12 Hours in Istanbul, Turkey
You have less than 12 hours in Istanbul, Turkey. How do you spend it?
1am: We landed about 1am and didn’t arrive at the hotel Ambassador until about 2:30, but wow did the front desk greet us with big smiles and with hot Turkish tea. This hotel is located right in the center between The Blue Mosque and Sophia. In the morning they offer a supreme full Turkish breakfast buffet on the roof top with a beautiful view of the sun rising over the Blue Mosque. Pro Tip: make sure you bring your luggage or backpack with you as you see the city as you might not have time to make it back to your hotel from Asia side and back to the airport in time. We traveled light with only a backpack and checked our remaining bags to our final destination.
10am: After breakfast, spend some time in the square walking around the two mosques. The trick to not getting any tourist in your photos is getting out there early. Once you have snapped your perfect shot, head on over to the Grand Bazaar. This is about a 10-15 minute from the center but along the way you will see shops restocking all of the Turkish delight. Stop in and try some different flavors along with some tea. This ensures you’re getting fresh Turkish delight! My favorite part about visiting the Grand Bazaar early was you could take your time window shopping without crowds pushing you around. You will see boys doing tea runs to all the shop owners, what a sight to see!
11:30am: Lunch at Ciya Kabob, featured on Chef’s Table! After the bazaar grab a taxi and head over to Asia and the neighborhood called Kadiköy. You will get a great view of the city from the bridge or you can take a water taxi right over! It was raining while we were there so we needed to take a “land” taxi. Ciya Kabob is known for its unique Turkish food from all over the country. We got hummus, zucchini rolls stuffed with lamb, lentil soup, falafel. and lamb soup. DELICIOUS!!
After lunch we went next door to grab some Turkish coffee to fuel us up for the ride back to the airport! This city host short layovers so well! It is easy to get around and for Middle Eastern culture, most things are open in the mornings with little crowds!
