Istanbul is one big cosmopolitan city that lies both in Asia and Europe with 2 bridges connecting the land on both continents. You have endless restaurants from which to choose,; I tried to pick great restaurants from both sides that won’t hurt your budget. And don’t be intimidated about the size of the city. Without traffic, crossing sides won’t take more than 15 minutes. However I recommend that you take the ferry during rush hour. I’ve given the prices in Turkish Lira (TL; in March 2012 1TL = £0.35/$0.56/0.42Euro.

Goze, Sariyer, European Side

Located by the sea, on the European side, Sariyer is full of restaurants with great views. However only Goze offers a gorgeous view, a rich brunch menu at only 25 TL, creatively decorated tables, glass walls, elevated entrance and 2 patios.

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Photo via sariyerilcesi.com

Turks are big on brunches at the weekends, and you can rarely beat Goze’s price and location. The open-buffet brunch menu is varied with unlimited tea, though you might have to pay extra for coffee or orange juice. Across from the restaurant there is a patisserie of the same name which specializes in desserts, so it might be a good place to finish your brunch on a sweet note.

Ciya, Kadikoy, Asian Side

Ciya, a favorite of both the tourists and locals, is a unique restaurant as its 3 branches are all located in the same fish market district of Kadikoy, and all of these branches specialize in different things. One offers traditional & authentic Turkish dishes from all around Turkey, the second one has kebab and “lahmacun” as well as a selection of traditional dishes and the last one offers dishes cooked with olive oil only.The traditional dishes are healthy and delicious, and many of them can be feasted on even if you are on a diet. I should know, my uncle is allowed to eat there by his dietician. The fact that “olive oil” dishes don’t include meat means Ciya is also a heaven for vegetarians.

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Photo via ciya.com.tr

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Orient Express and Sirkeci Gare are two tightly connected key words. Although the famous luxury train no longer runs all the way to Istanbul, a visit to the station is a worthwhile trip down memory lane.

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Sirkeci Gare's main front

The pink brick, white stucco and black wrought iron structure is a prime example for late 19th century Ottoman architecture which sought to combine oriental elements with western modern style. The architect of the train station was a German, August Jachmund, who had come to Istanbul to study Ottoman architecture and ended up lecturing at Istanbul’s polytechnic. The building was completed in 1888 and inaugurated in 1890.

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Side entrance of the train station

Approach the station from the street car stop of the same name and admire a gleaming steam engine which is exhibited at the left of the side entrance. The exterior is beautifully maintained whereas the interior serves as a modern day train station which connects Istanbul to the Balkans and Greece.

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Steam engine outside Sirkeci Gare

However, 19^th century nostalgia remains very much in evidence. First is the Orient Express restaurant which serves excellent food and is full of photographs and memorabilia of times gone past.

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Orient Express restaurant

Next to it is a tiny museum. Admission is free and it’s only one room, but you can admire a lot of exhibits connected to the Orient Express, like old log books, the reconstruction of a luxury dining car, a conductor’s uniform, even cutlery and crockery which was used on the famous train. The charm of this museum lies in its small size and the fact that, short of touching, you can get really close to the exhibits and study them at your leisure.

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Memorabilia in the Railway Museum

Also within the station is a community hall. For some reason this is the venue where several nights a week the Sufi lodge of Istanbul arranges a performance of the whirling dervishes, the best I have seen outside of the festival in Konya because the performers are Sufi who have trained many years to achieve perfection. Tickets to the event can be obtained from many shops and kiosks in the vicinity or along Divan Yoglu.

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Whirling Dervishes performing in a hall in Sirkeci gare

Leave by the front entrance, cross the square and take a last look at the graceful structure which is an important historical landmark of Istanbul before crossing the Galata Bridge to sample some fish buns and perhaps proceeding to visit the Galata Tower.

More Istanbul Tips

You’ll find lot of ideas for things to do in Istanbul in our Best of Istanbul Tips.

Where to Stay in Istanbul

To help you find a hotel for your stay in the city, you can check out our round-up of the Best Places to Stay in Istanbul, which includes a range of hotels from budget through to luxury.

Click here for the lowest prices on Istanbul hotels

Let’s be honest. What’s a holiday without a bit of local shopping. Browsing the markets, looking out for souvenirs, even buying necessities just to find out which brands such and such country has and how the locals do things is fun and educational at the same time.

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Who can resist to try on this antique kaftan?

Thinking about Istanbul, such world famous places like Grand Bazaar, Spice Bazaar and maybe even Arasta Bazaar immediately spring to mind and certainly should be on the must-see list, but I love to find shops which are not necessarily found in guide books but offer special or particularly nice things.

I’d like to share two Istanbul shopping tips with you; one is a small boutique which specialises in antique and modern traditional Turkish clothes, embroideries, pillow cases and small artefacts and the other is a shopping mall which is an architectural work of art in its own right.

The boutique is located in the basement of the Muhlisbey Hotel in Tevkifhane Street  in Sultanahmed and belongs to the lady who owns the hotel too.  The hotel has only a few rooms and is housed in a restored wooden building, very romantic and a nice place to stay.

The owner is extremely knowledgeable about Turkish history as far as textiles are concerned and entering her tiny shop, you feel like you have walked into a museum, but one where you can actually touch the exhibits, try them on and, bank balance allowing, buy them. She is an avid collector of embroidered antique caftans and wedding gowns, but these precious things cost a bundle.

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Enjoying a coffee after my chat

For the more modest purse though, you can find hand embroidered bed spreads, pillow cases, towels and other linens as well as new kaftans, shawls and scarves. She also had lamps, picture fames and other small artefacts.

Even if you don’t buy anything, it doesn’t matter, you are made extremely welcome, can sit on one of the fabulous sofas, drink a Turkish coffee or tea and discuss the art and history of textiles .And she told me about the Sadberk Hanim Museum, started by a Turkish lady of that name who shared the same love for the exceptional art of Turkish clothes and textiles. The museum is to be found heading north on the European side of the Bosporus, turning left towards a white waterside mansion shortly before reaching Sanyer’s town center.

I like to visit a shopping mall, because that’s a place where the locals go and you can learn about their culture by seeing what’s on offer and what they buy. Istanbul has several huge shopping malls, some of them award winning. My favourite is the Kanyon Mall located in Istanbul’s Levent district and so named because the mall was designed to resemble a glass, steel and concrete canyon. The mall is reached by taking the Metro to the Levent stop and then simply following the signs to the entrance.

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Cafe in Kanyon Mall Levent

It’s truly a work of art, because the 30 tiered floors are soaring up into the sky, but in such a graceful way that you can only look in admiration. 4 floors are dedicated to shops, the rest are offices. Water, plants and lots and lots a flowers intersperse the walk ways. The shops have a lot of floor space which makes browsing around a pleasure because  you never get pushed or jostled. Not only do you find branches of Harvey Nichols and other international brands but also Turkish designers, shops offering hand made soaps and lemon cologne and of course, an enormous variety of Turkish Delight. You find sit down restaurants with the freshest seafood on the menu as well as romantic cafes or stalls for a quick sandwich.

So if you’re looking for two unique experiences, take my Istanbul shopping tips and head for the boutique at the Muhlisbey Hotel and/or Kanyon Mall.

More Istanbul Tips

You’ll find lot of ideas for things to do in Istanbul in our Best of Istanbul Tips.

Where to Stay in Istanbul

To help you find a hotel for your stay in the city, you can check out our round-up of the Best Places to Stay in Istanbul, which includes a range of hotels from budget through to luxury.

Click here for the lowest prices on Istanbul hotels