By Harry Nara · Last updated
Yes, and Istanbul gives a first-time visitor more than almost anywhere, but it runs on one piece of plastic and almost nothing works without it. Public transport takes no cash at all, so the Istanbulkart is the first thing to buy and the thing that unlocks the buses, the metro, the trams and the ferries that are the best way to see the city. The second thing to know is that the famous monuments have changed how they admit visitors, and the arrangements are not what older guides describe.
Istanbul is the most rewarding of the cities on this site for a first visit and the one where the gap between the prepared and the unprepared is widest. It is enormous, it spans two continents, it is inexpensive by European standards, and the food at the cheap end is extraordinary.
It is also a city where the visitor-facing arrangements have changed repeatedly in recent years, where prices move quickly enough that any figure needs checking, and where a handful of transactions involving taxis, carpets and currency are set up to take advantage of people who have just arrived. None of this is dangerous. All of it is avoidable.
How long do you need in Istanbul?
Four days minimum and five is better, because Istanbul is two cities separated by water and most people spend three days without ever crossing to the Asian side. Two days covers Sultanahmet and leaves you with a version of Istanbul that is a museum district.
Before you go
You cannot pay cash on a bus, a tram, a metro or a public ferry in Istanbul. The Istanbulkart is bought from a machine at any station or from kiosks near stops, costs a small amount for the card itself and is then topped up with cash or card. The anonymous version is the one visitors want and it can be topped up indefinitely. At the time of writing Metro Istanbul lists the full single fare on an anonymous card at 46.20 lira, though Turkish fares are revised frequently enough that this should be treated as an order of magnitude rather than a promise. One card can usually be tapped several times for several people on the same journey, which is worth knowing if you are travelling as a pair.
The commuter boats across the Bosphorus run on the same Istanbulkart as everything else and cost the same as a bus. They are also, straightforwardly, the finest way to look at Istanbul, and the tourist cruise sold along the waterfront is a more expensive version of a journey you can make for small change. Take the ferry to Kadikoy on the Asian side, which is where the city stops performing for visitors.
Hagia Sophia is a working mosque again, and foreign visitors are admitted through a separate entrance to worshippers, pay a fee, and are directed to the upper gallery where the Byzantine mosaics are. The prayer floor is not a ticketed tourist route. The Blue Mosque nearby remains free but closes to visitors around prayer times. None of this matches guidebooks written before the change, and arriving with the old model in mind produces a confusing morning at the wrong door.
Shoulders and knees covered for everyone, and a headscarf for women, which the larger mosques lend at the door. Shoes come off and go in a bag or on a rack. It is straightforward and nobody is unkind about it, but arriving in shorts in August means either a borrowed wrap or a wasted trip.
Once you are there
The European side holds Sultanahmet and the monuments, Beyoglu and the nightlife, and almost every hotel a visitor books. The Asian side holds most of the population and very few tourists. Crossing is a twenty minute ferry rather than an expedition, and the single best decision available to a first-time visitor is to spend a day in Kadikoy and Moda eating and walking, because that is where you see how the city behaves when nobody is watching.
Refusing short fares, declining to run the meter, and long routes for new arrivals are all common enough to be the default assumption rather than bad luck. Use the BiTaksi or Uber apps, which put the route and the price on your screen, and decline any driver who will not use a meter. This is the only aspect of Istanbul that routinely leaves visitors feeling cheated, and it is entirely solvable.
A friendly, excellent-English stranger near Sultanahmet who asks where you are from and then suggests tea, a shoeshine, a carpet shop or a particular bar is following a script. The version to watch is the bar invitation, which ends with a bill far beyond anything you consumed. Real hospitality in Istanbul is abundant and does not begin with a stranger approaching you beside a monument.
In the Grand Bazaar the first price is an opening position and haggling is expected, and enjoyed. In an ordinary shop or a restaurant it is odd. Knowing which room you are in is the whole skill.
What it costs
Istanbul is inexpensive for European visitors and the best eating is at the cheap end rather than despite it. A balik ekmek by the water, a plate at an esnaf lokantasi where you point at trays, a pide, a bowl of soup at four in the morning: none of these cost much and all of them are better than the restaurants with menus in six languages around the Blue Mosque.
The lira moves and prices move with it, so treat any figure in any guide as indicative. Pay in lira rather than accepting a price quoted in euros, decline the machine’s offer to charge your card in your home currency, and change money at a proper exchange office rather than at the airport or a hotel desk, where the spread is wide.
Tipping is around ten percent in restaurants and is genuinely appreciated rather than assumed. Rounding up covers a taxi. Nobody will pursue you for it.
Going with children
Istanbul is warm towards children to a degree that surprises people from more reserved cultures: staff will talk to them, feed them, and occasionally carry them off to be admired, and a family is treated as a welcome event rather than a logistical problem. The practical difficulties are real though. The city is hilly, the pavements around Sultanahmet and Beyoglu are uneven and frequently occupied by parked cars, and a pushchair is hard work; the older metro and tram stations are not reliably step-free. Set against that, the ferries are a boat ride that doubles as transport, the Basilica Cistern is dark and dramatic in a way children respond to, and the sheer amount of street food means nobody is ever more than a few minutes from something to eat. Plan around the heat in high summer and the call to prayer waking light sleepers early.
Going alone
Istanbul is straightforward alone and the city is used to it. Eating by yourself is normal, tea is a solo activity by design, and the ferries and the long walks along the Bosphorus are better without company. Solo women travellers should expect more direct attention than in Western Europe, particularly in the tourist areas of Sultanahmet, and the standard response of not engaging works. The approach to be alert to is not physical but commercial: the friendly guide, the shoeshine brush dropped in front of you, the invitation to a bar. Dress is relaxed in Beyoglu and on the Asian side and more conservative in the religious neighbourhoods, and matching the street you are on is both easy and effective.
Mistakes worth avoiding
You cannot. No bus, tram, metro or ferry takes coins. Buy the card at the airport station before you need it.
The public commuter ferry crosses the same water on the same card as the bus, for a fraction of the price, with the same view and fewer people photographing it.
Use BiTaksi or Uber so the route and fare are on your screen, and walk away from any driver who says the meter is broken. This is the one reliable way visitors get overcharged here.
Three days entirely in Sultanahmet is three days in the part of Istanbul that exists for visitors. Kadikoy is twenty minutes away by boat and is where the city is itself.
The tea, the shoeshine, the carpet showroom and especially the bar all end with a bill. Genuine Turkish hospitality does not start with a man approaching tourists outside Hagia Sophia.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Istanbul worth visiting for a first-time traveller?
Yes, and it offers more per day than almost anywhere else in this list: two continents, several empires of architecture, exceptional inexpensive food, and a working city rather than a preserved one. The gap between a prepared and an unprepared visit is unusually wide, and it comes down to three things: the transport card, the way the major monuments now admit visitors, and taxis.
How many days do you need in Istanbul?
Four at a minimum and five is better, because the city spans two continents and most visitors never leave the European side. Two days will cover Sultanahmet and give you an Istanbul that is a museum quarter. The extra days are what buy you Beyoglu, the Bosphorus and the Asian side.
Do I need an Istanbulkart?
Yes, there is no alternative. Buses, trams, the metro and the public ferries accept no cash whatsoever. Buy an anonymous Istanbulkart from a machine at any station, including at the airport, top it up with cash or card, and it covers everything. On most services one card can be tapped more than once for people travelling together.
How do you visit Hagia Sophia now?
It is a working mosque again, so foreign visitors enter through a dedicated visitor entrance rather than the worshippers’ door, pay an admission fee, and are routed to the upper gallery, which is where the Byzantine mosaics are. The prayer floor is not part of the ticketed visit. Older guidebooks describe a museum with a single entrance, which no longer matches what you will find.
Are taxis in Istanbul a problem?
They are the one part of the city that regularly overcharges visitors. Refusing to run the meter, declining short journeys and taking long routes are all common. The fix is to use BiTaksi or Uber so that the route and price appear on your phone, and to decline any driver who will not use the meter.
Should I take a Bosphorus cruise?
You can, but the public ferries cross the same water for the price of a bus fare on the same Istanbulkart, and the view is identical. The commuter boat to Kadikoy is both the best sightseeing in Istanbul and a way to reach the half of the city that visitors mostly skip.
Is Istanbul good for families with young children?
Yes, socially: children are actively welcomed and fussed over rather than tolerated. Logistically it is harder work, because the city is hilly, pavements are uneven and often blocked, and step-free access at older stations is unreliable, which makes a pushchair difficult. The ferries, the Basilica Cistern and the constant availability of street food do a lot of the work of keeping a day pleasant.
Is Istanbul safe to visit alone?
Yes, with the caveat that the risk here is commercial rather than physical. The approaches to watch are the friendly stranger near a monument offering tea, a shoeshine or a bar, which end in an inflated bill. Solo women can expect more direct attention than in Western Europe, particularly around Sultanahmet, and disengaging works. Beyoglu and the Asian side are relaxed about dress; religious neighbourhoods less so.
Checked against Metro Istanbul, tickets and fares, Istanbulkart, official site, Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, museums and monuments.
Keep planning
Best time to visit Istanbul • All Istanbul guides • All destinations