A 3-day itinerary in Istanbul.
My friend Abby came to visit me in Istanbul and we had a great time. Here’s how we spent three of our days.
DAY ONE– Breakfast in Cihangir and walking through Galata.
This day was:
self-paced
inspiring
adventurous
We started the day by having an easy breakfast at our favorite neighborhood cafe, Journey. We followed up by taking a 20-minute walk to the Galata Neighborhood which is filled with all sorts of handmade and local businesses. It’s very much a place to find studios and sustainable clothing brands and small makers. We met (and petted) a lot of cats and burned off a lot of calories (there are lots of hills around here). It wasn’t wildly physically demanding because you can take as long as you’d like and since there was a cool breeze it was a perfect long walk that definitely helped us sleep off the jet lag.
DAY TWO– Visiting the organic market & lunch in Bomonti / Sisli.
This day was:
sweet
easygoing
delicious
For our second day, we decided to hit up a market and a new neighborhood that I’d heard lots of Istanbulites tell me about– Bomonti / Sisli. The markets are always so much fun. Vendors love chatting and there are always beautiful and unique items / veggies / products to see. You can grab a gozleme (sort of like a very thin flatbread with greens and feta inside and grilled) while you peruse or you can wait and have a bite at the fashionable and hip Batard restaurant right around the corner. We took food home to make for dinner, too.
DAY THREE– a visit to Dolmabahce Place & the afternoon in Moda.
This day was:
European-feeling
Grand
Luxe
On day three, we spent the morning at the grand Dolmabahce Palace. It is absolutely decadent and dripping with gold and adornments. Personally, I would go on a non-busy day if possible because you’re rushed through a bit if there are a ton of people visiting. We spent about 2 hours there both inside the palace and outside on the grounds. After all of that luxury, we hopped on the ferry (which was very close by) and headed over to the Asian side called Kadikoy, and specifically to Moda which is a very hip and energetic area. We had Turkish coffee and tiramisu at the charming Fahriye Cafe. We ended up having dinner at the modern and cool Aralik and it capped our Istanbul experience. I actually would have rather gone to my favorite Moda restaurant, Aida, but they are closed on Sundays.