Category: Travel

By Clara Bosonetto

Visit Istanbul, Turkey, one of three ways: on a budget, spending a bit more, or when the getaway calls for a splurge.

Trip tips: When dialing direct, use the prefix 011 followed by 90 (country code) + 212 (city code) + phone number shown below. For practical visitor information, visit .

Getting there: Rates from $915 round-trip on departures through March 10; from $935 April 1-May 16; valid on Delta (one Europe connection required; stopovers not permitted).

BUDGET

Stay: Hotel Lausos is located close to St. Sophia, Blue Mosque, the Basilica Cistern, the Topkapi Palace and the Grand Bazaar. Ottoman-style guest rooms at this pretty boutique hotel are from $108, including a buffet breakfast. Klodfarer Caddesi 33, Sultanahmet (Old City), 638-0707, www.hotellausos.com.

Eat: Tiny Kara Mehmet Kebap Salonu is in the Grand Bazaar (opened in 1461) inside a courtyard on a caravanserai (shelters for travelers, goods and animals along ancient caravan routes). This quiet, out-of-the-way spot gives a different prospective to this remarkable market of more than 50 streets and 3,000 shops (city and Bazaar maps at www.istanbultrails.com). After a kabob (under $5), try a dessert of kenafeh (shredded phyllo dough and cheese pastry soaked in sugar). Ic Cebeci Han 92, 527-0533.

Experience: Orientate on arrival with an open double-decker bus city tour. Get off at any of 40 stops to look around and then board another bus to continue the tour (buses operate every 60 minutes); about $27; www.hop-on-hop-off-bus.com. Check out the treasury of jewels and the elaborate harem chambers at Topkapı Palace, the palace of sultans from 15th to 19th century; about $14 ($8.50 more with harem entry). Sarayici, 522-4422, www.topkapisarayi.gov.tr. Istanbul’s official sea bus and fast ferry company offers Bosphorus cruise from Eminonu to the Black Sea, and back. The ferry makes five stops on the six-hour cruise. Get off at the final stop, Anadolu Kavagi, for a fresh fish lunch or a visit to the hilltop Yoros Castle. Audio guides explain more than 70 points of interest along the way; twice daily service (Bogaz Hatti dock No. 3 near Galata Bridge); about $14. www.sehirhatlari.com.tr/en.

MODERATE

Stay: Located in the heart of the Old City, Hotel Amira offers spacious accommodations with signature bedding and hand-painted ceilings. On-site are a rooftop lounge, a library and a wellness area with a gym, Jacuzzi, sauna and massage service (fees apply). Room rates, including buffet breakfast and afternoon tea buffet, start from $130. Kucuk Ayasofya Mah. Mustafapasa Sok 79, 516-1640, www.hotelamira.com.

Eat: Take a sea bus (fast ferry) to Princes’ Islands, a lovely traffic-free archipelago of nine small islands just off Istanbul’s Asian shore. Horse-drawn carriages and bicycles are the means of transportation. Ferries depart from Kabatas (easy to get to from Old City via tram) and take about 35 minutes to Heybeliada (about $10 round-trip); www.sehirhatlari.com.tr/en. Head to Heyamola Ada Lokantasi (just opposite the ferry) for a cold meze lunch (small dishes about $6) or hot meze from a vast tray selection such as grilled octopus ($10-$12) — or ask for a tasting selection. Heybeliada, (0216) 351-1111.

Experience: Visit Istanbul’s Spice Bazaar, built in 1663 to accommodate camel caravans on the Silk Road. Best buys are loose cumin, curry, saffron, dried fruits and nuts and specialties such as caviar, Turkish Delight and coffee. Closed Sundays; Marpuccular Caddesi 7. Enjoy the authentic atmosphere and the famous whirling dervishes (the dance is a form of prayer) at the Galata Dervish House, the oldest city lodge established in 1491. Witness ceremonies (semas) daily at 7:30 p.m.; about $25; closed Mondays. Galip Dede Caddesi 15, 245-4141, www.rumimevlevi.com.

SPLURGE

Stay: Hotel Sultania is located on a quiet street, close to many local museums, restaurants and shops. It’s just a one-minute walk to the Gulhane Tram, which gives easy access to many corners of the city. On-site are two restaurants and an indoor swimming pool. Deluxe double room rates from $222 with buffet breakfast. Ebusuud Cad. Mehmet Murat Sokak 4, 528-0806, www.hotelsultania.com.

Eat: Akdeniz Hatay Sofrasi prepares a number of traditional Syrian and Turkish dishes in a wood-fired oven and offers a range of kabobs, stews, soups, salads and tarts. House specialties, chicken or lamb stuffed with rice and slow roasted in a salt crust needs to be ordered at least 2.5 hours in advance. During presentation, the succulent dish is set on fire before the crust is broken; $12-$40. Ahmediye Caddesi 44, 444-7247, www.akdenizhataysofrasi.com.tr.

Experience: Immerse yourself in an authentic city experience with “The Other Tour” — a 14-hour journey that includes a private Bosphorus cruise, walks through varied neighborhoods (some with the highest populations of billionaires in the world), a visit to young students at a local school, a home-cooked lunch at a Turkish household, a trip to local markets and a Turkish Bath experience with massage and scrub. Offered Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays; 200 euros cash per person (U.S. dollars accepted, about $270). Contact Fethi Karatas, (505) 884-0495, www.theothertour.com.

Clara Bosonetto is a retired travel consultant.

via A weekend in … Istanbul, Turkey | www.ajc.com.

Dervishes whirl, muezzins duel from minarets, and continents are crossed multiple times in a day. Home to millennia-old monuments and cutting-edge art galleries (sometimes in the same block), it’s a destination where eating, drinking and dancing are local priorities, and where everyone is welcome to join the party.

Istanbul’s Top Sights

Aya Sofya

There are many important monuments in Istanbul, but this venerable structure – commissioned by Emperor Justinian and consecrated as a church in 537, converted to a mosque by Mehmet the Conqueror in 1453 and declared a museum by Ataturk in 1934 – surpasses the rest due to its rich history, religious importance and extraordinary beauty.

Known as Hagia Sophia in Greek, Sancta Sophia in Latin and the Church of the Divine Wisdom in English, it is commonly acknowledged as one of the world’s greatest buildings.

Topkapi Palace

Topkapi is the subject of more colourful stories than most of the world’s museums put together. Libidinous sultans, ambitious courtiers, beautiful concubines and scheming eunuchs lived and worked here between the 15th and 19th centuries when the palace was the seat of the Ottoman sultanate.

Visiting its opulent pavilions, landscaped courtyards, jewel-filled Treasury and sprawling Harem gives a fascinating glimpse into the lives of the sultans and their families, as well as offering an insight into the history and customs of a once mighty empire.

The Bosphorus

This mighty strait runs from the Galata Bridge all the way to the Black Sea (Karadeniz), 32km north. Over the centuries it has been crossed by conquering armies, intrepid merchants, fishermen and many an adventurous spirit.

To follow in their wake, hop aboard the 90-minute ferry cruise that travels between Eminonu and Anadolu Kavagi, marvelling at the magnifi cent yalis (waterside timber mansions), ornate Ottoman palaces and massive stone fortresses that line the Asian and European shores (to your right and left, respectively, as you sail down the strait).

Grand Bazaar

When Mehmet the Conqueror laid the Kapali Carsi’s foundation stone in 1455, he gave the imperial imprimatur to a local mercantile tradition that has remained strong ever since.

Located in the centre of the Old City, this atmospheric covered market is the heart of Istanbul in much more than a geographic sense – artisans learn their trade here, businessmen negotiate important deals and tourists make a valuable contribution to the local economy (sometimes, it must be said, against their better judgments ).

Kariye Museum (Chora Church)

Istanbul has more than its fair share of Byzantine monuments, but few are as drop-dead gorgeous as this mosaic-laden church. Nestled in the shadow of Theodosius II’s monumental land walls and now a museum overseen by the Aya Sofya curators, it receives a fraction of the visitor numbers that its big sister attracts but offers an equally fascinating insight into Byzantine art. Virtually all of the interior decoration – the famous mosaics and the less renowned but equally striking frescoes – dates from 1312.

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This is an edited extract from Lonely Planet Pocket Istanbul (4th Edition) by Virginia Maxwell, © Lonely Planet 2013. In stores now, RRP: NZ$22.99.

via Travel lonely planet’s istanbul highlights | Stuff.co.nz.