On my last evening in Istanbul, I went for a sunset cruise on the Bosphorus. Most of my photography is done in a walkabout way, so I wanted an opportunity to remain seated while still enjoying eye-catching perspectives. There are plenty of options for such a cruise on offer in…
As mentioned at the start of this post, the final version of my road trip outside of Istanbul was not overly ambitious. Shorter driving distances and fewer points on the itinerary meant that I could spend more time lingering in places like Bursa and Cumalıkızık and also left me a…
The notion of the early Ottoman Empire combines Bursa and Cumalıkızık into a single entity on the World Heritage inscription. The latter lies just a couple of kilometers outside the former’s southeast edge. It is billed as the “traditional Ottoman village” and as the best-preserved waqf village in Turkey, one…
Before the Ottomans captured Constantinople in 1453 and made the newly renamed Istanbul their capital, the seat of the Ottoman Empire for over a century was in Bursa, where a succession of sultans developed the city around several commercial and religious focal points. Here is the perspective from my hotel…
I doubt that any of my readers have heard of Íznik before, let alone included it on their real or potential itineraries around Türkiye. When people think about Turkish destinations beyond Istanbul, what comes to mind is Cappadocia, the Turquoise Coast, or maybe Safranbolu or Pamukkale. Hardly ever anything in…
When you cross Bosporus to go to the Anatolian part of Istanbul, you leave behind most of the tourist crowds and most of the city’s iconic sights. This side is primarily the living quarters of ordinary residents, quieter and of significantly lower profile than the European side. A few defined…
When in Istanbul last October, I stayed in Beyoğlu. Historically known as Pera (which means “beyond” in Greek), this was a predominantly Christian area surrounding the coastal town of Galata that faced Constantinople across the Golden Horn. It has become the entertainment and nightlife focal point of Istanbul in modern…
The Golden Horn – the estuary of the Bosporus – divides the European side of Istanbul into what is historically known as “the old city” and “the new city”. The former is officially called “Fatih” and extends beyond the Sultanahmet area that we explored before. This set looks at a…
As my very first – and very short – trip to Istanbul perfectly illustrated, you can claim reasonable familiarity with the main sights of Istanbul by spending just a few hours in or around the Sultanahmet area. There is a high concentration of prime points of interest in Sultanahmet, which…
My journey to Israel started with a layover in Istanbul. I’ve never been to the Turkish capital and decided to use the opportunity of a connecting flight to plug that gap on my travel résumé, if only a little. A 9-hour interval from the arrival of the incoming flight to…