Istanbul in 3 days: a local itinerary starting from Galata

This is the plan we sketch on a napkin for guests who ask “we have three days — what should we do?”. Each day stays in one part of the city, so you walk more and sit in traffic less. It starts and ends in Galata, where our apartments are, but works from anywhere in the centre. Mornings are for the big monuments (they are calmest before 10 am), afternoons for wandering, and every evening ends somewhere with a view.

Day 1 — The old city and the bazaars

From Galata, walk across Galata Bridge (25 minutes) or take the T1 tram from Karaköy to Sultanahmet (10 minutes). Avoid this day on a Tuesday (Topkapı is closed) or a Sunday (the Grand Bazaar is closed).

Morning: Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque

Be at Hagia Sophia when it opens. Foreign visitors go up to the upper gallery with a ticket (about €25 in 2026); the ground floor is for worship. The Blue Mosque across the square is free. Both close to visitors for about 30 minutes at each prayer time and for longer at Friday midday prayer. Cover shoulders and knees; women need a headscarf (one is provided at the door).

📷 Arild Vågen · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Late morning: Basilica Cistern or Topkapı Palace

Choose one. The Basilica Cistern takes 45 minutes and is magical in the half-dark (about €38 at the gate in 2026). Topkapı Palace needs at least 2–3 hours, including the Harem (about 2,750 TRY in 2026). If you love history, do Topkapı today and the Cistern another day.

📷 Enkode · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Afternoon: the Grand Bazaar, then downhill to the Spice Bazaar

Have lunch at one of the tradesmen’s restaurants (esnaf lokantası) around the bazaar, then get lost among its 4,000 shops. Leave through the Mahmutpaşa gate and follow the crowds downhill through the old market streets to the Spice Bazaar for Turkish delight, coffee and spices. Haggling is normal in the Grand Bazaar, less so in the Spice Bazaar.

📷 Another Believer · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Sunset: Süleymaniye Mosque

Walk 10 minutes uphill from the Spice Bazaar to Sinan’s masterpiece. It is calmer than the Blue Mosque, free to enter, and the garden terrace behind it looks out over the Golden Horn and Galata at sunset. Dinner afterwards: walk back over Galata Bridge to Karaköy, or see our food guide for Galata.

📷 Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Day 2 — Galata, Beyoğlu and the Bosphorus

A slower day on foot in the neighbourhood around you, ending on the water. Pera Museum and Dolmabahçe Palace are closed on Mondays.

Morning: breakfast, then Galata Tower

Start with a long Turkish breakfast in Galata or Karaköy. The tower opens early and the queue is shortest in the first hour (about €30 in 2026, covered by the Museum Pass). If you would rather skip it, many rooftop cafés around the tower give you almost the same view with a coffee. Then walk down the curving Camondo Stairs to Bankalar Caddesi and SALT Galata, a free cultural centre in a former Ottoman bank.

📷 Melih1969 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Midday: İstiklal Avenue up to Taksim

Walk up from Tünel past the red nostalgic tram, the Church of St. Anthony, Çiçek Pasajı and the side streets of passages and bookshops. Pera Museum, a short detour, has Osman Hamdi Bey’s famous “The Tortoise Trainer”. Lunch on the avenue or in Asmalımescit.

📷 Alexey Komarov · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Afternoon: the Bosphorus by boat

Take the funicular from Taksim down to Kabataş. Visit Dolmabahçe Palace (closed Mondays), or go straight onto the water: the public short Bosphorus tour (about 2 hours) leaves from Eminönü and Ortaköy in the afternoon, or book a sunset cruise. Our Bosphorus cruise guide compares every option.

📷 Tarikkaanmuslu · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Evening: Ortaköy or a meyhane in Beyoğlu

Watch the lights come on over the bridge from the waterfront mosque in Ortaköy and try a kumpir (stuffed baked potato) from the stalls. Or head back to Beyoğlu for a long dinner of meze and grilled fish.

📷 Ank Kumar · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Day 3 — The Asian side by ferry

The ferry across is part of the fun: 20 minutes, a glass of tea on board and the whole skyline behind you, for the price of a bus ticket with your İstanbulkart.

Morning: Kadıköy market

Take the ferry from Karaköy or Eminönü to Kadıköy. Walk through the market streets behind the pier: fishmongers, pickle shops, cheese counters, coffee roasters and some of the best cheap eateries in the city. Have a second breakfast or an early lunch here.

📷 Matti Blume · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Midday: a walk along Moda

Walk 15 minutes south to Moda: quiet streets, ice cream, and a seaside park where locals sit on the rocks with tea. It is the calmest hour of your trip — enjoy it.

Afternoon: Üsküdar and the Maiden’s Tower

Take a short bus or taxi north to Üsküdar, with its waterfront Mihrimah Sultan Mosque and old wooden houses. Small boats run out to the restored Maiden’s Tower (about €27 plus €5 for the boat in 2026); it is just as beautiful from the shore.

📷 Matti Blume · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Sunset: Salacak, then the night ferry back

Walk along the Salacak shore facing the old city: as the sun drops behind Topkapı, Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, the whole peninsula turns gold. Then take the ferry from Üsküdar back to Eminönü or Karaköy — the lit-up skyline from the water is the best goodbye to Istanbul.

Got a fourth day?

Fener and Balat

Colourful houses, steep cobbled streets, antique shops and the Greek school on the hill, along the Golden Horn. Go in the morning; combine it with a cable car ride up to the Pierre Loti café in Eyüp.

📷 Antoloji · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The full Bosphorus cruise to Anadolu Kavağı

The public ferry leaves Eminönü in the morning and sails all the way to the fishing village near the Black Sea, with about 2.5 hours there for a fish lunch and the climb to Yoros Castle.

📷 Javier Losa · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The Princes’ Islands

A car-free day out: ferries from Kabataş or Bostancı reach Büyükada in 1–1.5 hours. Rent a bike or walk among the old wooden mansions and swim in summer.

On the map

Tap a pin for directions. Gold pins are our apartments.

Day 1Day 2Day 3Day 4 ideasOur apartments

Good to know

Closed days: Topkapı Palace on Tuesdays, Dolmabahçe Palace and Pera Museum on Mondays, the Grand Bazaar on Sundays and on the first days of religious holidays.
Mosques close to visitors for about 30 minutes at each prayer time and longer on Fridays around midday. Carry a scarf and avoid shorts.
The Museum Pass Istanbul covers Topkapı and Galata Tower, but not Hagia Sophia or the Basilica Cistern.
One İstanbulkart works for the tram, metro, funicular, buses and ferries, and can be tapped for several people.
Ticket prices are 2026 figures and change often; check the official sites before you go.