Where to stay in Istanbul
Sultanahmet, Karaköy, Beyoğlu or Kadıköy — two districts on the T1 tram, one up the funicular and one across the Bosphorus.
- First visit
- Sultanahmet or Karaköy
- For nights out
- Beyoğlu, around Galata and İstiklal
- For a longer stay
- Kadıköy on the Asian side
On a first visit to Istanbul you sleep on the T1 tram, because one line links Sultanahmet, the Eminönü piers and Karaköy. Beyoğlu is a funicular ride further and is chosen for the evenings; Kadıköy is on the Asian side and is chosen when the stay outlasts the list of sights.
Sultanahmet — monuments at the door
Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Cistern and Topkapı are a few hundred metres from one another, so day one of the plan needs no transport at all. For everything else — Galata, İstiklal, the ferries — you take the T1 tram through Eminönü. Choose it for a short stay in which Sultanahmet is most of the programme.
Karaköy and Galata — the middle
Across the Galata Bridge from Eminönü, with a T1 stop and a ferry pier in the district itself: the tram to Sultanahmet, the boat to Kadıköy, and the Galata Tower and İstiklal above, uphill on foot. Galata is steep and narrow, so a fourth-floor room without a lift is not a detail — check before you book.
Beyoğlu — for the evenings
Around İstiklal and Nevizade, where the meyhanes and bars are. From Taksim, at the top of İstiklal, the F1 funicular runs down to Kabataş, the first stop on the T1 tram, so Sultanahmet is one line away from here too. Choose it if you are coming to Istanbul for the nights as well as the monuments.
Kadıköy — the Asian side
About twenty minutes by ferry from Eminönü, with a market, bookshops and cafés that do not count on visitors. The price is a ferry ride at the start and end of every day, which is why Kadıköy suits five days or more, not two. Sabiha Gökçen airport is on the same, Asian side.
What to avoid
- A hotel „near the airport“. IST is 34 km from the centre in a straight line; a hotel beside it adds one to two hours of travel to every day in the city, not just the first and last.
- Kadıköy for two days. The three-day plan crosses to the Asian side once anyway; sleeping there on a short stay means two crossings a day instead of one.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
How long from the airport to the centre?
From IST, the M11 metro with changes takes an hour to an hour and a quarter to Taksim, and the Havaist coach ninety minutes to two hours, depending on traffic. The metro does not run overnight: the last train leaves the airport just after midnight, the first just after 6 am.
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