Sultanahmet District: There’s always something more to do in Istanbul’s Old City, aptly known as “the city of the world’s desire.” Whether it’s walking ancient city walls, haggling in historic bazaars, absorbing the sanctity of Ottoman mosques, sipping beer on a rooftop bar, watching the sunset on the Golden Horn, or relaxing in a Turkish bath. Istanbul’s interesting Old City remains its center, housing some of the city’s most significant landmarks. Sultanahmet, situated on a peninsula looking over the Bosphorus Strait to Asia, was once the capital of the Byzantine and Ottoman empires.

Hippodrome: The Hippodrome of Constantinople was a circus that served as the sports and social center of Constantinople, the Byzantine Empire’s capital. Today, it is a square called Sultanahmet Meydan in Istanbul, Turkey, with only a few remnants of the old edifice remaining.

German Fountain: The German Fountain is a gazebo-styled fountain located in Istanbul, Turkey, opposite the Mausoleum of Sultan Ahmed I. It was built to celebrate the second anniversary of German Emperor Wilhelm II’s visit to Istanbul in 1898.

Walled Obelisk: The Walled Obelisk, also known as the Constantine Obelisk or Masonry Obelisk, is located near the Serpentine Column on the southern side of Istanbul’s Hippodrome of Constantinople. It is uncertain when it was built, but it is called after Constantine VII, who renovated it in the eleventh century.

Obelisk of Theodosius: The Obelisk of Theodosius is the Ancient Egyptian obelisk of Pharaoh Thutmose III, which was re-erected in the Hippodrome of Constantinople in the 4th century AD by Roman Emperor Theodosius I.

Blue Mosque: Sultan Ahmed Mosque is a medieval mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. It is still a functional mosque, but it also draws a huge number of tourists. It was built between 1609 and 1616, under the reign of Ahmed I. Its Külliye houses Ahmed’s tomb, a madrasah, and a hospice.

Hagia Sophia Mosque: Hagia Sophia is Istanbul, Turkey’s former Greek Orthodox Christian patriarchal church, subsequently an Ottoman imperial mosque, and now a museum. It was notable for its huge dome, which was built in AD 360 at the start of the Middle Ages.

Topkapi Palace: The Topkapi Palace, often known as the Seraglio, is a huge museum in Istanbul, Turkey. It functioned as the principal home and administrative center of the Ottoman sultans in the 15th century. Six years after the conquest of Constantinople, Mehmed the Conqueror ordered the construction to begin in 1459.

Dolmabahce Palace (Pass By): Dolmabahce Palace is located on the European side of the Bosphorus and, together with its many dependencies, comprises virtually a small town, with gardens that stretch for a mile or more along the water’s edge.

Çırağan Caddesi (Pass By): The remains of the Ciragan Palace, located on the European side of the Bosphorus between Besiktas and Ortaköy, were erected by Sultan Abdülaziz between 1863 and 1867. With its lengthy facade and baroque architectural style, it resembles the Dolmabahce Palace.

Grand Bazaar: The Grand Bazaar (Kapal arş), established in the 15th century, is the world’s oldest covered bazaar. It is also one of the world’s largest covered marketplaces, with an area of 54.653 square meters. Keep reading if you want to be prepared before entering this maze of 56 interconnected vaulted corridors housing almost 4,000 stores with persistent merchants willing to utilize their relentless sales techniques.

Bosphorus Strait: Istanbul is a bridge between Europe and Asia, the Black Sea, and the Mediterranean, giving it one of the world’s most distinctive and picturesque surroundings. For the Bosphorus, the finest gem in nature’s diadem, runs between the hills on the European and Asian coastlines. This lovely strait, often written Bosporus and sometimes Bosphorus, was named by the ancients from the beginning; from the legend of 10, the mistress of Jupiter, passing through it in the guise of a cow. It is similar to the Dardanelles in length, width, and current, and it is a tiny split that separates Europe from Asia; yet, it has many characteristics with the Dardanelles. Instead of a single stream running between empty coasts, it is a body of water full of life and vitality, making its way between banks covered with castles and towns, shaded by magnificent forest trees, and presenting the eye with a fresh image of packed existence at every mile.”

Bebek Park (Pass By): Ottoman nobility used Bebek’s perfect location to build their vacation mansions and palaces in the nineteenth century. It is still a popular residential area today.

Rumeli Fortress (Pass By): At the narrowest point of the Bosphorus stands the Rumelihisarr Fortress, built by Sultan Mehmet, the Conqueror on the European shore. The Sultan himself on the 26th day of March 1452 laid the foundation stone of the Fortress with a view to controlling the passage of the ships through the Bosphorus and using it as a base for his attack on the city.

Ortakoy (Pass By): 

Ortaköy Mosque, formally the Büyük Mecidiye Camii in Beşiktaş, Istanbul, Turkey, is located on the waterside of the Ortaköy pier plaza, one of the most famous destinations on the Bosphorus.