Turkey

5 Days in Istanbul

On December 23, 2018
By Shruti
Comments Off on 5 Days in Istanbul

5 days in Istanbul itinerary covers top 10 things to do in Istanbul with kids. Although if you want to soak well into the culture and experience all that this 8,000 year-old city has to offer, you may want to spend more time. Being a meeting point between Europe and Asia which are strung together with two bridges over the Bosphorus Strait, Istanbul is culture, history, food, shopping and beauty all in one.

Family travel is all about balance and like all the itineraries you will find on this blog, this one also offers something for everyone by covering the top 10 things to do in Istanbul with kids.

Day 1: Land in Istanbul, rest if you need to and explore the city on foot
This 5 days in Istanbul itineary starts with a leisure day so that you can adjust depending on when your flight is landing in Istanbul. If its morning, its almost like a buffer day for you and if its night, you can get some extra rest before moving to see the top 10 things to do in Istanbul with kids, especially if traveling with young kids.

Day 2: Sultanahmet Historical District and key monuments

I have mentioned the monuments in the order of our visit. I would recommend visiting them in this order as this way you get the best of all these monuments without having to wait in long queues. Also I recommend buying a museum pass as even if you wish to visit only 3 places out of all the ones covered there, you will be money neutral and since it gives fast access to all the places, you will be much better off in terms of time and energy, especially if traveling with kids.

Here I have covered these places in brief and to know more, you can take a look at the post dedicated to key historical monuments in Istanbul.

Hagia Sophia (1.5hrs)
An epitome of Byzantine architecture, Hagia Sophia was an architectural marvel of its time. A basilica or church which was later converted into a mosque and now a museum has preserved the art from all its periods.
It is covered in the museum pass which provides you fast track access – a boon as during the tourist season, Hagia Sophia has serpentine queues for access.
Read more about how to reach here and what to see in this post on architectural marvels of Istanbul.

Hagia Sophia
Blue Mosque (1hr)
This mosque gets its name from over 20,000 blue Iznik art tiles that line its walls and ceilings. One of the few mosques in the world to have 6 minarets, there is a folklore even around that. It’s rumored that this was a misunderstanding as the Sultan had instructed his architect to make gold (altin) minarets which his architect understood as six (alti) minarets.The Harem Mosque in Mecca which is the holiest in the world also has six minarets which caused controversy to the extent that Sultan Ahmet I had to send his architect to Mecca to add a seventh minaret to the Harem Mosque.

Blue Mosque
Basilica Cistern (1hr)
This is the largest of the many cisterns – water storage areas, that lie underground the city of Istanbul. Known as the basilica cistern as it served as the main source of water for the Basilica or the Hagia Sophia in the middle ages.
Look for the Medusa head pillar and weeping pillar when visiting.

Basilica Cistern
Topkapi Palace (1.5hrs)
One of Istanbul’s most popular attractions with the tourists, it is a stunning example of ottoman 15^th century palace. Being the older palace, while it is not comparable to Dolmabahce Palace in terms of grandeur, it has its own old world charm. Make sure to visit the Harem quarters and the jewel room (if open).

Topkapi Palace
Milyon Tasi (a walk around the pillar, 15 minutes) – The Milion was a monument erected in the early 4th century AD in Constantinople representing the Byzantine zero-mile marker, the starting-place for the measurement of distances for all the roads leading to the cities of the Byzantine Empire. It thus served the same function as the Golden Milestone (Milliarium Aureum) in Rome’s forum.
So when you walk around the Milyon Tasi monument, you will find the distances to the major cities of the world written on each wooden plank

Distances to some of the major cities

Milyon Tasi
Sultanahmet Square and Fountains:
Once you are done with all the key attractions in this area, spend some time relishing the dondurma, chestnuts and corn at the Sultanahmet Square, next to the fountains. There are many benches and this offers a great family photo opportunity with all the key attractions in the backdrop.

Fountain and Sultan Ahmet square
Cemberlitas Hamami (1.5hrs):
If you are interested in a traditional Turkish bath or hamam, opt for this one. This is one of the oldest hamams in this region and one of the best value for money. You may have to alternate if you are with kids. Also the hamam opens late (7am) for women. You need to plan for atleast a good 1.5hr if you really want to enjoy the hamam. If you prefer leaving for sightseeing by 9am, mornings may be difficult for mommies unless the daddies can completely take care of the babies. Also, these hamams open till very late in the night (10:30pm or so) and hence going in the night after all the sore feet is an even better idea.

The special bath soap from Cemberlitas Hamami

Day 3
After covering bulk of historical sites of the 5 days in Istanbul itinerary, by Day 2, the next three days are more pampering, experiencing, eating and chilling.

Grand Bazaar (3hrs):
If there is one place you can buy all of Turkey’s crafts and souvenirs under one roof, it is Grand Bazaar. It is possible to feel lost when exploring the many bylanes and thousands of shops in here, but it is just as much fun because of the culture and history that comes alive at this place. It has many gates and do note the gate where you enter from and if needed you will be exiting from.
Keep an eye on your belongings in general in Turkey, and specifically in Grand Bazaar.
Connected to Grand Bazaar, on one side, is the Mehmud Pasha market which is where locals buy their bed and bath linen and the wedding gowns from. You will see a lot of shops selling lace doilies sets, bed cover sets and other things made from beautiful laces.
Egyptian Spice Bazaar (optional) (1hr):
This is the next stop for the day. It is at walking distance from Eminonu tram station. You can just take the tram from in front of Grand Bazaar and get down at Eminonu from where it’s a short walk.
Lunch@ Alpek Terrace Restaurant:
Next door to Eminonu station is the Alpek Terrace restaurant serving Italian cuisine in the backdrop of Bosphorous and the Galata bridge and tower. The place is family friendly, the food is alright and the views are lovely.
Chora Church (1hr):
The third museum absolutely worth visiting which is covered in the museum pass. If there is one place which is extremely high value for money in terms of the density of 14^th century still intact byzantine gold mosaics in one single building, it is this. Covered in the museum pass, make sure to reach here on time as it closes by 4pm.

Density of mosaics in Chora Church

Day 4

Galata Bridge and Galata Tower (1.5hrs)
You can take a tram to Karakoy station and then walk to Galata Tower. It is a bit of a steep walk and the street is not exactly stroller friendly. Visiting it first thing in the morning also ensures the kids are not already tired from all the sightseeing and will happily walk.
1. Galata Bridge: One of the few multistory bridges in the world with shops and restaurants on the lower story. This bridge spanning the Golden Horn, is a symbolic bridge between the site of religious institutions and imperial palace – Sultanahmet and the non-Muslim dominated districts of Beyoglu and Galata.
  This bridge connecting Eminonu and Karakoy is an extremely busy bridge and more pleasant to walk on after the sunset.
2. Galata Tower
  The 1500 year old medieval stone tower offers some of the most scintillating views of the city, golden horn and the bosphorous. There is a viewing terrace on top of the tower and a 3D helicopter ride experience which I recommend, definitely if you’re traveling with kids and otherwise too.
  The tower looks exactly like the one from Rapunzel (Tangled) movie and for my daughter that was the biggest attraction.
  The tower is open from 9am – 8 pm daily and during the high tourist season the queues can be long. Plan and try to reach here at around 9am to beat the crowd.
  The place is not stroller friendly and in fact you will have to park the stroller at the viewing gallery floor, come down for the 3D helicopter experience. At the height of tourist season, lines can be long, so plan to visit early.
  
  view of Galata Bridge and tower
Dolmabahce Palace (1.5 – 2hrs)
Dolmabahçe Palace on the European shore of the Bosphorus in Istanbul is an epitome of magnificence and grandeur of the Ottoman Empire’s last years of rule. One of the grandest Ottoman imperial palaces, it took 13 years to build and was completed in 1856. Grand is still an understatement for this palace which has 285 rooms, 43 salons, Bohemian glass chandeliers weighing in tons and a Bosphorus shore façade, view from which is a sight to behold. Read more about it in my post on Architectural marvels of Istanbul.

One of the ruby chandeliors

Dolmabahce Palace
Beyoglu neighborhood, Taksim Square and Istiklal Cadessi (2hrs)
1. Beyoglu Neighborhood and
  This is the famous half European and half Asian neighborhood which is also the reason behind calling Istanbul as Paris of the East. Looking for nightlife and some of the famous restaurants – you will find it all here.
2. Istiklal Cadessi
  Translating to the Independence Avenue is Istanbul’s most popular pedestrian only shopping and snacking street. The only vehicle you will find here is the 19^th century tramcars rattling in their old world charm on a street lined with boutiques, cafes, restaurants, commercial and residential buildings.
  In terms of the shops, Singapore I doubt you will find anything exciting about this street, if you have been to New York, London, Paris or Singapore. It’s a good walk nevertheless and some street performance from local bands is sure to keep you entertained.
3. Taksim Square
  Taksim (a water storage unit from the 18^th century) lends its name to this square which has a historical significance in Turkey. In the center you will find an independence monument commemorating the Turkish leader and statesman – Kemal Ataturk.
  
  Taksim Republic Monument

Day 5: Prince’s Island Cruise

There are 4 islands in Prince’s islands – the biggest and the most famous ones being Buyukada, Heybeliada, Burgazada and Kinaliada. Adalar in Turkish translates to Islands. These islands are basically an archipelago off the coast of Istanbul in the Sea of Marmara.
Buyukada is the most touristy island and when doing island hopping, Heybeliada comes next. From the get go, Buyukada seems really commercialized and the whole fresh air, away from the city takes a hit when you land there by the ferry. Once in the interior, it starts living upto its image again.

How to reach – Logistics, Options, Time

There are 2 options – the standard ferry and the IDO ferryboat. These are both government ferries. IDO are supposed to be faster, but actually the IDO ferryboat leaving at 8am from Besiktas is the only one that takes 1hr while the boats at all other time of the day take 1.5hrs which is almost same as the standard government ferry.

Eminonu and Besiktas are the 2 places ferry boats leave from and both these are directly connected with the tram.

If 8am is too early as most of the hotels start serving the breakfast from 7am, you can choose to leave from Eminonu at 10am in the standard ferry boat to reach Buyukada at 11:30, giving you sufficient time in the Prince’s Islands. Accordingly you can plan for a 5pm departure from Buyukada and 6:40pm arrival in Eminonu, giving you enough time for a good dinner and a good night’s sleep before flying out of Istanbul the next day.

Timetable – You will find the timetable with departure and arrival times of the standard government ferry here. For the IDO, you may have to see if it is available online as when we visited they only had a paper schedule.

http://en.sehirhatlari.istanbul/en/timetable/bostanci-adalar-370.html

Do note, that IDO boats get cancelled without prior notice so make sure you start early so you have enough time to catch the next one in case this happens.

What to do – Sightseeing and Activities

Fayton (Horse Cart) ride for a round trip on the Island
A little ahead from the boarding and disembarking point of the ferry, you will find people queueing up for a horse cart ride. It’s a must do in Price’s Islands especially if you are not hiring a bicycle with kids.
Aya Yorgi Church or Church of St. George
It’s a 20 – 25minute walk from Birlik Meydani – the halfway point of the fayton ride, where you have small trinkets shops and local café serving some basic snacks.
The church is a long steep walk uphill and you can take a call whether your kids will be up for it. Younger ones may find it difficult.
This church atop a hill, was earlier a monastery since the Byzantine times and its visitors include people from all religions and ethnicities
Turkish Restaurant next to the church
Next to this church, a restaurant run by a local Turkish family provides for some excellent views. I can’t say much about the food as we did not eat here but is known amongst the locals as a place for good seafood and mezze.
Swimming in the sea

Small cafe and hammocks at the feyton resting point

Buyukada – Feyton journey

Mosaic on the port building of Heybeliada

Colorful beach umbrellas of Heybeliada

Light House view from ferry