İstanbul is The New Cool
İstanbul defines the word cool. Being home to a very diverse crowd, and holding two continents together, being cool is inevitable.
The Bosphorus
A stay in İstanbul is not complete without a traditional and unforgettable boat excursion up the Bosphorus, the strait that separates Europe and Asia. Its shores offer a delightful mixture of past and present, grand splendors and simple beauty.
Modern hotels stand next to yalıs (waterfront wooden villas), marble palaces abut on rustic stone fortresses, and elegant compounds neighbor small fishing villages.
The best way to see the Bosphorus is to board one of the passenger boats that regularly zigzag along the shores. Embark at Eminönü and stop alternately on the Asian and European sides of the strait! The round-trip excursion, very reasonably priced, takes about six hours. For those who want a private voyage, there are agencies that specialize in organizing daytime or nighttime mini-cruises.
During the trip you will go past the magnificent Dolmabahçe Palace, while further along you will encounter the green parks and imperial pavilions of Yıldız Palace. Built on the waterfront with parks extending behind it, Çırağan Palace was refurbished in 1874 by Sultan Abdülaziz, and is now restored as a grand hotel. For 300 meters along the Bosphorus shore, its ornate marble facades reflect the swiftly moving water. At Ortaköy, the next stop, every Sunday artists gather to exhibit their work in a street-side gallery where the variety of people create a lively scene. While in Ortaköy, you should sample a tasty kumpir (baked potato) from one of the street vendors. And also note its church, mosque, and synagogue that have existed side by side for hundreds of years – a tribute to Türkiye’s tolerance at grassroots level. Overshadowing İstanbul’s traditional architecture at Ortaköy is one of the world’s largest suspension bridges, the Boğaziçi Bridge, linking Europe and Asia.