4 Days in Istanbul, Turkey 2026 - What to do in Istanbul Türkiye

Istanbul. Over the next four days, we explored the city through ferry rides, world-famous breakfasts, crowded streets, and late nights around Taksim. From rooftop breakfasts overlooking the city to sunset cruises between Europe and Asia. Let me show you how to spend four days in Istanbul. The first morning in Istanbul we went for the famous Turkish breakfast at Mimar Zinan Ruf, which has some of the best city views of Istanbul. After breakfast, we took the ferry toward the Meydan's Tower. The ride itself felt like part of the experience, seagulls following the boats and an unexpected live music session on board. Meydan's Tower is sitting alone on a small islet in the Bosphorus. The tower has watched over Istanbul for centuries and has become one of the city's most recognizable landmarks. Over time, it served different purposes, from a lighthouse to a watchtower and even a quarantine station during the Ottoman era. By the evening, we returned to the Taksim area where our hotel was located. We ended up at a place called Hevsul Kebap Lamajun and only after talking with the owner did we realize it was actually a Kurdish restaurant. Kurds are an ethnic group native to the Kurdistan region, which stretches across parts of modern-day Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran and are often described as the world's largest ethnic group without their own At night, the city felt completely different. The quieter cafes and ferry rides turned into crowded streets, music spilling out of restaurants, and tables slowly filling up as the night went on. We started our second day with a Turkish breakfast at a small local restaurant called Cafe Faruk Kabalta. Tables slowly filled up around us while plates of olives, cheese, fresh bread, eggs, and endless cups of tea kept appearing one after another. Later, we took a taxi toward the Büyük Mesihliye Mosque by the Bosphorus. By the way, I get a lot of questions about how I color grade my videos. I've been developing my own look in DaVinci Resolve over the past two years and I finally decided to make my power grade and lap pack available. If you're interested, link is in description. Right next to the mosque, we sat down at Beltaş Rest Cafe for another tea overlooking the Bosphorus, watching ferries pass between continents while the afternoon light reflected off the water. For lunch, we crossed toward the more Asian side of Istanbul to try a famous restaurant, a place known for making some of the best lahmacun in the city. Inside, everything felt simple and focused entirely around the food. We watched them prepare the lahmacun fresh in front of us before it arrived straight from the oven to the table. Back on the European side, we spent the afternoon walking through the area around Eminönü Square. This part of Istanbul felt dense in the best possible way, ferries constantly arriving and leaving, people carrying shopping bags through narrow streets, the smell of grilled fish and roasted chestnuts drifting through the air. For dinner, we went to another famous local restaurant. By then, we had already started realizing how much of our days in Istanbul naturally revolved around food, moving from one neighborhood to another, always ending up around another table somewhere. At night, the city changed character again. Street food stalls filled the sidewalks, music echoed through the alleys, and the energy around Taksim area somehow felt even more alive than during the day. So, we started the next morning in the historic center of Istanbul. Around us stood three of Istanbul's most iconic sites. The Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque and the Basilica Cistern, all within walking distance from each other. We started with the Hagia Sophia. Originally built nearly 1,500 years ago, during the Byzantine Empire, it has existed as a church, later a mosque, then a museum and today once again as a mosque. Afterwards, we headed underground into the Basilica Cistern. Built in the 6th century, the cistern once stored water for the great palace of Constantinople and supplied large parts of the city during the Byzantine period. For lunch, we stopped at Tantunihan for a Tantuni sandwich, a Turkish street food made with thinly chopped beef and spices wrapped inside warm flatbread. Simple food always seemed to hit the hardest in Istanbul, especially after spending hours walking through the city. Toward the evening, we made our way back to the water for a sunset cruise along the Bosphorus. As the sun slowly disappeared behind the skyline, Istanbul started glowing in this soft golden red light. If you're enjoying the video so far, a quick thumbs up really helps the channel grow. Our final day in Istanbul started at Lades Menemen. Menemen is a traditional Turkish breakfast dish made with scrambled eggs, tomatoes, peppers and spices, usually eaten straight from the pan with bread on the side. Afterwards, we took another ferry along the Bosphorus toward Rumeli Fortress. The historic Rumeli Fortress was built by the Ottomans in the 15th century before the conquest of Constantinople. Later, we made our way to a hidden gem. Compared to the density and noise of central Istanbul, everything in this public park felt unexpectedly peaceful. From the viewpoint, the city stretched endlessly between hills, bridges, sea and neighborhoods fading into the distance. For our final dinner, we went to Bayramoğlu Döner. By then, we had eaten our way through a good part of the city, but this was easily some of the best kebab we had during the entire trip.