice Bazaar (small but exquisite — half a kilo of saffron is a third of London prices). Afternoon at the Pera Museum or Istanbul Modern (the new Renzo Piano building). Dinner at Mikla on the rooftop, watching the Bosphorus dark.
What we cut
The Grand Bazaar (we go for 30 minutes only — it is a bazaar, you are not buying a carpet). The Dolmabahce Palace (overlong, less interesting than Topkapi). The Bosphorus dinner cruise (eat ashore).
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