BEST Things To Do in ISTANBUL, TURKEY | Ultimate 4 Day TRAVEL GUIDE

BEST Things To Do in ISTANBUL, TURKEY | Ultimate 4 Day TRAVEL GUIDE

Istanbul. One of the most important cities  in history, and the only city in the world   to span two continents, it’s a cultural melting  pot where east meets west across the Bosphorus   Strait. It’s huge, busy, and one of the world’s  most visited cities, but is a place that’s  

Been on our bucket list for so many years and  we’re so excited to finally be able to see it! We are about to board the  Sofia to Istanbul Express! Let’s go to Turkey! So this is our cabin  for the night. It’s pretty basic but but  

Quite spacious. Better than those buses  for sure. So these two seats come out   and create like a full bed. I think that’s  another bed on top. Got our own little sink,   mirror, hangers if we wanted, full view out  of the window. Also got a fridge with some  

Complimentary snacks and the strangest looking  water yogurt pots. And if we wanted to eat,   this basically becomes our table. We only paid  like 36 euros per person for this cabin. So   this is like a double cabin, so there’s no other  people in there just us. So yeah we’re excited!

Welcome to Turkey guys and welcome to Istanbul!  So we’re currently here in Taksim Square,   which is a huge square in the center of the  city. We are going to be spending the next 4   days exploring this amazing place. Fingers  crossed it will be enough but I doubt it  

Because I keep adding things to do on my map  already so we’ll see! There is so much here! So the first place we’re going to go into is  the Hagia Sofia behind us. Probably one of the   most famous buildings in the world but look  at the queue! Starts all the way over there,  

All the way around. It’s moving  pretty quickly so we’ll see how   long it will take us. I think we  need to timelapse it don’t we? Wow so the Hagia Sofia definitely does not  disappoint! Oh my God it was so beautiful  

Inside! Although it is crowded you don’t really  feel it because you’re always just looking up   and looking at the beautiful ceiling and  it’s just such a beautiful place. Really   has a special feeling in there and it’s  just absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunately  

We went to the Blue Mosque a little bit  earlier, it’s just across the square but   it’s under like massive renovation at the  moment so you can’t actually go out into   the courtyard. All you can do is walk into  the actual interior but again it’s like all  

Scaffolded up so you can’t see anything. Yeah  it was a bit of a disappointment because we’re   only here once. One time maybe. But it’s just  our luck. At least the Hagia Sofia was open! We left the Hagia Sofia behind and hopped  across the road into another queue for the  

Basilica Cistern. This incredible underground  cistern was built in the 6th century and is   the largest of many similar structures located  beneath Istanbul. It’s supported by 336 marble   columns and would have been a vital water source  for Topkapi Palace during the Ottoman reign.  

I really love this place! Just something  that I don’t think I’ve ever seen before. This place is seriously incredible. Like it’s  just crazy to think how long this has been here.   Reminds me a little bit of the Mines of Moria from  Lord of the Rings. It’s got that kind of vibe.

This is definitely one of the busiest  places we’ve been on our trip so far.   It is just absolutely rammed and it’s not even  the height of the summer. So you are going to   queue a lot when you come to Istanbul but for  the most part everything we’ve been to so far  

Has been absolutely worth queuing for. There’s  been nothing that we’ve been disappointed with.   You’ve just got to be aware that you are going  to queue a lot. So just behind the Hagia Sofia… So just behind the Hagia Sofia here is the  Topkapi Palace and we’re in these beautiful  

Little gardens just in front of it. And the  Topkapi Palace used to be the home of the   Ottoman Emperors whilst they ruled over here  in Istanbul. It’s now a museum with lots of   different places to explore so we’re going to  head inside and show you around. More queuing!

So far the entry prices have been like pretty  reasonable. Around like €10 for a few things.   Some things have even been free like the  Hagia Sofia. Topkapi Palace is the first   one that was a little bit more expensive.  This one cost like €20 per person to get in,  

Which you know is quite steep but hopefully it’s  going to be worth it. Like I said everything else   has been worth it up to this point even if you  have to queue for a little bit. Spoiler alert:   it was 100% worth it! The palace is  enormous and there are so many rooms,  

Courtyards and exhibitions to explore.  The interior is stunning and there are   places around the palace where you can get some  incredible views of Istanbul. And make sure you   pay the extra fee to visit the Harem, as it’s  probably the most beautiful part of the palace.

Wow! This palace is seriously impressive  and absolutely massive. You definitely   get your money’s worth coming in here!  There’s like four different sections,   loads of different rooms off the sides that are  like museums for loads of different artifacts   and things. So it’s 100% worth coming in.  Definitely buy the Harem ticket as well.  

It gives you like a massive extra area  you can explore for not too much more. So while we’re in Istanbul we decided to eat  our way through the city as usual because the   food just looks amazing here so we can’t wait  to try everything! Started off by buying some  

Of these like pretzel like little roundy  pastries from any of the street sellers.   They sell them literally everywhere. So they look  really nice and a lot of people are eating them   as like little snacks so we decided to get  one. It was 5 lira. Let’s give it a go. It’s  

Really nice! It’s just like pastry with like  sesame seeds on it. We saw they sell them like   with Nutella and all sorts. So definitely  give it a try, it’s a nice little snack! So to end our first day in the city we  headed to the Seven Hills Restaurant  

And made our way up to their roof  terrace to watch the sunset with   some incredible views of both the  Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque. As a bonus, they also leave out some  leftover food which you can use to feed  

The seagulls and capture some creative photos of  the backdrop. It was a lot of fun! That was quick! So after the sunset we managed to squeeze  in one more unique activity. The Whirling   Dervishes ceremony is a tribute to  the 13th century mystic Mevlana Rumi  

And his followers who were known as the  Mevlevi Order. The Mevlevi’s were also   known as the Whirling Dervishes because  of their practice of whirling as a form   of remembrance of God. The entire ceremony and  music was almost hypnotic, and the performers  

Seemed to be in a trance-like state while  spinning. It was really interesting to see. First impressions of Istanbul are it is  definitely one of the busiest and most crazy,   hectic cities that we’ve ever been to. When you  walk around the streets in the morning it’s not so  

Bad but later in the afternoon and evening…wow!  So so busy! Having said that though, it’s just   such an eclectic mix of different cultures and  the people are just super friendly. Every single   shop front just looks incredible. So many sweet  shops! We’re really excited to explore. It’s  

Day two now and we’re going to be hopefully going  over to the Asian side today so that might offer   something different again. Yeah very excited about  that because we’ve never been to Asia before, so   this is our first time! But first we’re going to  start the morning by getting a traditional Turkish  

Breakfast. I’m very excited about it because we’ve  heard it’s a lot of food! When you order a Turkish   breakfast you get a huge selection of things to  eat. Spreads like peanut butter, jams and honey,   cheeses, eggs, tomatoes and olives, salad, and  unlimited bread and tea! It’s an absolute feast!

Oh my gosh! We are full! I think that was probably  the best breakfast I’ve ever eaten in my life. It   was really nice and a lot of food. There was  just such a range of stuff like savory stuff,  

Sweet stuff, loads of cheeses, olives, unlimited  teas and bread. Oh my God! We had to stop them   from bringing more bread out because like I  can’t fit anymore in my stomach. Honestly,   the best breakfast I’ve ever had. Worth the  money. Yes it was about £6 per person which  

Really isn’t too bad when you consider  how much food you actually get. I know   and it’s definitely going to fill us  up until dinner time that’s for sure! So we couldn’t walk across the bridge over to the  Asian side, which is what we thought we would be  

Able to do, but actually you probably want to do  it this way anyway because it’s a lot better. You   can take a boat from one side of the river all the  way over the Bosphorus to the other. And actually  

The boat ride is just classed as a standard ticket  price for the ticket card, the metro card. So it’s   included in all the transport. So it really is  very cheap to get across here, it’s not any extra. You excited to be in Asia? Yes! First  time in Asia. Continent number four!

Welcome to Asia! How’s it feel to be in Asia  for the first time? I mean it doesn’t feel   much different does it? Not really! Still in  Istanbul, you’re still in the same country.   I guess it’s just the thought that you’re in a  different continent now. It’s a bit of a novelty.  

It’s nice to be on this new continent but we  definitely need to explore Asia more in the   future! Yeah. We’re going to have a look around  the Asian side today, try and show you whether   it’s worth coming over here or not because a lot  of people just stay on the European side. That’s  

Where the most attractions are for tourists,  but we’ll see what we can get up to here. Yeah,   hopefully there’s quite a bit on the Asian side  too that’ll make it worth coming over here. The area where you get dropped off the boat  is called Kadikoy and straight away you  

Notice it’s very different to the European  side. You won’t find any Baklava shops or   Turkish delight shops on every corner.  It’s more like a normal high street,   coffee shops dotted all over the place.  It’s very much just like a normal city  

Vibe. Straight away there it’s very different.  Not as many tourists, way quieter. So there’s a   small market area you can walk through though  where they sell a lot of olives and fish… …an area where the walls  are covered in artwork…

…and also we stumbled upon this very unique  Halloween themed cafe which serves your drinks   in some really cool ways. So ccol! We  found this little cafe which has like   Halloween themed drinks and the whole shop is  so cool. Look at that little Turkish coffee  

Mug. Or cauldron! I love it. Definitely  the coolest themed cafe I think we’ve   been to! So far the best part of the Asian  side is that there are no crowds. So nice! This is big! This is Camlica Mosque and this is the biggest  mosque in Istanbul and the whole of Turkey! This  

One has six minarets. It’s humongous! It’s  really big. It’s really beautiful actually   inside. Definitely worth coming here if you  have the time to come over to the Asian side. This mosque also has this incredible  balcony where you can see like the   entire city. It’s really beautiful  and big. It’s crazy, check this out!

This place is huge! Wow! This mosque is really incredible  and amazingly not a lot of tourists   come here still. It is a bit far  outside to be fair and it’s a bit   complicated to get to. It’s definitely  the highlight of the Asian side for sure!

Of course no trip to Istanbul would be complete  without a trip to the bazaars. There are actually   two; one of them is the Grand Bazaar, the other  one is the Spice Bazaar, and we are currently in   the Grand Bazaar. We’re going to be exploring and  showing you around. Already it’s apparent just how  

Much stuff you could buy here and how much money  you could spend. How much genuine fake stuff! The Grand Bazaar is one of the largest  and oldest covered markets in the world   with over 4,000 separate shops inside.  It’s huge, and at times disorientating,  

But it is an absolute must when visiting  Istanbul. You could spend days browsing for   all sorts of items and souvenirs and  most likely get lost while doing so. Well that was a crazy experience! Place  is just so huge. The Grand Bazaar itself  

Is big but even when you leave the bazaar  the markets just stretch outside for like   kilometers. Massive area outside  and inside. We did all right,   we got away with not buying too much stuff  but just some nice kind of souvenirs. Going  

To go and explore the Spice Market now. More  excited about that than the fake stuff. Yeah! The Egyptian Bazaar, or Spice Bazaar,  is the place to go if you want to buy   all sorts of sweets and spices. With  over 80 shops selling Turkish Delight,  

Dried fruits and nuts, chocolate,  spices and teas, you won’t have any   trouble finding something delicious to try.  So pretty actually and the smell is amazing! So another thing we wanted to try is this  thing called borek. Basically like these  

Flaky pastries filled with cheese, cheese  and spinach, or you can get meat ones as   well. So we’re trying today cheese and  the cheese and spinach one. So let’s   see. It’s good? It’s really nice. Actually  having it with these little yellow peppers  

Is really nice. They’re kind of like not any  spicier than jalapenos really. So if you like   jalapenos really good. But just add a really  nice flavor and a little bit of spice to it. After lunch we walked along Istiklal Street,  probably the most famous shopping street in  

Istanbul, and because of that one of the busiest.  You can take the old tram up and down, or walk   along this pedestrianized street and stop to look  in every single amazing shop or cafe window. Each   one looks more tempting than the last. So  we couldn’t resist these shops any longer,  

So we decided to come in and treat ourselves  with something very very yummy. Look at these!   Don’t know how we’re going to get through them.  We’re going to put on so much weight in Turkey! It’s good? And don’t forget to try some Turkish ice  cream for a one-of-a-kind experience… Delicious? Thank you.

Thank you. Very close to Istiklal Street is the Galata Tower,  a huge watchtower turned museum that can be seen   from almost anywhere in Istanbul. You can go up  for some amazing panoramic views of the city,   especially during sunset or at night,  although it’s a little expensive and if  

You’re on a budget we have a great alternative  we’ll share later in this video. To end the day   we headed down to the Galata Bridge  to watch the sun set over the city,   as the fishermen hauled in their days  catch and the birds swooped overhead. We  

Can highly recommend spending at least one  day watching the sun go down by the river. Of course we can’t miss coming to this  area called Balat here in Istanbul,   which used to be a very unique, quiet  spot…oh look we’ve got a cat visitor.

Where was I? Used to be like quite a unique thing  to do here in Istanbul but obviously nowadays   because its got these beautiful, colorful  houses and things it’s become more and more   Insta famous. So you’ll see a lot of content  creators around this area. But we couldn’t  

Miss the opportunity to come here and take some  pictures because we love the colorful districts! They don’t want love! No. Aw there  we go you found one! Aww that’s cute! Definitely recommend a visit and you  can come pretty early in the morning  

Like 9:00 a.m. and there literally won’t  be that many people here at all. Compared   to the other locations we’ve been to  this is definitely the quietest. And   you can get some really cool and unique  kind of shots. So yeah highly recommend!

Next we headed across the city to Dolmabahce  Palace, a huge and ornate Ottoman Sultan’s   Palace on the shores of the Bosphorus. The palace  is beautiful to explore but it does come with a   catch. So walking around this palace has probably  been one of the most mixed experiences we’ve had.  

I know. It was very much a love hate. First of all  you can’t take photos inside so we can’t show you   how the palace looks inside but trust us when  we say that it’s 100% worth going in there. It  

Was just amazing! One of the most like opulent  palaces I think I’ve ever seen. Was definitely   a jaw dropping experience. Especially like the  Grand Chamber and the staircase. They’re just   stunning! So stunning! So we’re a bit gutted  that we can’t take photos. On the other hand,  

Oh my God, was it busy! I think a number  one tip would just be to come here,   if you want to come here, come as soon as  it opens. Try and avoid all of the tour  

Groups. We’re really quite close to where the  cruise ships dock so I think you get a lot of   massive tour groups coming in from the cruise  ships. We felt like sheep. You’re just herded   like cattle like all the way through. It’s a  one-way system. It kind of really takes away  

From the beauty of the place. 100% worth  coming but don’t make our mistake and just   come first thing as soon as it opens. Don’t  eat your breakfast for too long like we did! We left the palace and hopped on a bus further  up the shore to the Ortakoy district and headed  

Down to the waterfront where you can get  an amazing view of the Grand Mecidiye   Mosque and 15th of July Marty’s Bridge, which  connects Europe with Asia across the Bosphorus. So one thing we can highly recommend  when you’re coming to Istanbul is,  

Obviously you can go to the Blue Mosque,  but a great alternative is to come up to   the Sulemaniye Mosque. Apparently it’s the  second biggest in the whole of Turkey. Yes so   definitely worth a visit. And the interior is  just amazing. So beautiful! Really beautiful.  

Considering the fact that at the moment, as of  us filming this video, the Blue Mosque is under   renovation and you can’t really see anything,  this one is a really magnificent alternative. Plus, if you go just across the street,  there is an amazing little cafe there  

Where you get some incredible views out  over Istanbul. Probably equally as good   as the Galata Tower. Of course from this cafe  you can actually see the tower so it’s even   better. You can see the Bosphorus Strait.  It’s just beautiful. Plus the entrance  

Fee is a lot cheaper because you only really  have to pay for like a tea to get that view.   Exactly! Really good recommendation is to  come over and come up here to see all that. Istanbul. What a city! Whatever you do,   add Istanbul to your bucket list  because you will not regret it!

Hey everyone!

In this video we’ll be showing you all the best things to do in Istanbul, Turkey in our ultimate 4 day travel guide! Istanbul is one of the most incredible cities we’ve visited; a diverse cultural melting pot full of history, with some of the best food in the world! This is everything we managed to squeeze in during our stay!

For more info check out our Istanbul blog posts here: https://kittiaroundtheworld.com/how-to-spend-4-days-in-istanbul-turkey/

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Dream_Sober – Ajwaa
With Open Eyes I See – Sunfish Grove
The Light in You – Pastis
Arabian Nights – Sight of Wonders
Fadfada – Ali Sabah
Save My Life – Damma Beatz
Chill.exe – Osoku
English Breakfast – Jobii
We Don’t Talk About Nothing No More (Instrumental Version) – Snake City
High Hopes (Do U Feel the Same) (Instrumental Version) – Snake City
Solemn Sunset – Jharee
Amanecer – El Neon
Trumpet Man – Timothy Infinite
Pancakes – Dylan Sitts
Maybe We’ll Meet Again – baegel
Waking up Next to You – Matt Large
From the Cliffside – Tape Machines

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ABOUT US:

Hi! We are Kitti and Jon! We are a multinational (Hungarian and British) couple living in Manchester, England and we love to travel, hike and explore both in the UK and abroad! We definitely have the travel bug and have explored many countries on and off together in the 7 years since we met (when our jobs have allowed it!). We decided to finally start filming our adventures and sharing them with you guys!

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00:00 – Intro
00:29 – Sofia to Istanbul Express (Overnight Train)
02:06 – Hagia Sofia and The Blue Mosque
04:32 – Basilica Cistern
05:40 – Topkapi Palace
08:19 – Trying Simit and Pide!
09:11 – Seven Hills Restaurant (Sunset Views!)
10:02 – Whirling Dervishes Ceremony
11:00 – First Impressions and Turkish Breakfast
12:43 – Crossing the Bosphorus to Asia!
13:46 – Welcome to Asia (Kadikoy District)
15:33 – Camlica Mosque (Largest in Turkiye!)
17:47 – Grand Bazaar
19:25 – Spice (Egyptian) Bazaar
20:03 – Istiklal Street (Trying Borek, Cakes and Turkish Ice Cream)
22:18 – Galata Tower
22:42 – Galata Bridge (Sunset)
23:08 – Balat District (Colorful Neighbourhood)
24:44 – Dolmabahce Palace
26:19 – Grand Mecidiye Mosque (Ortakoy)
26:51 – Sulimaniye Mosque and Mimar Sinan Cafe
28:09 – Outro