09.00: Breakfast under the bridge. The Galata Bridge spans the entrance to the Golden Horn, with a string of cafés and restaurants tucked into its arches and right on the water. Ask for a kahvalti (breakfast) of strong black Turkish tea and either meat or cheese filled borek while watching the rush of ferries and launches, taking Istanbul to work across two continents.
10.00: Let the sightseeing begin. In 24 hours, you’ve time only for the Greatest Hits, so head first up the hill to Aya Sofya, once the centre of global Christendom, later a great mosque and now a great museum. Then go to Topkapi Palace, for centuries the heart of the Ottoman Empire, as it conquered lands from Mesopotamia to Vienna. Home of the famous harem, plus the Topkapi diamond and a rare collection of the Prophet Mohammed’s hairs.
12.00: Time for lunch, with Pandelis in the Misr Carsi, or Egyptian Market, a good choice for atmosphere. Sitting perched over the covered market’s interior passages, you can watch bargain hunters down below buying a pistachio and honey mix known as ‘the hammer’ or ‘Turkish viagra’, or haggling over backgammon boards.
13.00: Visit the Chora Museum, a petite Byzantine church covered with some of the finest frescoes and mosaics that ancient empire ever produced. From there, it’s a short-ish walk back to the finest mosque in the city, the Sulemaniye Cami. With this structure, the Ottomans finally managed to build a dome wider than that of Aya Sofya, albeit some 1,000 years after the latter was erected. The Sulemaniye was designed by the Ottomans’ greatest architect, Mimar Sinan, with its spacious interior cleverly free of clunky columns and buttresses.
15.00: Time for some medieval power shopping at the Grand Bazaar. The huge covered market area was once the central economic gearbox of the empire, with caravans from Baghdad and Sarajevo crossing over in its halls. Around the covered area (known as the Kapili Carsi) are streets teeming with modern markets, with Tatakale one area worth exploring. There you’ll find for sale everything from a Turkish general’s gold-braided uniform to an electric butter churner.
17.00: Time to ease those tired muscles at an authentic Turkish bath. Not to everyone’s taste, but Cemberlitas Hamam is located conveniently close to the Grand Bazaar, and offers the full works, from baking hot tiles to huge masseurs. They crack your bones while suggesting a large tip might end the agony quickly.
18.00: Time to stimulate the senses in another way, down at the Istanbul Modern. Its Bosphorus-side location gives the art museum’s café a special vibe, while the gallery itself has a stream of circulating exhibitions, as well as a permanent collection of Turkish art.
19.00: Time for dinner. Head up the hill into Istanbul’s main bar/café/restaurant and other nightlife quarter – Beyoglu. Top of the pack for eateries is 360, a fusion restaurant on the top floor of the Misr Apartments, with 360-degree views of the city below.
21.00: Make your way to the Asmalimescit district of Beyoglu for a clutch of streets with some of the liveliest bars in town. Badehane is the longest standing, while Asmalimescit Street is a liquid city of ever-changing drinkeries.
24.00: After checking out Babylon for some live music, head for the Nevizade district, round the back of the Cicek Pasaj in Central Beyoglu. In Yeni Carsi Caddesi, you’ll find the By Corbaci Soup Bar – a café selling Iskembe soup until 4am. Don’t ask what’s in it, just douse it with extra vinegar for a surprisingly successful Turkish hangover prophylactic. Then, to bed, along with the sound of the dawn call to prayer.
The last paragraph is fantastic, hahaha. I should consider this place for my next trip.