Istanbul City Break: Two Continents, One City

About the Trip

Trip Highlights

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• Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, two of the world's greatest buildings facing each other across a garden, are a breathtaking highlight. On the historic Sultanahmet peninsula stand two of the most magnificent buildings ever raised, gazing at one another across a garden of fountains and roses. Hagia Sophia, built by the Emperor Justinian in the sixth century, was for a thousand years the greatest church in Christendom, its immense floating dome a miracle of engineering, glittering with gold Byzantine mosaics. Facing it, the early-seventeenth-century Blue Mosque cascades in domes and half-domes above six slender minarets, its interior glowing with more than twenty thousand blue Iznik tiles.
• Topkapi Palace and the Basilica Cistern reveal the opulence and mystery of imperial Istanbul. For four centuries Topkapi Palace was the opulent seat of the Ottoman sultans who ruled from Vienna to the Indian Ocean, and today you wander its courtyards, pavilions and gardens overlooking the Bosphorus, the mysterious Harem where the royal family lived, and the dazzling Imperial Treasury with its emeralds, the famous Topkapi dagger and the eighty-six-carat Spoonmaker's Diamond. Nearby, you descend into the atmospheric Basilica Cistern, a vast underground Byzantine reservoir where a forest of three hundred marble columns rises from dark water, lit dramatically and eerily beautiful.
• The Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar are a feast of colour, aromas and life at the heart of the city. Istanbul has been a city of trade for two thousand years, and nowhere is this more alive than in its great markets. You lose yourself in the Grand Bazaar, one of the oldest and largest covered markets in the world, a labyrinth of some four thousand shops beneath painted vaults, glittering with carpets, lamps, gold, ceramics, leather and textiles, where haggling is an art and every turn brings a new treasure. You breathe in the heady aromas of the Spice Bazaar.
• A cruise on the Bosphorus, the fabled strait between Europe and Asia, is a beautiful highlight. Istanbul is defined by water, and to understand it you must take to the Bosphorus, the fabled strait that divides Europe from Asia and links the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara. On a cruise you glide past the skyline of domes and minarets, the ornate nineteenth-century Dolmabahce Palace, elegant wooden waterside mansions (yali), grand fortresses and the soaring bridges that join two continents, with wonderful views of the city rising on both shores. The beauty and the sense of history are captivating.
• The food, hammams, tea houses and street life make Istanbul endlessly delightful to explore. Beyond its monuments, Istanbul is a feast for the senses and one of the world's great food cities. You savour spreads of meze and fresh fish in a waterside meyhane, kebabs and pide, simit and Turkish coffee, and clouds of sweet baklava, and sip endless glasses of tea in atmospheric courtyards. You can unwind in a centuries-old Turkish hammam, steamed and scrubbed beneath a marble dome, explore the trendy cafes and galleries of Karakoy and Beyoglu, and soak up the colourful, buzzing street life. The flavours and atmosphere are delightful.
• Above all, this journey immerses you in one of the world's greatest cities, layered, beautiful and full of life. Istanbul is one of the most beautiful, exciting and layered cities on earth, the only city to straddle two continents and the capital in turn of Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires, and this relaxed break immerses you in it. Over five days you explore its magnificent mosques and palaces, its labyrinthine bazaars, its underground cisterns and its fabled strait, and savour its wonderful food, hammams and street life, guided by expert local guides and warmed by legendary hospitality.

Day by Day

A detailed day-by-day plan for this 5-day journey.

Where You Will Travel

Frequently Asked Questions