I’m an American who just spent around 12 days in Istanbul, and I wanted to share some of my takes / experiences / tips, particularly where they don’t totally overlap with a lot of the information that is commonly out there. Please let me know if you have any questions - this represents just a small fraction of my experience.

Neighborhoods for Accommodation

I stayed 7 nights in Cihangir and 5 in Kadıköy, just north of Moda. I thought I really couldn’t have picked better neighborhoods to stay in, for my needs.

Cihangir is on the (somewhat steep) slopes between Istiklal Street and Galataport. Though technically farther away from the tourist places in Fatih than Galata is, travel times seemed to be either the same or even shorter for some destinations. It was just a quick walk downhill to the Tophane tram station. In addition to its convenience, Cihangir is super relaxed. It was amazing to me how quiet it would get, just a few blocks away from the busier areas it’s near. There are lots of great little cafes and restaurants, too. It’s a great, calm neighborhood to wander around in, get a cup of coffee, and have a conversation or read.

Moda is great. The north part of it, closer to Kadıköy Iskelesi, is a crowded bazaar / shopping high street type area that is stimulating but not too nice. It reminded me of similar areas in London or Hong Kong. However, it gets super chill the farther south you go. Though there are a lot of nice areas a little farther north of the busy shopping area, too. Also more international and artsy, the farther south you go. Like Cihangir, this is a great place to spend a long day walking around slowly, exploring, and going to coffee shops, if you’re into that kind of traveling. The food is excellent; it’s perhaps the primary culinary spot in the city, at least in the top 3 or so. It’s definitely doable to stay here and visit tourist sites across the Bosphorus, but I would only recommend it if you 1 don’t have jet lag; 2 are confident using either the ferry system or the metro; and 3 are done with the major major sites it’s important to get to when they open, like Ayasofya and Topkapi.

Tourist Sites

The following sites were undergoing renovations during my trip (3/14 - 3/26):

1. Ayasofya - Substantial scaffolding inside and out. On the one hand this was very disappointing to me, but there was enough for me to see to mostly enjoy my visit. I ended up spending about an hour here, soaking in what I could.
2. Blue Mosque - Minor amount of scaffolding outside. It was fine.
3. Topkapi Palace - Some scaffolding, mostly away from the main areas. Some areas of the Harem closed.
4. Hagia Irene - So much scaffolding inside, and areas closed off. They let you walk in but I could see practically nothing.
5. Fethiye Mosque - Entire museum area closed off - unable to be visited. It’s a pretty building, and you can visit the mosque sanctuary, but there’s not much there to see as a tourist.
6. Rumeli Hisarı - The grounds and courtyard are open, but all the indoor spaces are closed. I paid the admission and had a decent enough time here, though - it’s a beautiful spot and the grounds are pleasant.
7. Dolmabahçe Palace - Some areas past the main visiting area were closed (clock museum, crystal pavilion).

Another note on Ayasofya: If you buy your ticket from the ticket counter at the entrance, be aware that they will try to also sell you a ticket for the “Hagia Sophia Experience” museum, which is over in the Hippodrome area closer to the Blue Mosque. They use misleading language. I forget what it was exactly, but basically they will say that viewing is limited due to reconstruction, so do you want to pay for the “full experience”? Where “full experience” means a ticket for the Ayasofya mosque PLUS a ticket to the Hagia Sophia Experience museum. Whatever they actually say, if you don’t want a museum ticket, I would recommend clearly saying “Mosque only please” or “no museum.”

Sadly, I fell for it, due to eagerness to get inside, skimming the fine print, and not putting 2 and 2 together. I ultimately would have preferred not to go there, but - to be perfectly honest - I kinda enjoyed the museum. I think the multimedia part (~ 25 minutes) is stupid, but entertaining. And they have a nice collection of both Muslim and Christian sacred objects and texts.

Kariye Mosque - If you are someone who would be interested in Byzantine mosaics and frescos, this mosque is a MUST, not optional. It’s gorgeous and almost overwhelming, there’s so much to take in.

Kılıç Ali Pasha Mosque - Really underrated mosque near Tophane; small, but very beautiful interior with interesting patterns. Because there are so few tourists, it’s very quiet and meditative inside. I loved just walking in and soaking in the silence.

Yeni Camii. I think plenty of people visit this mosque, largely because of its prominent location in Eminonu. But I find it strange that it was almost never recommended to me as a good place to visit in any of the tourist lists or guides. Maybe because so many people end up going there anyway, due to the location? It’s really beautiful inside and shouldn’t be missed.

Süleymaniye Mosque - I think this mosque gets recommended enough, and I highly recommend it, too. Make sure not to skip Mimar Sinan’s tomb in the northern corner. Also, as a warning, there seemed to be some volunteers there who were interested in accosting tourists to talk to them about Islam. Their intentions seem good, and I’m sure you could have an interesting conversation if you want to. However this may not be something you want to do. They are not scamming you, and I think you could politely tell them you’re not interested in a discussion, if you want to enjoy the mosque in silence. They have lanyards and a badge that says “Volunteer.”

Balat & Bebek - Everyone has their own tastes, but I found these neighborhoods overrated, based on how much they were recommended to me to visit. There was very little in either that I hadn’t seen elsewhere. Bebek has the advantage of being genuinely relaxing, and having a nice promenade along the Bosphorus. It may be more pleasant in better weather. Balat I found to be overly touristic relative to its size. Cookie cutter coffee shops full of other tourists, and lots of young influencers taking selfies on the colorful stairs. I’m open to being informed there is more to it that I missed.

Food

A shout out for my two favorite restaurants in Kadıköy: Kebapçı İskender İskenderoğlu, and Kimyon.

Iskender Iskenderoglu is owned by the family that the Iskender Kebap dish originated from. It’s definitely on the expensive side, but it’s freaking delicious. Everything is top notch; the bread is baked fresh from a sourdough starter; and they pour the brown butter on at the table. If you have the budget for it (~950tl for a plate), it’s worth going at least once. 

The other is Kimyon. I went there so often they began to recognize me. They have all kinds of great Turkish cuisine items, but I found their soups to be excellent. I had beyran and kelle paça. They come with fresh lemon, arugula, and really excellent bread. Really top notch, and so delicious.

I want to point out that both of these places were very classy, compared to the pushiness at a lot of more tourist-focused places.

Best baklava: I was told Karaköy Güllüoğlu - Nadir Güllü had the best baklava in the city. I can’t say what the best in the city is, but it was definitely the best I had on my trip. I got a big slice slathered in kaymak. Amazing.

Seafood: Adem Baba in Arnavutköy. I found this place just wandering around to see what’s good. Lots of locals inside. In addition to the excellent fish (I got red mullet) and cornbread (not expecting to find that), I had probably the best greens salad of my trip here. My guess is that this is more a “best of Arnavutköy” thing than a best of Istanbul’s seafood thing. That is, I wouldn’t recommend going up there just for Adem Baba.

Transportation

I mostly used: walking; buses; ferries; and trams. I took the metro once, and I hired a private airport transfer on my first day. No taxis. I love metros, but I don’t think the Istanbul metro lines are really useful or ideal for tourists there for a week or two. The ferries are much more scenic, anyway.

Several people advised me not to take buses in Istanbul. I ended up taking the buses pretty frequently, and it was mostly fine, AFTER I figured a few things out. Riding the buses in Istanbul is a bit different from in the U.S.

Here are the key things to be aware of:

1. On one occasion, Google maps indicated there was a stop where there wasn’t one. So be careful of that.
2. A lot of bus stops aren’t marked as noticeably as they would be in the U.S. Just a yellow (I think?) sign with text on it. In the U.S. we expect symbols representing buses and/or indications of what bus lines stop there, so the sign for the bus stop doesn’t look as “official” as you’d expect. Look for the word “durak” or “durağı”.
3. Also, the sign for the stop might be quite a bit far removed from the street - so make sure to walk out to where the bus can actually see you.
4. In crowded areas, multiple buses might arrive at the stop at the same time. In the U.S., buses are expected to wait until the other buses pull away, and then pull up to the curb to take / let off passengers. In Istanbul, the bus might be taking passengers wherever it happened to stop to wait behind the other buses, so it’s important to head over to meet it instead of waiting. It might merge back into traffic from that spot and take off.

Also, I took the Havaist bus from Kadıköy for my flight back to the States. I took it at a low traffic time (10:00 pm), and it took about 70 minutes. This was roughly the same amount of time as my private transfer, and 1/5th the price. The location of the bus stop in Google maps was pretty much spot on. I thought it was overall very efficient and convenient. Maybe I would feel different during rush hour. The app seemed to malfunction for buying online tickets ahead of time, but it was really easy to buy my ticket by credit card from the driver. I think that’s what most people do anyway, and there was no need to buy a ticket ahead of time, at least for that time of evening.

I don’t regret taking a private car when I arrived, though - I was tired, and it was my first time experiencing Türkiye, so there was a lot occupying my attention.

Biggest Regrets

Not going to Çiya Sofrası. It was recommended to me multiple times and was on a list I had written of restaurants to try. I’m not quite sure how this slipped my mind. I walked past it several times, too. Ah well - next time.

Also, in general, I wish I had spent more time going to historical sites than wandering around in neighborhoods north of the tourist areas, on both sides of the Bosphorus (cf. my notes on Balat and Bebek above). I really do enjoy wandering around and exploring the “real” neighborhoods of a city, and getting a sense of the waterfront was really great, but I think in retrospect I would have slightly preferred to visit a few more historical areas, for example the Fatih Mosque complex. This is of course according to my taste (a history nerd).

Final Tip

If you’re on a ferry, watch for dolphins! I saw them a couple times. So awesome.