Some are famous sights, some are simple pleasures, and some are little rituals that make the area memorable: a simit on the waterfront, tea under a tree, a stroll through old wooden neighborhoods, or an unhurried pause in a museum garden.
40 things to do on the historical peninsula
Eminönü, Sirkeci, and the bazaars
- Feed the pigeons in front of the New Mosque (Yeni Cami) in Eminönü.
- Board one of the ferries in Sirkeci that travels down the Bosphorus and share your simit with the seagulls. If you want to turn this into a dedicated outing, see our guide to a Bosphorus Cruise.
- Introduce yourself to the finer aspects of Turkish cuisine at the Konyalı Restaurant.
- Check out the miscellany made by carpenters and craftsmen in Tahtakale.
- Sample the selection of Turkish Delight at Ali Muhiddin Hacı Bekir.
- Shop in the Spice Bazaar.
- Try Pandeli, located just above the entrance to the Spice Bazaar, open for lunch from noon to 3 p.m.; the eggplant salad is especially recommended.
- Buy Turkish coffee from Kurukahveci Mehmed Efendi.
- Go to the Bedestan of the Grand Bazaar for jewelry.
- Pala (No. 54) in the Grand Bazaar is the address for second-hand clothes.
Gülhane, museums, and Soğukçeşme
- Stroll through Gülhane Park beneath the high arching trees.
- On completing your visit to the Archeological Museum, enjoy a glass of tea in the museum garden among the ancient statuary. You can check current visitor details on the official museum portal at muze.gov.tr.
- Make an acquaintance with traditional Turkish handicrafts in the Cafer Agha Madrasah.
- Book a room in one of the pensions of Soğukçeşme Street.
- Have a souvenir photo taken in front of Hagia Sophia and the mosque of Sultanahmet.
Sultanahmet classics
- Frothy Turkish coffee or tea seems to taste better in one of the sidewalk cafes in Sultanahmet Square.
- Sidewalk vendors tempt the buyer with trinkets, like blue glass beads against the evil eye and costume jewelry such as necklaces and rings.
- The atmosphere in the Basilica Cistern stimulates reflections mystical in nature. Toss a coin into the pool and make a wish.
- Have a look at the Turkish carpets and kilims at the Arasta market.
- The award-winning Four Seasons Hotel, housed in a former prison, affords a nice view of Sultanahmet Square along with your drink.
- Sitting on one of the benches in Sultanahmet Square in the evening stimulates reveries of the past.
- Meatballs taste even better when eaten with dry bean salad in the historical Sultanahmet Meatball Restaurant.
- Enjoy the traditional narghile in the tea garden in the courtyard of the madrasah of Çorlulu Ali Pasha.
- A strolling tour of the historical wooden houses in Cankurturan and Ahırkapı is relaxing and pleasant.
Beyazıt, Laleli, and Galata Bridge
- Tea beneath the giant plane tree outside the courtyard of Beyazıt Mosque is restorative to the body and soul.
- Next door is the sahaflar, the sellers of old and new books.
- Laleli is for leather of all kinds, all colors, all prices.
- If you do not want to fish like everybody else on Galata Bridge, you can have just as much fun watching them.
- Dinner on the lower level of Galata Bridge is perfect for taking in the brilliant night scene of Istanbul.
- Try some boza, a non-alcoholic beverage, slightly fizzy, made from bulgur and sprinkled with cinnamon at Vefa in Eminönü.
Golden Horn, Fener, Balat, and Süleymaniye
- Go to the Pierre Loti tea garden, simple and romantic.
- Along the south shore of the Golden Horn are a number of good places to eat fish and drink rakı.
- Many of the houses in the ancient districts of Fener and Balat are in the process of being restored.
- Around the square of Sultanahmet, the Byzantine Hippodrome, are a number of pleasant sidewalk cafes.
- One place to enjoy the atmosphere in the quarter of Süleymaniye is Lale Bahçesi.
- An afternoon can be whiled away in the exploration of the vast and impressive mosque complex of Süleymaniye Mosque.
- Then a glass of tea to revive can be sipped in Çınar Square.
- Do not neglect to visit Süleymaniye Library, including many valuable manuscripts.
- The Press Museum on the main avenue is of interest.
- Pembe Köşk (Pink Pavilion), where meetings were held in the earliest days of the Turkish Republic, is on the hill leading to Cağaloğlu.
How to enjoy the historical peninsula at a slower pace
The beauty of the district is not only in monuments but in how naturally daily life and history meet. You may begin with ferries and market streets in Eminönü, continue toward gardens and museums near Gülhane, then drift into Sultanahmet for coffee, mosques, and the old Hippodrome. By late afternoon, Beyazıt and Süleymaniye offer a quieter rhythm, and by evening Galata Bridge and the Golden Horn bring the city back to life in a different way.
If you want background on why the area matters globally, UNESCO’s page on Istanbul’s historic areas is a useful reference: unesco.org.
In the end, the Historical Peninsula rewards both the traveler who plans carefully and the traveler who simply wanders. Feed birds in a square, shop for spices or books, sip tea in a courtyard, take a ferry, sit on a bench at dusk, and let the setting do the rest. If you do these things, you are very likely to enjoy the Historical Peninsula.
