Insight Guides: Explore Istanbul

Insight Guides

• Publisher: Insight
• Topic: Personal Development
• eBook ISBN:
  9781780057057
• Subtopic: Travel

Explore Istanbul is a brand new guide and the ideal pocket companion for your trip: a full-colour guide containing easy-to-follow routes that will take you from the awe-inspiring Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque to contemporary art at Istanbul Modern or the hagglers' paradise that is the Grand Bazaar. The gateway to Asia, Istanbul is Europe's largest and most exotic city, where remnants of the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires are fused with the dynamic buzz of a modern-day metropolis. Introductory chapters on Istanbul's cuisine, shopping opportunities and Turkish baths set the routes in context and feature Insight's trademark cultural coverage. The walks through the city are full of variety and each one guides you through an interesting neighbourhood with clear directions, a detailed map and suggestions for reliable, authentic cafs and restaurants where you can take a break and sample the local cuisine. All routes are also plotted on the useful pull-out map, and evocative photography captures the atmosphere of this exciting city. Whether you are new to the city or a repeat visitor, and however long your stay, Explore Istanbul will help you discover the very best of what's on offer.

How To Use This E-Book

This Explore Guide has been produced by the editors of Insight Guides, whose books have set the standard for visual travel guides since 1970. With ­top-­quality photography and authoritative recommendations, these guidebooks bring you the very best routes and itineraries in the world’s most exciting destinations.

Best Routes

The routes in this book provide something to suit all budgets, tastes and trip lengths. As well as covering the destination’s many classic attractions, the itineraries track lesser-known sights, and there are also ex­cursions for those who want to extend their visit outside the city. The routes embrace a range of interests, so whether you are an art fan, a gourmet, a history buff or have kids to entertain, you will find an option to suit.

We recommend reading the whole of a route before setting out. This should help you to familiarise yourself with it and enable you to plan where to stop for refreshments – options are shown in the ‘Food and Drink’ box at the end of each tour.

Introduction

The routes are set in context by this introductory section, giving an overview of t...

Table of contents

• How To Use This E-Book
• Recommended Routes For...
• Explore Istanbul
• Food and Drink
• Shopping
• Entertainment
• Turkish Baths
• History: Key Dates
• Sultanahmet:Around Hagia Sophia
• Sultanahmet: Around the Blue Mosque
• Topkapi Palace
• The Grand Bazaar
• Eminönü
• Galata, Tünel & Pera
• Taksİm to Tophane
• Dolmabahçe to Ortaköy
• Bosphorus Villages
• The Imperial Mosques
• Old City Walls
• Fener and Balat
• Eyüp
• Üsküdar
• Bosphorus Boat Trip
• The Princes’ Islands
• Accommodation
• Restaurants
• Nightlife
• A-Z
• Language
• Books and Film