Best Food & Drink

1. Çeşme Bazlama Kahvaltı Nişantaşı 1

A cozy Traditional Turkish Breakfast restaurant offering an all you can eat breakfast.  The menu is mostly vegetarian and egg based.  I was told vegan options could be accommodated.

2.Kimyon Kadıköy

A nice little hole in the wall restaurant on the Asian side of Istanbul that serves one of the best Lentil soups in Turkey.  Busy through the day.

3.Çiya Sofrası

A very traditional restaurant serving authentic Turkish food in the Asian side.  Has many vegetarian options.

Day 1

Having arrived close to midnight on a Saturday, we were kept awake till 4 AM, thanks to the partying crowd in the Taksim area.  

Being a vegetarian, I had booked a day long ( 6 – 7 hours) food tour through Yummy Istanbul

My tour started at 10AM from the Sirkeci side of Istanbul and we started by doing a bit of shopping for fresh groceries in the Egyptian Bazar area.  

Through the day (covering both the European and the Asian side) we visited 10 restaurants and tried unlimited food in all the places and about 3 drinks.  

I highly recommend this tour for anyone who wants to get a taste of traditional Turkish food. 

Day 2

 The day started with us going to Hagia Sophia, which was once a Greek Orthodox Church.  This was converted to a Mosque during the Ottoman rule and now attracts tourists.

This may be the only operating mosque in the world where you can spot the mosaics /paintings of Mother Mary and Jesus.

Close to Hagia Sophia is the Basilica Cistern, which is one of the ancient cisterns that was used to store water for the city.

Being in the Sultanhamet area, I visited the Blue Mosque next.  As there were renovations going on, the entire interior was covered making it just another mosque.

I wrapped the day with a visit to the “Whirling Devishes” show in the Sirkeci area. Do not miss this if you get an opporunity.

Day 4

I started the day with a visit to the TopKapi Palace and the Harem.

A visit to the Harem gives you a glimpse of the life of the queens of the king.  There are still sections in the Harem where photography is prohibited.  The sections of the Harem which housed the Enunch guards of the queen are interesting to see.

The palace itself was not very engaging and the entry was overpriced.

I followed this with a visit to the Jewish areas of Fener and Balat. Most of the instagrammers flock to this area to picture the colored houses.

An evening visit to the Galatta tower to see the city from a vantage point with the night lights wrapped the day.

Day 5

The plan was to visit the ancient city of Ephesus.

The city of Ephesus is about an hours drive from Izmir airport.  I took an early morning flight from Istanbul and had booked my tour of Ephesus.  Pickup and dropoff services along with a tour guide is included in their services.

Visited the Basilica of St. John which is still a pilgrimage place for many thousands even to this date.

This was followed with a visit to the ancient city of Ephesus. The details on the construction of this city is something to be marvelled.