How to Spend 24 Hours in Istanbul | 2025 Travel Guide

Are you planning a trip to Istanbul? Then you have come to the right place. We're Jess and Miles and whether you are looking for help with where to stay, how to get around, what to eat, or what to do while you're here, we have you covered. Our goal is to help you get ready for your trip to Istanbul no matter what stage of the planning process you're in. A couple years ago we made a video about the best way to spend 24 hours here in Istanbul. Well a lot has changed since then so we figured it was time for an update. In today's video we're going to share our ideal one-day itinerary here in Istanbul and break down everything you need to know along the way. How to get around, what it will cost, and essentially how to make the most out of your one day here. A lot of what we'll be doing today is pretty similar to our last 24-hour video from two years ago because many of our recommendations still stand up today. But we're going to slide in a few new recommendations along the way so even if you've seen our older video be sure to stick around and I'm sure you'll learn something new. Also just to make things interesting, in a recent video we suggested that on a mid-range budget you should be able to explore the city for an average of 100 US dollars per day, not including your accommodations. So today we're going to put that to the test and see how much we spend from start to finish. The fountain's on. How about that? So many times we come here too early for the fountain and there it is. We're starting the morning here in Sultanahmet Square which is one of the most historic places in all of Istanbul. It's home to some of the city's most iconic landmarks. We've got Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, and Basilica Cistern all right here and Topkapi Palace is just behind Hagia Sophia along with Hagia Irene and the archaeological museums. Chances are even if you're only visiting Istanbul for just a few hours you're going to find yourself right here. As far as how you get here, obviously that is going to depend on where you stay, but if you're staying in the Sultanahmet area it's a pretty safe bet that you'll be able to walk here. If you're not staying in Sultanahmet, the T1 tram has a stop just right here so if you're staying on the northern peninsula in Karaköy or Galata for example, you can easily just hop on the T1 and make your way right here. Honestly, even if you're just staying in Serkeci, the walk from there is not far but it is a bit uphill so taking the T1 might be a good option from there as well. It's around 7 30 now and even though the main sites don't open for a little while we highly recommend getting here early so you can enjoy the square while it's nice and quiet. First up today is Hagia Sophia. So Hagia Sofia costs 25 euros per person to enter and at least now during the summer months it opens at 8 a.m. This is very helpful if you're here during this time and you're willing to get up early because it is really quiet. It's mid-August currently, we are here just before 8 a.m. and there's hardly anybody in this line, but the girl I talked to just said that it will change back to 9 a.m. in the fall. So anyways, maybe once you get to just come over here, check to see what time Hagia Sophia opens. If it opens at 8 you can come here first, but if it doesn't open until 9 you could consider going into the Blue Mosque first because that opens at 8 30. Also, depending on what time of the day you visit, the line for Hagia Sophia can get really long. This is the most popular site in the city after all. So you do have the option of getting a skip the line ticket. The skip the line tickets only cost a few dollars more than if you were to get the ticket here on site, and it can save you a lot of time depending on when you're here. Right now at 8 a.m. it's honestly not worth it because there's only about 20 people in line, but if you get here at 10 or 11 o'clock in the morning, this line can get really long. If you do get a skip the line ticket, you can just hop in the security line and go right in. Just for reference, this is the line for tickets and this is the security line. That guy must have a skip the line ticket. He is prepared. It's 8.01. Hagia Sophia is open. So I had seen online in a couple of different places that Hagia Sophia was open at 8 a.m., which was news to me, but I also saw in a lot of other places it was still showing 9 a.m. So we really didn't know what to expect when we came here this morning. If you ask ChatTPT, they might actually tell you it's free to enter. So a lot of misinformation online. Also, now that they're charging 25 euros a person to enter Hagia Sophia, it looks like they're doing some much-needed renovations. It is very much under construction. There's a nice tall crane and quite a lot of scaffolding here. It was not this way last time we were here. Okay, so at this point we have been inside Hagia Sophia at least a half a dozen times, including three different times since they started charging entry. So we're not actually going to go inside today. We're just going to walk you through what you can expect and don't worry because we're still going to include the 50 euros as a part of our budget for the day. Hagia Sophia is an active mosque, so be sure you dress appropriately and your ticket will get you access to the mezzanine level where you can see some beautiful Byzantine mosaics and look down to the prayer sanctuary below. Also, they have a free audio guide that you can access on your cell phone, so be sure to bring headphones if you're interested. Otherwise, you can get them here for 5 euros. I don't know if that is renting them or buying them. It just says 5 euros. We always just bring our own. It really is an impressive building with incredible history going back over 1,500 years and even though we are burning more than half of our budget on this one site, I really can't imagine coming to Istanbul and not going inside Hagia Sophia. You can expect to spend about 45 minutes to an hour inside, so you should be done right around 9 a.m with Hagia Sophia if you get here right at 8. Also, there really isn't a need to get here much before it opens at 8 a.m. There was a line of about 20 people but now it's like 8.05 and there's no line. I checked with a third source about the summer hours and she said June-ish to October-ish. Super helpful. Do with that what you will. Alright, next up is the Blue Mosque, officially known as Sultanahmet Mosque, which is right across the square from Hagia Sophia. It is free to enter and it really only takes about 30 minutes to visit. This is one of Istanbul's most famous buildings and it is also an active mosque, so be sure to dress appropriately. Right when you get inside, you'll appreciate why it's called the Blue Mosque. It is completely covered with beautiful blue tiles. We always enjoy standing under the center dome and admiring the large chandeliers, but our favorite area is actually in the courtyard just outside. Sitting here in the front courtyard is definitely my favorite view of the Blue Mosque and this time of day it's still really nice and peaceful just to sit here and relax, but we have a really full day ahead of us, so it's time to get going. Back out to Sultanahmet Square. It really is peaceful in here. The Blue Mosque is also under a little bit of construction, which is surprising because it was under construction for no less than seven years, I think. At least you can still get out here. Honestly, I was a little bit worried that it was all closed off. Just a small little part of it's closed off right now. Alright, back out to Sultanahmet Square. Like we mentioned earlier, you also have in this area, but with only 24 hours you can't spend your whole day in Sultanahmet Square. Plus, it's 1500 TL per person to enter, so that would blow the rest of our budget. If you do have more time, this is our second favorite historic site in Istanbul, so it's definitely worth checking out while you're here. Also, you'll notice that we didn't have time for a big breakfast this morning, so you might want to grab a simit in the square to hold you over. You can get one for 20 TL. Or if you want something a little more substantial, there's also a good borak place just up the road. You can get a portion of borak for around 120 TL, and they actually open at 6am, so you can even get a quick bite before Hagia Sophia opens like we did this morning. At this point, it's time for us to head to the Grand Bazaar. It's only about a kilometer from the Sultanahmet Square, so you can in theory walk, but we're going to have a lot of walking in our future today. So to save our legs, we're going to take the T1 and ride it two stops to the Grand Bazaar. If you don't already have a public transit card, there are machines right here by the station where you can pick one up, and if you're going to be here for a few days, we would recommend that you get an Istanbul cart, which costs 165 TL. That is just the amount for the card itself, and then you have to load it with additional money to cover your rides. Don't worry if that sounds intimidating, we have a whole video on how to do that. If you're only here for a short time, we have seen machines that offer a 3 or even a 10 ride pass. The machines behind us here only seem to offer the 3 ride pass for but that could still be a good option for you if you're only here for 24 hours. No matter which card you have, you only have to worry about tapping on to public transit. Basically, you're charged a fixed rate regardless of how long of a ride you take. When you get off, there's no need to tap off. And just like that, here we are at the Grand Bazaar. This is one of the oldest and largest covered markets in the world with over 4,000 shops. You can find pretty much anything here from jewelry to ceramics, lamps, carpets, antiques, leather goods, and so much more. You name it, it's probably here. It's a great place just to walk around and explore a bit, even if you're not planning to buy anything. If you do want to do some shopping, be sure you negotiate. And also check out the shops around the Grand Bazaar because those tend to be cheaper for the same stuff. It's honestly really easy to get lost in here, but don't worry. There are over 20 different exits, and even if you aren't planning to buy anything, you should at least make your way towards the center, which is the oldest part of the bazaar. The brick ceiling is really beautiful, and this is where they keep all the old antiques. That was so cute. So on our very first trip here four years ago, we took a picture with that guy in his carpet shop, and he recognized us and chased us down through the hallway and brought us back to his shop as offering us free coffee, free tea. We wanted to sit and talk, but that's the thing about a 24-hour video. We got too much to do today, but he was so sweet. He really was. Every time we have family come to visit, we always bring them through here, and one really important thing to note is that the Grand Bazaar is closed on Sundays, so that is just something to keep in mind. We have actually even made that mistake before when my little brother came to visit. We brought them here on a Sunday. I was so embarrassed. I knew better. I don't really know what I was thinking. So anyways, that's just something to keep in mind, but now it's time to start making our way back outside because we have a bit of a hidden gem we want to share next. On our very first trip to Istanbul, we found this secret cafe with a view just about five minutes from the Grand Bazaar, and we've honestly never been back since. So in an effort to try and show something a little bit different than our last 24-hour video, we're going to try and find it again. It's located in an old han, which is basically like an old inn and trading house from the Ottoman times, where caravans from the Silk Road would stop over, stay the night, and have a safe place to store their goods. This place was built back in the 1600s, and it's honestly in pretty bad shape these days. It might feel a little bit like an abandoned building, but hopefully upstairs we'll find the cafe hidden inside. We apparently took the wrong stairs, so we're gonna try again. It's still here! Feels good to sit. It's a nice breeze too. Yes, it's very breezy today. Admittedly, I was hoping that they had Turkish chai here so that we could try our best to stay in budget, but they do not. Lemonade or Turkish coffee. Both of which are 150 Turkish lira, so there goes 300 Turkish lira just like that. But this is a nice view, and a really cool old building, and it's nice, like Jess said, to sit down for once. I like all the old stuff. They have an old TV, typewriter, record player. Cheers. 150 is a lot to pay for a lemonade, but when you have a few, there's always a surcharge for that. How could you expect to stay under budget when you're only here for one day? And you have to do it all. This is a really cool building, and it is a fun little adventure to get back here, but I can't say that's the best Turkish coffee I've ever had. I'm pretty sure the lemonade's just out of a can. But the view is nice, and the building's cool. Just want to set accurate expectations. Also, fun fact, this building was briefly featured in a motorcycle chase in the James Bond movie Skyfall. It does have a really nice view. You can see the Asian side of the city, and the first phosphorus bridge. You get the new mosque right there. A little bit of a view of Galata Tower. I don't know where we're heading next. The view's even better. So, breaks over. Time to go. We have come about 15 minutes from the cafe to Suleymaniye Mosque. Whether you come here straight from the Grand Bazaar or from the cafe, there aren't any public transit options, and admittedly, it is uphill a little bit, but I promise it's worth it. This is probably our favorite mosque in the whole city. It was built by the most famous architect in Ottoman history, Mimar Sinan. It has a beautiful open courtyard, and it's usually a lot quieter than the more popular sites in the city. And one of the main reasons why we recommend coming up here is this amazing view. You can see across the Golden Horn to the Northern Peninsula. You have great views of the Bosphorus and even the Asian side from up here. And a little insider tip, if you see the domed rooftop with the little glass windows, that's actually an old traditional hamam that we've been to a few different times that's really cool. They still actually have a wood-burning oven to heat the hamam, and they're one of the few traditional hamams that allow couples to go in together, as opposed to having separate times or separate areas for men and women. With just 24 hours, you really don't have time, which is just another reason to give yourself more time here in Istanbul. This really is an experience that you should not miss while you're here. Now it's back down the hill towards the Spice Bazaar because it is afternoon, and we are getting hungry. Same story here, there's no public transit option from Süleymaniye Mosque to the Spice Bazaar, but it's all downhill, so it's pretty easy. One of these days we should probably pack a picnic and just hang out up here and have lunch, but the truth is it's really hard to justify doing a picnic when we know there's such good food just down the hill. Also, super random side note, most of the mosques have free public toilets, so if you need to go, the mosque is a good place for that, and I'm gonna do that right now. Good timing. Okay, so we have made it down the hill, and we are not far from the entrance to the Spice Bazaar, but before we actually go into the Spice Bazaar, we have made a quick stop for lunch at one of our very favorite restaurants in the whole city. It can honestly be pretty hard to find good quality and affordable restaurants in the old city, but this place is just a two-minute walk from the Spice Bazaar, and it has always impressed us. It's super affordable, and everything we've ever had here is very delicious. Honestly, we even tried for the purposes of this video to find a different spot for lunch today, because this is where we ate in our last 24-hour video, but we stand by our original recommendation. This really is the best spot to eat over here. We typically share the eggplant kebab when we come here, but they have a lot of really good kebabs here. We didn't order this. We've been here a lot. Check this thing out. I had really worked up an appetite, so I am very happy to be here. Since this place has been in multiple videos, we have demonstrated this before, but with eggplant kebab, since it was grilled on a charcoal grill, you want to scrape the skin off the eggplant, and then take a bite of the eggplant with that nice smoky flavor, and combine it with this delicious lamb meat. So good. You have to get the spicy tomato salsa. That's a bite. I have spicy salsa, eggplant, pepper, grilled tomato, lamb meat all in one bite. That is the perfect bite. That was over way faster than I wanted it to be, but it was delicious. Typically we would also recommend you get their künefe for dessert, but sadly not today. With only 24 hours, we are going to get baklava a little later this afternoon, but if it really is your only day in Istanbul, do not limit yourself to one sweet treat. Get the künefe too. Trust me. We're doing pretty good on timing so far, so we are going to make a quick stop at the This mosque is hiding in plain sight right here on this main street outside the spice bazaar, and it's only just a few steps away from our lunch spot. It's often called the mini blue mosque, and like Suleymaniye mosque, it was designed by the famous architect Mimar Sinan. It might be quite a bit smaller than the blue mosque, but it still has thousands of the beautiful blue Iznik tiles. It really is a hidden gem, and definitely worth a few minutes stop if you have the time. Alright, we're back on the busy streets just below the mosque, and we're right here by the spice bazaar, which is quite a bit smaller than the grand bazaar, so you won't need a lot of time. Just take a quick walk through and enjoy all the fun colors. You can find all kinds of mixed teas, dried fruits, nuts, Turkish delights, and of course, plenty of spices. Beware, you might just get lured into some of these shops with free samples, and these guys are very good salesmen, so you could end up spending more money than you were planning on. Like we already mentioned with the grand bazaar, it's the same story with the spice bazaar. There are tons of shops all around here, and the prices are usually much cheaper for the same stuff. At this point, it's nearly two o'clock, so we're making our way across the Galata Bridge to the northern peninsula, where we're going to be spending the rest of the afternoon. Technically, you could take the T1 tram across, but it doesn't take long to walk, and there are some beautiful views, plus you get to see all the fishermen lined up on both sides. And as a side note, if you're interested in heading over to the Asian side, there are plenty of ferries that'll take you over there from either side of the bridge. I think Jess is trying to get a head start on me, because our next stop is Baklava. We have come to Farukh Guloglu, which is one of the most famous places in Istanbul for baklava. So the Guloglu family was actually the very first family to bring baklava from Gaziantep to Istanbul back in 1949, and the most famous shop in the entire city is about a five-minute walk from here. The guy who originally came from Gaziantep with his family actually passed away in 2012, but his sons continue the tradition, and three of them actually still work at the original Guloglu Karaköy location, but Farukh went out on his own and opened this store, Farukh Guloglu. We've never actually been to this location before, but just the other day, we had breakfast out on the Bosphorus, which by the way was amazing, and we'll be posting a video on that soon. And anyway, they gave us baklava after our breakfast, and honestly, we have very high standards for baklava, and it was really good. So we asked them where it was from, and they told us it was this place. So yeah, that's why we are here today instead of the probably more famous one just down the road. But enough talking, it's time to eat this. You hear that crunch? It's crunchy, it's syrupy, all the good things. Come on, bite. Yeah, I'm gonna cut it now. I love baklava so much, so so much. Uh-oh, I lost the top. Baklava dance. So at our go-to place in our neighborhood, we get something called havuç dilime. It's a pie slice of baklava, so it is probably four pieces in one pie slice, I would say. And we get one each. So two pieces really is just not enough. And just like lunch, that was over way too quickly. Now that we have satisfied our sweet tooth, we are going to walk around the Karaköy neighborhood a little bit. And we just did some math, and after borek for breakfast, going into Hagia Sophia, drinks with a view, lunch, and that baklava, we are at roughly $89. So I think it's safe to say we're gonna end up going over our $100 target today. When you start your day spending $60 at one site, it's kind of hard to stay under $100. Yeah. That's just the reality of it. The nice thing is, exploring all the neighborhoods is free. This neighborhood really is such a fun mix of old and new. You have these historic streets, and some really great cafes and restaurants. And not so long ago, they finished the Galata Port, which was a major redevelopment project where the cruise ships come in. So now you've got all these new modern buildings and hotels as well. Okay, it's time to make our way up to the Galata neighborhood, which is just up the hill. So it is not far, but it is steep. So we always recommend that you take the tunnel metro so you can save your legs. Plus, this is the second oldest subway in the world, which is pretty cool. And now it's just a nice short walk downhill to the Galata Tower. So Galata is one of Istanbul's most historic and charming neighborhoods, and it's one of our personal favorites. It is best known for the Galata Tower, as you can see behind me, and also why this area is so crowded. But there is so much more to this neighborhood. You have cobblestone streets, cute cafes, boutiques, art galleries. If you are interested in going up in Galata Tower, you could definitely fit that in, but it does cost 30 euros per person, which does not fit into our budget today. Plus, we have some plans a little later for sunset that we think is a pretty good alternative to going up in the tower. So we're just going to wander around a little bit and maybe grab a coffee. At this point, we have walked over 18,000 steps, and I know we've already said it's August, so it is hot. So we've decided to stop at a fun cafe and rest our legs for a minute. There are dozens and dozens of different cafes in this area. We purposely picked a place that was on a little quieter of a street just to relax, but if you're looking for a place with a view, there are plenty of cafes just underneath the tower with beautiful views. It's also nice to take a little bit of a break from the crowds and recharge before we head back up to Istiklal Street. We have come about five minutes back up the hill from Galata Tower to the southern end of Istiklal Street. This is a 1.6 kilometer pedestrian street that connects the Galata neighborhood to Taksim Square. This area is often referred to as the heart of modern Istanbul, and it is full of great shops and restaurants. You'll notice the buildings in this area look a little bit more European than in the old city, and if you don't want to make the walk, you can always hop on the really cool old trolley that runs from one end to the other. We would usually stop for some Turkish ice cream, but since we've already had baklava and we've made two coffee stops, we are going to save our budget for some drinks later at sunset. If you do want to try and get your hands on some Turkish ice cream while you're here, Istiklal Street is a really fun area for it. There are a few different stands around with guys who will make you work for your ice cream cone. If you have the time and you're interested, the largest Roman Catholic church in all of Istanbul happens to be just right off of Istiklal Street. It's free to enter, and it can be a nice break from the busy street. We only made it about half of the way down Istiklal Street, but rather than continuing all the way to the end, we are dropping down into the neighborhood of Çukurcuma. This is a really cool area with quirky antique stores and cool cafes. I feel like I sound like a broken record at this point with cafes, but there are a lot of really cool cafes in Istanbul. Plus, this is the neighborhood we'll be having dinner tonight. We have come to TomTom Kebabs, which is one of our favorite restaurants. They have some really delicious kebabs at an affordable price. We almost always get the chicken shish, but they also have really good Adana kebab as well. Really, all of their kebabs are great, and they have a lot of great mezes and fresh salads. We usually get either their hummus or an eggplant dip, or sometimes both, like today. Is it the best chicken shish in town? It really is. So, we don't come over here very much. I kind of forget how good it is. This really is the best chicken shish that I've had in Istiklal. It has been a crazy whole day, and we can probably call it quits and end it here, but we are committed, and we have one last stop for sunset. The only negative about this restaurant is you have to walk up a very steep hill to get back to Istiklal Street. That's another reason why I think she was saying we could have called it a night, because we could have just headed down the hill and caught a ferry back to the Asian side, but nope, we're committed. We have one final stop. We are heading about 20 minutes back to Galata to go to the Manifest rooftop bar for sunset. If you're thinking to yourself that this sounds like we're backtracking, it's because we are, but hopefully it's for good reason. Also, if we're being completely honest, our absolute favorite way to enjoy sunset in Istanbul is on a Bosphorus cruise, but it is really windy today, and the water was very rough. Also, it is what we showed in our last 24-hour video, so we wanted to mix it up a little bit, and this rooftop bar, I think it's new-new. It's definitely new to us, so selfishly, we just wanted to try it out. If you did want to take a sunset Bosphorus cruise, it costs around $40 a person for a smaller group tour, and we'll make sure to link that in the description below. But I am looking forward to finishing things off today with a nice cocktail and a view. This really is a great view for sunset. Galata Tower is just right here, and we're getting to enjoy it with a great cocktail. So to wrap this all up, did we stay within our $100 budget for the day? No, we did not. We just did some math, and we spent around $145 total, but that does include $30 worth of cocktails and two different stops for coffee that were each around $10, so I feel like if we were a little bit more budget conscious, we could have gotten there. I mean, at the end of the day, we only went into one paid site, and otherwise we just explored many of the picturesque neighborhoods and went into the free sites, so if you're looking to do more experiences, like going to a hamam or doing a cooking class or a food tour or a sunset Bosporus cruise, all of which we highly recommend, you are going to have to come with a little bit bigger of a budget. That's going to do it for us today. We hope you enjoyed this video, and as always, thank you so much for watching.